The Cases of Hildegarde Withers

by Palmer, Stuart

  “You’ll talk,” the Inspector said, “when we find that emerald.” He suddenly jumped as something cold and wet was dropped into his hand by Miss Hildegarde Withers, who had lingered in the apartment for a moment while he was shoving his captive down the stair. “What the blazes—”

  “Of course,” Miss Withers said. “Mr. Swinston here has just the type of mind that would’ see humor in hiding the emerald—the green ice—where he did. I should have figured it out sooner.” She pointed to what Piper held gingerly in his hand.

  They all looked down and saw, by the pale light of the street lamp, a melting ice cube in which glittered a big square drop of green fire.

  The End

  Mystery Fiction

  from St. Swithin

  http://www.stswithin.com

  An asterisk beside a name identifies the author as an Edgar Award winner, though not necessarily for the work listed. The awards were bestowed to American authors by the Mystery Writers of America beginning in 1946.

  Stuart Palmer, Murder on Wheels: Miss Hildegarde Withers, the schoolteacher-detective, matches her wits against an unknown X, armed only with the gift of common sense and a cotton umbrella. One youth is dead, and his twin brother moves under a cloud. Then death rolls past again while Miss Withers faces the problem of the Driverless Roadster, the Man Who Wore Two Neckties, and the Symptoms of Bathtub Hands.

  Stuart Palmer, Four Lost Ladies: Love-starved Harriet Bascom was dressed for the occasion…unmentionables trimmed with Chantilly lace; the sheerest of dark, flattering nylons; a daringly décolleté gown with a Paris label. ... It was her armor. She was dressed to kill but instead—someone killed her! And she was only the first victim! “Full of fun and delightful people. A really terrific plot.”—The Chicago Daily News

  Helen Reilly, The Farmhouse: The shadow of a ruthless killer creeps over a quiet countryside as fear and suspense mount steadily and explode in a crashing climax.

  Helen Reilly, The Dead Can Tell: “All kinds of amorous accords and discords get in play when love lies a’ bleeding in the shape of a much hated, but very beautiful wife and extortionist. Her death, believed to be accidental, is investigated by McKee—and leads him a fine whirl. Those involved—New York’s rotogravure highlights, society and politicians alike, play mum...A fast paced story, handled with velvet.”—Kirkus

  Helen Reilly, Tell Her It’s Murder: Recollection began to come back. It wasn’t a lumpy mattress he was lying on, it was a dead man—a man called Midnight Mike. ...

  Phoebe Atwood Taylor, Murder at the New York World’s Fair: Poor Daisy Tower, all she wanted was to find a respite from Egleston, her nephew, and Elfrida, his “statuesque” wife. Their misery-making has finally convinced Daisy that “slipping away in the laundry truck to catch the Boston train” is a reasonable idea. The train in question happens to be “The Golden Dart,” owned by the famed art collector Conrad Cassell. Daisy discovers the train is rich with deluxe amenities, such as a private office containing its very own dead body.

  Daisy isn’t looking for a starring role in a screwball comedy of a mystery, yet here she is, seeking the murderer of the aforementioned amenity amid the bustle of the World’s Fair’s festivities.

  Phoebe Atwood Taylor, Three Plots for Asey Mayo: Top-notch entertainment for mystery readers is contained in this 65,000 word volume made up of three Asey Mayo short novels, each replete with the excitement, the humor and the amusing characterisations that have distinguished all of this author’s popular books about the famous Cape Cod sleuth. Asey solves the Swan Boat Murder “in the best Mayo manner [and] the other two stories are just as good.”—The New York Times

  Phoebe Atwood Taylor, The Cape Cod Mystery: The best-selling novelist Dale Sanborn had as many visitors the night he was killed as if he’d been the most popular man on Cape Cod. One of them killed him—that was sure. The only trouble was, any of them could have—and all of them wanted to.

  Phoebe Atwood Taylor, Diplomatic Corpse: In front of a tall tombstone lay a figure...a figure of a woman. An obviously recent corpse, dressed like an Indian, lay in a storm-lashed cemetery. But the body was above ground—with its skull bashed in! And to all appearances, the man who did it was still bending over the dead woman as detective Asey Mayo came upon the scene!

