Hildegarde Withers: Final Riddles? - Softcover

Stuart Palmer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1936363569 ISBN 13: 9781936363568

Publisher: Crippen & Landru, 2021

Synopsis

Hildegarde Withers was one of the first female schoolmarm detectives to appear in mystery. From her appearance in The Penguin Pool Murder in 1931, the teacher caught the attention of the American reading public. In the years that followed, she appeared in a number of films, a humorous series of collaborative mysteries with the Chicago lawyer, John J. Malone, and of course – short stories. Multiple collections of Stuart Palmer’s works exist, including Crippen & Landru’s Hildegarde Withers: Uncollected Riddles in 2002. Now nearly two decades later, another Crippen & Landru collection Hildegarde Withers: Final Riddles? As more newspapers, magazines, and documents are put online, we have been able to locate more works by Palmer, with possibly more to come in the future. Hence, the less than certain title . This collection contains stories about Hildegarde Withers, Howie Rook, Sherlockiana, and other characters as well.

About this title

About the Author

Stuart Palmer (1905-1968) was a jack of all trades, trying everything from apple-picking to ghostwriting until he wrote his first novel. His second novel, The Penguin Pool Murder, launched his career. Palmer would later say that Withers was based on his high-school English teacher, who set him on the path to writing professionally. He would write fourteen more novels about Withers along with dozens of short stories. Even as Hildegarde broke into movies, so did Palmer. He wrote the screenplays for B-movie characters like The Falcon, Bulldog Drummond, and The Lone Wolf. Palmer was well-known in the mystery community from the 1940s until his death. His comedic hijinks with mystery writer Craig Rice moved from writing screenplays together to collaborating on a series of stories that featured both his character (Withers) with her character (Malone.) John Dickson Carr called Palmer one of the “great masters of the game.” Reviewer and author Anthony Boucher called Hildegarde Withers “one of the best spinster sleuths.” Palmer served as President of Mystery Writers of America in 1954. Palmer passed away in 1968. His final novel, Hildegarde Withers Makes the Scene, was completed by Fletcher Flora and published the next year.

Edition details

• Publisher: Crippen & Landru
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1936363569
• ISBN 13: 9781936363568
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 258
• Editor: Steven Saylor