The Riddle of the Blueblood Murders
1934
First Published
3.79
Average Rating
27
Number of Pages
Part of Series
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). "Stuart Palmer's detective tales usually feature either Hildegarde Withers, a spinster sleuth, or, less frequently, Howie Rook, the least hard boiled of all private eyes. Palmer's tales are generally comic in tone, but he is not a member of the "farce school" of Phoebe Atwood Taylor. Rather Palmer's works adhere to the classical detective paradigms of the intuitionist school, of such writers as Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen. Reading Palmer's best works show why this school is so well loved: watching Hildegarde Withers unravel "The Riddle of the Black Museum" (1946) is just plain fun. There is a detective, a mystery, and an ingenious solution, and one experiences a strong desire to read more stories like this." —A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection
Avg Rating
3.79
Number of Ratings
96
5 STARS
36%
4 STARS
24%
3 STARS
25%
2 STARS
11%
1 STARS
3%
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.