  Phoebe Atwood Taylor, Beginning with a Bash: Professor John North was found dead amid a sea of books, his head bashed in. Martin Jones is suspect number one for the murder, and that was bad news. The good news is that the bookstore is owned by Dot Peters, and that she is assisted by Leonidas Witherall. Both believe in his innocence, but Leonidas, making his bow in this delightful crime comedy whodunit, announces that they have just forty hours in which to secure the real murderer of Professor North.

  Phoebe Atwood Taylor, The Iron Clew: “Leonidas, a suspect in flight, after finding a Man of Distinction corpse is confronted by a miscellany of decorative clues, characters and accomplices in avoiding encounter with the law. From A to Z there are mink coats, dinosaur’s footprints, Leonidas in ladies’ dressing rooms, monkey eating ice-cream, etc. etc. Leonidas plays spider to a very wary fly, and stage manages a high finale. No Witherall-ing on the vine here.”—Kirkus

  Frances Crane, The Indigo Necklace: Lt. Pat Abbott and his lovable but slightly rattle-brained wife, Jean, head to New Orleans, where a huge wartime population has overflowed into the famous French quarter, steeped in tradition and old-world ceremony. When murder is done amidst these incongruous elements, it takes ingenious sleuthing to unravel the crime! “Appealing background, pleasingly described; some family skeletons; bitter-sweet romance, and customarily deft Abbott sleuthing.”—The Saturday Review

  Frances Crane, The Shocking Pink Hat: In San Francisco the Abbotts see a car crash into a hydrant, and a murdered man is found slumped behind the wheel. “Well-plotted and mystifying.”—The Saturday Review

  Frances Crane, Black Cypress: “Bodies and bafflement galore in multi-murderous tale with considerable Hollywood glitter, ample suspense, and breathless conclusion. Nice gory going.”—The Saturday Review

  Frances Crane, The Polkadot Murder: “The Hollywood-cum-Santa Fe artists, both screwy and sensible, in the desert are all neatly caught in the lively style given to Mrs. Pat to narrate. Grade: A”—The Saturday Review

  Frances Crane, Murder in Bright Red: Pat and Jean are called on to clear a pretty air-line hostess suspected of murdering her old beau. When they arrive on the scene, there has been a curious change of policy: nobody wants them on the case, not the cousin and heir of the dead man, not his widow, and especially not the sheriff.

  Frances Crane, Thirteen White Tulips: A number of people had good reason to want Jack Ivers, a sophisticate with a particular fondness for wealthy women, dead, and naturally it falls to Jean and Pat Abbott to solve the confounding case.

  Frances Crane, Horror on the Ruby X: “A luxury ranch house, a bejewelled and gifted Indian, a poisonous lady, two sons, worshipful and mysterious, a Puritanical spinster, an alluring secretary, and a succession of violent deaths and threats of death. Jeanie (naturally) accumulates evidence and trouble.”—Kirkus

  Frances Crane, The Amber Eyes: When some new neighbors move in near the San Francisco home of Pat and Jean Abbott they seem to be a very strange family indeed, and soon they present as puzzling and as nasty a series of attempted murders and suspicious deaths as one could find in the annals of crime.

  Frances Crane, The Man in Gray: Daniel Willoz studied wine until someone put a murderous end to his enological practices. The good news is that Jean and Pat Abbott are present to solve this fiendishly complex murder puzzle set in San Francisco.

  Frances Crane, The Coral Princess Murders: In Tangier, Pat and Jean Abbott discover that international drug trafficking , plus greed and intrigue, invariably spell catastrophe for those involved therein.

  *Jean Potts, Death of a Stray Cat: Alex recognized her at once. It was Marcella. But how could he explain now to Gwen, his wife standing beside him, about the dead girl
; about his strange, quickly ended affair with her of the summer before? “an unusually well-constructed detective story.”—Anthony Boucher, The New York Times

  John Rhode (pseud. of Cecil Street), Dr. Priestley Lays a Trap: A racing accident rarely arouses suspicion. Sgt. Showerby, however, had a duty to investigate thoroughly and investigate he did, with results that were suspicious enough to arouse Inspector Hanslet of Scotland Yard and, through him, the great criminologist, Dr. Priestley. “For sheer ingenuity in plot and execution, John Rhode has few if any equals in detective fiction.”—The Saturday Review

