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The 2nd Golden Age of Mystery and Crime MEGAPACK ™: Ruth Chessman

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by Ruth Chessman




  Table of Contents

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series

  ACCUSED

  THE SEARCH FOR A DEAD MAN'S BODY

  MURDER—EARLY AMERICAN

  POOR SHERM

  THE HARRINGTON FARTHING

  IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

  THE PERFECT HUSBAND

  SILENTLY, SILENTLY

  THE CRIME THAT DID NOT FOLLOW

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  The 2nd Golden Age of Mystery and Crime MEGAPACK™: Ruth Chessman is copyright © 2015 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

  * * * *

  The MEGAPACK™ ebook series name is a trademark of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

  * * * *

  “Accused” was originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, January 1943.

  “Dead Man’s Body” was originally published in Highway Patrolman, March-April-May 1957.

  “Murder—Early American” was originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, November 1958.

  “Poor Sherm” was originally published in Manhunt, August 1958.

  “The Harrington Farthing” was originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, April 1959.

  “Is There a Doctor in the House?” was originally published in Bestseller Mystery Magazine, November 1959.

  “The Perfect Husband” was originally published in Four Quarters #1, November 1960.

  “Silently, Silently” was originally published in Four Quarters #3, March 1961.

  “The Crime That Did Not Follow” was originally published in Four Quarters #11, November 1961.

  * * * *

  The MEGAPACK™ and MINIPACK™ ebook series names are trademarks of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  I first encountered Ruth Chessman’s work when browsing back issues of Manhunt magazine—and I was immediately intrigued. Manhunt was a noir/hardboiled digest-sized mystery magazine, and female bylines were uncommon. A quick check showed that she also published stories in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine as well as a 1965 middle-grade novel called Bound for Freedom, which was adapted as a movie.

  She must have instilled her love of crime writing in her family, since her daughter turns out to be none other than mystery writer Jane K. Cleland—who was kind enough to grant us permission to reprint her late mother’s work. (Jane also supplied us with copies of hard-to-find stories.)

  Ruth Chessman was a very good, if far too infrequent writer. This collection assembles most of her published short fiction.

  Enjoy!

  —John Betancourt

  Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

  www.wildsidepress.com

  ABOUT THE SERIES

  Over the last few years, our MEGAPACK™ ebook series has grown to be our most popular endeavor. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

  The MEGAPACK™ ebook series (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Helen McGee, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)

  RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

  Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the MEGAPACK™ ebook series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).

  Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

  TYPOS

  Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

  If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at wildsidepress@yahoo.com or use the message boards above.

  The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series

  MYSTERY

  The First Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Second Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Anna Katharine Green Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™

  The Bulldog Drummond MEGAPACK™*

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  The Dickson McCunn MEGAPACK™,* by John Buchan

  The E. Hoffmann Price Spicy Story MEGAPACK™

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  The Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Raffles MEGAPACK™

  The Red Finger Pulp Mystery MEGAPACK™, by Arthur Leo Zagat*

  The Richard Deming Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Richard Hannay Spy MEGAPACK™*, by John Buchan

  The Roy J. Snell Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Sherlock Holmes MEGAPACK™

  The Talmage Powell Crime MEGAPACK™

  The Second Talmage Powell Crime MEGAPACK™

  The Thubway Tham Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Victorian Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Second Victorian Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Victorian Rogues MEGAPACK™

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  GENERAL INTEREST

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  The Anne of Green Gables MEGAPACK™

  The Baseball MEGAPACK™

  The Cat Story MEGAPACK™

  The Second Cat Story MEGAPACK™

  The Third Cat Story MEGAPACK™

  The Christmas MEGAPACK™

  The Second Christmas MEGAPACK™

  The Charles Dickens Christmas MEGAPACK™

  The Classic American Short Stories MEGAPACK™, Vol. 1.

