Stuart Palmer: 21 books

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...

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...

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...

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).

On a gloomy old California estate, the Cameron heirs confront greed, madness, and murder In the heyday of silent cinema, Cameron Heights was billed as the “California Wonder Town.” A sprawling development of lavish bungalows, its streets were named after film stars, its houses decorated...

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…

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,...

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...

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,...

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...

“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...

A violent man is killed in a hit and run, and his wife is accused of the crime In the inky Los Angeles twilight, a man takes his dog for a walk. They are crossing the street when a station wagon comes charging around the curb, crashing into man and beast. Both are killed. The dog might have...

On vacation in Hollywood, Miss Withers gets a job—and a case—in a mystery “that will keep you laughing and guessing from the first page to the last” (The New York Times). Hildegarde Withers—schoolteacher and occasional detective—has just finished planning her grand European tour...

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...