  John Rhode, Death Sits on the Board: After the explosion Constable Frean found part of the house in ruins, and the owner, Sir Andrew Wiggenhall, missing. His remains were soon discovered in the garden, and thus passed the Chairman of the Board of Porslin Ltd. “The murders are most ingeniously planned and executed.” —The New York Times

  John Rhode, The Harvest Murder: Sgt. Wragge saw it there, lying by the side of the road, and decided to take care of it himself. After all, a twelve-inch butcher knife mustn’t be left on a public highway. The curious stains on the blade aroused his suspicions, and he prepared for trouble. The events that followed—robbery, a mysterious disappearance, perhaps murder—justified the aid of Scotland Yard and, of course, Dr. Priestley.

  John Rhode, Death on the Boat Train: The rough Channel crossing didn’t upset the mysterious passenger who had locked himself into his cabin from the start. The same desire for seclusion had manifested itself on the Guernsey boat-train to Waterloo, but did he travel alone? For at Waterloo the gentleman from Guernsey was a pretty genuine corpse.

  John Rhode, The Bloody Tower: Just told of his eldest son’s death, the only words he could muster were, “The tower still stands.” To be sure, the body had been found near the tower, but what could be the significance of this ungainly structure that the old man should mention it so mysteriously?

  *Mildred Davis, They Buried a Man: “In all respects more impressive than Miss Davis’ debut*…While you are absorbed in the complex subtleties of a suspense story of the modern school, bordering on the straight novel in its illumination of character and motive, Miss Davis adroitly sneaks up on you with a legitimate surprise trick as technically pretty as anything in the pure puzzle-detective story. A highly gratifying book from any angle.”—Anthony Boucher, The New York Times

  * Davis’ debut, The Room Upstairs, won the Edgar in 1948 for Best First Novel

  Christianna Brand, Death of Jezebel: “This is a locked-room mystery with a difference, and what a difference it is!”—The New York Times. Someone helps Isabel Drew off the balcony of a theater castle tower. It was a seemingly impossible crime; the culprit escapes detection, though the act is committed before eleven knights on horseback and an entire audience of witnesses.

  Lillian De La Torre, Three Cases of Samuel Johnson, Detector: This small collection is comprised of three short stories by Lillian de la Torre, a pioneer of the historical whodunnit. “The stories of this series take place in England and Scotland between 1763 and 1784. They exhibit Dr. Johnson in a new role, a role which, though he assumed it but once, was well within his extraordinary possibilities—the role of detector of crime and chicane.”

  *John Dickson Carr, The Judas Window: Avory Hume is found dead with an arrow through his heart—in a study with bolted steel shutters and a heavy door locked from the inside. In the same room James Caplon Answell lies unconscious, his clothes disordered as though from a struggle. Fortunately for James, that gruff and grumbling old sleuth, Sir Henry Merrivale believes him innocent and sets out to prove it.

  *John Dickson Carr, And So to Murder: Monica Stanton has written a saucy best-seller that has landed her her dream job, scriptwriting for a movie studio. After someone makes a gruesome attempt on her life, her feelings begin to change about him as they are forced together during the investigation. Theories of Nazi “heiling enthusiasts” and espionage soon take form, leading to the entrance of Sir Henry Merrivale.

  *John Dickson Carr & Cecil Street (as Carter Dickson & John Rhode), Fatal Descent: Carr and Street “are such expert mystery-mongers that their collaboration could scarcely fail to produce something extra special in the bafflement line. Fatal Descent is all of that.”—The New York Times

  *Baynard H. Kendrick, Blood on Lake Louisa: Orange Crest, Florida is an unlikely locale for murder, and Doc Ryan an unlikely murderer. Yet, when David Mitchell, banker and pillar of the community, is found dead at Lake Louisa, Ryan blames himself for the crime. Fortunately for the doctor the town sheriff has other theories, and together they set out to solve an extremely puzzling crime. A “thrilling yarn.”—The New York Times.

  Vera Caspary, Evvie: From the author of Laura: It was a time of speakeasies, hipflasks and bathtub gin, Evvie Ashton, the beautiful society girl who modeled, danced, painted and loved promiscuously had come of age. After being unusually reticent about her latest love, something unthinkable happens to Evvie, leading her best friend Louise into a world of duplicity and menace to solve the crime.

