I didn't give Kerry Drake much attention when I was young. I only saw the strip occasionally and I got the impression of dull artwork and stories that always featured kids (the latter may be inaccurate, but it's the impression I got). This comic is an eye-opener. It's a fast-moving, tough story with a nice sense of locale. It reminds me of the better Buck Ryan stories, although in Buck Ryan the whistlin' mama would have been allowed to kill Vixen. I don't know how it played out in daily snippets, but read as a whole is has the pace and atmosphere of a tight second-feature film.
Link to the book:
Kerry Drake Detective Cases 018