On a trip to the New York Aquarium with her third-grade class, a teacher discovers a dead body: "One of the world's shrewdest and most amusing detectives" ( The New York Times).For the third graders at Jefferson School, a field trip is always a treat. But one day at the New York Aquarium, they get much more excitement than they bargained for. A pickpocket sprints past, stolen purse in hand, and is making his way to the exit when their teacher, th...

The savvy Miss Withers investigates a mysterious hanging-while-driving in this delightful addition to a classic cozy mystery series.As snow falls on the steps of the New York Public Library, a line of cars moves sluggishly down Fifth Avenue. Oblivious to the traffic, a blue Chrysler roadster tears down the street, hops the curb, and slams to a halt. The car is empty, its driver thrown half a block back. He's stone dead, his cigarette still burning, and a noose tied ...

A librarian who just came into money dies in a New York hotel room, and justice is overdue: "Full of fun and delightful people. A really terrific plot" ( Chicago Daily News).With a seven-hundred-dollar inheritance in her pocket, small town librarian Harriet Bascom went to the track. By the time she left she had thousands—enough to live life the way she had always wanted: with champagne, music, and love. The champagne and music flow freely once she arrives ...

When a Hollywood cartoonist is poisoned, sharp-witted sleuth Miss Withers must draw her own conclusions. "[Miss Withers is] . . . still one of the best" (Anthony Boucher).At Hollywood's most renowned cartoon studio, there are a few things you simply do not draw: snakes, cows with udders, violence, and death. So when Janet Poole finds a doodle of the studio's famous cartoon penguin with a noose around its neck, she takes the drawing as a threat. Someone at the studio...

On vacation in California, the spinster sleuth stumbles onto the case of a man murdered in mid-air—"[Withers is] still one of the best" (Anthony Boucher).Because of the fog, the man in the brown suit arrives five minutes late for the ferry to Catalina Island. If he wishes to reach his destination today, his only option is the Dragonfly, a twelve-seat prop plane that makes up in speed what it lacks in comfort. The ride is bumpy, and all of the passengers—in...

Schoolteacher sleuth Miss Withers finds a dead body during detention in this mystery starring "one of the world's shrewdest and most amusing detectives" ( The New York Times).Anise Halloran is young to be teaching school, and much too pretty, but third-grade teacher Hildegarde Withers is not the sort to condemn a coworker just because she wears high heels. When she overhears nine-year-old Buster Jones spreading rumors about Miss Halloran being sweet on the ...

When fellow passengers on a ship bound for London start to disappear, Miss Withers must rely on a mischievous cat to help solve the mystery.Schoolteacher and occasional sleuth Hildegarde Withers has not had good luck with vacations. On her last trip, she found herself enmeshed in the investigation of a dead man on a small plane. Now, on a three-day steamer voyage to London, she's about to encounter death again.A gruesome joke leads to a young woman going mis...

"One of the world's shrewdest and most amusing detectives" has nine days to save an innocent man from death row ( The New York Times).On a steamy day on Staten Island, a speeding car tears past a couple of beat cops and smashes into a delivery truck. In the front seat is Andy Rowan, pale and unconscious. In the back is a blonde—beautiful, naked, and dead.She was an aspiring Miss America, minted in the wilds of Brooklyn, and he was the press agent w...

A sharp-witted Manhattan schoolteacher tackles eight little mysteries in this collection from the author of The Puzzle of the Happy Holligan.When not teaching third graders, middle-aged singleton Hildegard Withers enjoys sipping orange pekoe tea, reading Sherlock Holmes stories, and tending to her tropical fish. And from time to time, she also helps her friend, Insp. Oscar Piper, with some puzzling cases . . ."The Riddle of the Lady from Du...

Spinster sleuth Hildegarde Withers and Inspector Oscar Piper are on the case of murder among the dog breeders, in a case reminiscent of S.S. Van Dine's "The Kennel Murder Case" (1933).

A corrupt politician's trophy wife is targeted during a train ride: "The best of the Hildegarde Withers stories, and that is saying a good deal" ( The New York Times).Oscar Piper doesn't belong on Mexican trains. A New York City detective, he's in the Dominican Republic as part of an international delegation come to cut the ribbon on a new transcontinental highway. This grants him the honor of a trip to Mexico City on the hottest, dustiest train ...

A model is dead in Central Park, and the only witness to the crime is a horse: "A most readable and entertaining story" ( The New York Times).The evening's party is over, and modeling sensation Violet Feverel wants to get in a quick horse ride before the dawn breaks. She saddles up Siwash the stallion, and gallops onto the Central Park bridle path, eager to begin what will be the last ride of her life.On the other side of the park, Miss Hildegarde ...