His Honor finds a public-spirited corpse; the school-ma’am detective finds a murderer; and Inspector Piper discovers what was wrong with the four Fates, the beautiful marble hussy, and the nice young man with the beard. A Miss Hildegarde Withers Mystery!

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...

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 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...

Curtain rises on a lonely deserted dock on the Long Beach waterfront, where the schooner Carma has just been moored that afternoon. The date is December 6, 1932; the hour 9:30 of a dank and dripping evening. The scene is set for murder…

A comedian is dead, a witness is missing, and it's up to Miss Withers—"one of the world's shrewdest and most amusing detectives"—to solve the crime ( The New York Times).In comedy, timing is everything. If Tony Fagan were a better comic, perhaps he would've known when to keep his mouth shut. After weeks of jokes at the expense of businessman Winston H. "Junior" Gault, the sponsor of Fagan's television show, Fagan is found with his head bashed in, and Gault...

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 IT COMES TO MURDER, THERE'S ALWAYS A CHOICE…The only thing more varied than how people are killed is the many, many ways people try to get away with this terrible crime. Now masterful mystery writer Dorothy Salisbury Davis brings together 23 classic stories of crime and suspense, whodunits and detective stories from some of the finest authors of the 1950s.Ross Macdonald's classic P.I. Lew Archer takes a chilling case in California, where the mob isn't ...

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...

"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 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 ...