  Elizabeth Daly, Unexpected Night: by Edgar Award-winner and Agatha Christie’s favorite mystery writer. “Elizabeth Daly rose like a star on the mystery fans’ horizon with Unexpected Night.”—The New York Times

  Elizabeth Sanxay Holding, The Death Wish: Raymond Chandler named Holding “the top suspense writer of them all.”—Everyone thought Bob and Rosalind Whitestone were happily married. But to Bob, a struggling artist, life with Rosalind was torment, for she had artfully destroyed his faith in himself. When Rosalind drowns and murder is hinted, the resulting undertow of conflict and suspicion drags them everyone down a dark trail of terror.

  *Helen McCloy, Do Not Disturb: “Engaging heroine—who does most of sleuthing—many shivery and exciting sequences, continuous action, and extra good writing.”—The Saturday Review; “One of [McCloy’s] most startling efforts.”—The Hartford Courant

  *Helen McCloy, Two-Thirds of a Ghost: Amos Cottle was a valuable property—a first-rate novelist who produced four best sellers in four years. He had to be protected. From himself...and from his wife. When she left, so did Amos’s problems. But the very night Vera returned was the night Amos had to have a drink. It was too bad he never lived to sober up.

  *Dorothy S. Davis, The Judas Cat: A strange victim—Hillside had always dismissed 92-year-old Andy Mattson as simply a strange old codger—a name parents used to scare their kids into behaving. Chief Waterman spoke for the whole town when he said: “What’s the use of risking your neck when he was going to kick off any day?” But in this seemingly respectable town there was someone who couldn’t wait—a fear-crazed killer whose guilt drove him to murder!

  Craig Rice, The Big Midget Murders: The Big Midget is the hit of the show in Jake Justus’s night club, until someone puts an abrupt end to the Midget. John J. Malone finds all the answers with the energetic and hilarious assistance of Jake Justus and the beautiful Helene.

  Craig Rice, The Fourth Postman: “Mass murder of postmen in a posh Chicago suburb interests lawyer Malone, Jake and Helene Justus, and other well-remembered Riceomaniacs. Plot and people as wacky as ever...plenty of comedy and much intriguing sleuthing. Verdict: Fun!”—The Saturday Review

  *Kelley Roos, The Blonde Died Dancing: “The Kelley Roos team, specialists in the difficult blending of comedy and murder, have turned out a little honey in this opus. …Perfectly sound plot, narration crisp and really funny, general effect thoroughly engaging. Couldn’t be better in its field.”—The San Francisco Chronicle

  *Mignon G. Eberhart, Five Passengers from Lisbon: Shortly after the end of the war, an American hospital ship rescues passengers and crew from a sinking Argentina-bound freighter. It’s soon discovered that one of the group has been murdered, apparently by one of his own companions. After the second of the group is found dead, fear spreads throughout the ship, as do rumors that Nazi diehards lie among the rescued.

  Richard Lockridge & George Estabrooks, Death in the Mind: Evan
s’ “adventures while trying to discover how and by whom this plot has been carried out make a thrilling, if incredible, tale. However, Lockridge’s collaborator, Prof. Estabrooks of Colgate University, offers documentary evidence that hypnotism could be used in this way; and who are we to argue this point with a Professor of Psychology?”—The New York Times

  *Frances & Richard Lockridge, The Dishonest Murderer: “Well plotted, smooth, and urbane. It has good suspense, and the delineation of the strengths and frailties of the human beings involved in the crime is interesting.”—The New York Times

  Darwin & Hildegarde Teilhet, The Feather Cloak Murders: “Shivery silent death, entrancing island atmosphere, odd native lore, and a sweet puzzle. Grand!”—The Saturday Review. The Baron is offered one thousand dollars to escort Mr. Hiroshita, a wealthy Japanese importer, and a valuable jade relic to Hawaii. He naturally accepts, after all, what could go wrong?

  Darwin & Hildegarde Teilhet, The Talking Sparrow Murders: “No true mystery fan can afford to pass this story by. It is one of the best in a season that has brought us more than a few that are really worth while.”—Isaac Anderson, The New York Times