  The Classic Humor MEGAPACK™

  The Dog Story MEGAPACK™

  The Doll Story MEGAPACK™

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  THE GOLDEN AGE OF PULP FICTION

  1. George Allan England

  THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION

  1. Winst
on K. Marks

  2. Mark Clifton

  3. Poul Anderson

  4. Clifford D. Simak

  5. Lester del Rey (vol. 1)

  6. Charles L. Fontenay

  7. H.B. Fyfe (vol. 1)

  8. Milton Lesser (Stephen Marlowe)

  9. Dave Dryfoos

  10. Carl Jacobi

  11. F.L. Wallace

  12. David H. Keller, M.D.

  13. Lester del Rey (vol. 2)

  14. Charles De Vet

  15. H.B. Fyfe (vol. 2)

  16. William C. Gault

  17. Alan E. Nourse

  18. Jerome Bixby

  19. Charles De Vet (Vo. 2)

  20. Evelyn E. Smith

  THE GOLDEN AGE OF WEIRD FICTION

  1. Henry S. Whitehead

  2. George T. Wetzel

  3. Emil Petaja

  4. Nictzin Dyalhis

  5. David H. Keller

  SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

  The First Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Second Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

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  The Fourth Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

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  The Ninth Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*

  The A.R. Morlan MEGAPACK™

  The Andre Norton MEGAPACK™

  The C.J. Henderson MEGAPACK™

  The Charles Dickens Christmas MEGAPACK™

  The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK™

  The Dragon MEGAPACK™

  The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™

  The Edmond Hamilton MEGAPACK™

  The Edward Bellamy MEGAPACK™

  The First Reginald Bretnor MEGAPACK™

  The First Theodore Cogswell MEGAPACK™

  The Fred M. White Disaster MEGAPACK™

  The Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™

  The H. Beam Piper MEGAPACK™

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  The Milton A. Rothman Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

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  The Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***

  The Second Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***

  The Philip K. Dick MEGAPACK™

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  The Plague, Pestilence, & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™

  The Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Randall Garrett MEGAPACK™

  The Second Randall Garrett MEGAPACK™

  The Ray Cummings MEGAPACK™

  The First Richard Wilson MEGAPACK™

  The Robert Sheckley MEGAPACK™

  The Science-Fantasy MEGAPACK™

  The Space Opera MEGAPACK™

  The Space Patrol MEGAPACK™, by Eando Binder

  The Second Space Patrol MEGAPACK™, by Eando Binder

  The Steampunk MEGAPACK™

  The Stephen Vincent Benét MEGAPACK™

  The Time Travel MEGAPACK™

  The Second Time Travel MEGAPACK™

  The Utopia MEGAPACK™

  The Willam P. McGivern Fantasy MEGAPACK™

  The First Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Second Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™

  The Wizard of Oz MEGAPACK™

  The Zanthodon MEGAPACK™, by Lin Carter

  HORROR

  The 2014 Halloween Horrors MEGAPACK™

  The Horror MEGAPACK™

  The Second Horror MEGAPACK™

  The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™

  The Second Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™

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  The Second E.F. Benson MEGAPACK™

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  The Second Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™

  The Cthulhu Mythos MEGAPACK™

  The Elliott O’Donnell Supernatural MEGAPACK™

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  The Ghost Story MEGAPACK™

  The Second Ghost Story MEGAPACK™

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  The Fourth Ghost Story MEGAPACK™

  The Fifth Ghost Story MEGAPACK™

  The Sixth Ghost Story MEGAPACK™

  The Gothic Terror MEGAPACK™

  The Haunts & Horrors MEGAPACK™

  The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™

  The M.R. James MEGAPACK™

  The Macabre MEGAPACK™

  The Second Macabre MEGAPACK™

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  The Arthur Machen MEGAPACK™**

