The White Wolverine Contract by Philip Atlee

From the Edgar Award finalist: An operative tries to provide a shield between a target for murder and the madman who's left behind a trail of corpses . . .

There have been multiple murder victims so far-and though the methods have varied, all the bodies were found with a small figure of a wolverine, carved from ivory, attached to their earlobes with baling wire. The true motive of the killer-or killers-may be a mystery, but freelance agent Joe Gall's first priority is to protect a prominent resident of Vancouver who could be next . . .
"I admire Philip Atlee's writing tremendously." -Raymond Chandler
"[Philip Atlee is] the John D. MacDonald of espionage fiction." - Larry McMurtry, The New York Times