Hildegarde Withers

Uncollected Riddles

By Stuart Palmer

2002

First Published

4.15

Average Rating

200

Number of Pages

6H06M

Audio Length

HILDEGARDE IS BACK! Hildegarde Withers, the creation of Stuart Palmer (1905-1968), is the original schoolmarm detective. After she first appeared in The Penguin Pool Murder in 1931, she was so popular that a series of movies starring Edna Mae Oliver and James Gleason followed, and Palmer wrote short stories about Miss Withers for Mystery, a slick-paper magazine sold only in Woolworth's stores between 1933 and 1935. These stories, filled with the sights and sounds of New York during the depression - museums, flea-circuses, burlesque shows, Latin gigolos - are genuine forgotten classics. The introduction is by Stuart Palmer's widow, Jennifer Venola. This is the 4th volume is "Crippen & Landru Lost Classics." Includes: 'The Riddle of the Dangling Pearl' 'The Riddle of the Flea Circus' 'The Riddle of the Forty Costumes' 'The Riddle of the Brass Band' 'The Riddle of the Blueblood Murders' 'The Riddle of Forty Naughty Girls' 'The Riddle of the Hanging Men' 'The Riddle of the Marble Blade' 'The Riddle of the Whirling Lights' 'The Riddle of the Tired Bullet'

Avg Rating

4.15

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

46%

4 STARS

27%

3 STARS

23%

2 STARS

1 STARS

goodreads

Author

Stuart Palmer

Author · 23 books

Stuart Palmer (1905–1968) was an American author of mysteries. Born in Baraboo, Wisconsin, Palmer worked a number of odd jobs—including apple picking, journalism, and copywriting—before publishing his first novel, the crime drama Ace of Jades, in 1931. It was with his second novel, however, that he established his writing career: The Penguin Pool Murder introduced Hildegarde Withers, a schoolmarm who, on a field trip to the New York Aquarium, discovers a dead body in the pool. Withers was an immensely popular character, and went on to star in thirteen more novels, including Miss Withers Regrets (1947) and Nipped in the Bud (1951). A master of intricate plotting, Palmer found success writing for Hollywood, where several of his books, including The Penguin Pool Murder, were filmed by RKO Pictures Inc.