The Efficiency Expert, an often overlooked by Burroughs' fans, is a cracking tale of young Jimmy Torrance, an upstanding college graduate in post-World War I Chicago who inadvertently rubs shoulders with mobsters and ends up framed for murder. Jimmy Torrance was a hero in college. A champion boxer, star of the baseball team and one of the most popular guys on campus. On graduating Jimmy refuses the help of his wealthy father, determined to be his own man. Unable to find a "respectable" job he barely scratches out a living as a waiter, rubbing shoulders with Chicago's underworld. When the right job does come along the shady characters from his past return to haunt him -- and Jimmy finds himself being framed for a murder charge.