  The Monster MEGAPACK™

  The Mummy MEGAPACK™

  The Occult Detective MEGAPACK™

  The Penny Dreadfuls MEGAPACK™

  The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK™

  The Uncanny Stories MEGAPACK™**

  The Vampire MEGAPACK™

  The Victorian Ghost Story MEGAPACK™

  The Weird Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Werewolf MEGAPACK™

  The William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™

  WESTERN

  The Andy Adams Western MEGAPACK™

  The B.M. Bower MEGAPACK™

  The Max Brand MEGAPACK™

  The Buffalo Bill MEGAPACK™

  The Burt Arthur Western MEGAPACK™

  The Cowboy MEGAPACK™

  The Zane Grey MEGAPACK™

  The George W. Ogden Western MEGAPACK™

  The Charles Alden Seltzer MEGAPACK™

  The Western MEGAPACK™

  The Second Western MEGAPACK™

  The Third Western MEGAPACK™

  The Western Novel MEGAPACK™

  The Second Western Novel MEGAPACK™

  The Western Romance MEGAPACK™

  The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™

  YOUNG ADULT

  The Bobbsey Twins MEGAPACK™

  The Boy Scouts MEGAPACK™

  The Boys’ Adventure MEGAPACK™

  The Dan Carter, Cub Scout MEGAPACK™

  The Dare Boys MEGAPACK™

  The Doll Story MEGAPACK™

  The G.A. Henty MEGAPACK™

  The Girl Detectives MEGAPACK™

  The Miss Pickerell MEGAPACK™

  The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™

  The Penny Parker MEGAPACK™

  The Pinocchio MEGAPACK™

  The Rover Boys MEGAPACK™

  The Second Carolyn Wells MEGAPACK™

  The Space Patrol MEGAPACK™

  The Tahara, Boy Adventurer MEGAPACK ™

  The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet MEGAPACK™

  The Tom Swift MEGAPACK™

  The Wizard of Oz MEGAPACK™

  The Young Adult Award-Winners MEGAPACK™

  SINGLE-AUTHOR

  The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*

  The A.R. Morlan MEGAPACK™

  The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™

  The Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™

  The Second Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™

  The Anatole France MEGAPACK™

  The Andre Norton MEGAPACK™

  The Anna Katharine Green MEGAPACK™

  The Arthur Conan Doyle MEGAPACK™: Beyond Sherlock Holmes

  The Arthur Leo Zagat Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Arthur Machen MEGAPACK™**

  The B.M. Bower MEGAPACK™

  The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson MEGAPACK™

  The Bram Stoker MEGAPACK™

  The Burt Arthur Western MEGAPACK™

  The C.J. Henderson MEGAPACK™

  The Charles Alden Seltzer MEGAPACK™


  The Charles Dickens Christmas MEGAPACK™

  The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK™

  The Dashiell Hammett MEGAPACK™

  The E. Hoffmann Price Spicy Story MEGAPACK™

  The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™

  The E.F. Benson MEGAPACK™

  The Second E.F. Benson MEGAPACK™

  The Edmond Hamilton MEGAPACK™

  The Edward Bellamy MEGAPACK™

  The Erckmann-Chatrian MEGAPACK™

  The F. Scott Fitzgerald MEGAPACK™

  The First R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™

  The First Reginald Bretnor MEGAPACK™

  The First William P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Fred M. White Disaster MEGAPACK™

  The Frederick Douglass MEGAPACK™

  The Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™

  The Second Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™

  The George Barr McCutcheon MEGAPACK™

  The Guy de Maupassant MEGAPACK™

  The H. Beam Piper MEGAPACK™

  The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Harold Lamb MEGAPACK™

  The Henri Bergson MEGAPACK™

  The Jacques Futrelle MEGAPACK™

  The Johnston McCulley Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Jonas Lie MEGAPACK™

  The Katherine Mansfield MEGAPACK™

  The Lloyd Biggle, Jr. MEGAPACK™

  The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™

  The M.R. James MEGAPACK™

  The Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK™

  The Mary Fortune Mystery & Suspense MEGAPACK™

  The Max Brand MEGAPACK™

  The Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***

  The Second Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***

  The Philip K. Dick MEGAPACK™

  The Rafael Sabatini MEGAPACK™

  The Randall Garrett MEGAPACK™

  The Second Randall Garrett MEGAPACK™

  The Ray Cummings MEGAPACK™

  The R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*

  The Second R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*

  The Reginald Bretnor MEGAPACK™

  The Second Reginald Bretnor MEGAPACK™

  The Robert Sheckley MEGAPACK™

  The Saki MEGAPACK™

  The Selma Lagerlof MEGAPACK™

  The Stephen Crane MEGAPACK™

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  The Talbot Mundy MEGAPACK™

  The Third R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*

  The Virginia Woolf MEGAPACK™

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  The Wilkie Collins MEGAPACK™

  The William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™

  The William P. McGivern Fantasy MEGAPACK™

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  The Zane Grey MEGAPACK™

 

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