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The Case of the Locked Drawer: A Henri Derringer Mystery
The victim was found sprawled on a desk in which a locked drawer contained the murder weapon. Who killed the victim? Why was the weapon in the locked drawer? How did the weapon get into the locked drawer?All these questions had to be answered to solve the crime---and the police hadn't done it in two years. How was Etta to do it using only her telephone and computer---Mephistopheles?Just to complicate things, her granddaughter---whom she raised from childhood---fell in love with a billionaire. The grandma raised the child when Etta's daughter, the girl's mother was murdered---along with the girl's father---in a home-invasion robbery. The billionaire, to protect the older folk, provided a team of FBI-trained detectives to protect Etta.As if in response to this challenge, the murderer appears after quarter of a century The custodial care of the detectives is so close and prevalent that 92-year-old Wheelchair bound Etta and her husband---96 years old---decide to flee to the site of the locked drawer mystery to seek answers to that murder.The escape of the nonagenarians from the oversight of two FBI-trained detectives is a highlight for many readers. Etta solves that murder, but can she evade the murderer of her daughter now that he has identified her. Read the exciting conclusion to find out.
282 pages, Paperback
First published July 26, 2011
1 person is currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Larry Winebrenner
6 books2 followersDr. Winebrenner knows about secret military matters. He had to be cleared for Secret to become an advanced underseas weapons technician in the navy. It was the baby carrier he was assigned to that transported the nuclear device tested on Enewetak Atoll. More than that, he served on various confidential committees while professor at Miami Dade College for 33 years. He is also an ordained clergy in the United Methodist Church. He and his wife live in Miami Gardens FL.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 16, 2013
What if 96 is the new 66 and it can be proven? Well let's see:
there is Ida Herbert, the 96-year old yoga teacher who made the Guinness Book of Records; Phyllis Sues, 90-year old dancer and musician; Los Angeles blogger Barbara "Cutie" Cooper(96), a bestseller on Amazon; Pullitzer prize-winning author, Herman Wouk(96) who sold his latest novel The Lawgiver to Simon & Schuster; Author James Arrudra Henry who learnt to read at 96; George Dawson(103), who at the age of 98 became America's poster child for literacy and co-wrote his life story Life is so Good. Just Google, the list is impressive!
This information fueled my curiosity at the start of the book. I wanted to believe in the story and did some reading before I started.
The Case of the Locked Drawer - a Henri Derringer Mystery was not totally a thumb-sucking grapple into What if.... at all! The nonagenarians, 92-year old Etta, and her 96-year old husband, Randy, took off where Murder She Wrote, and Knightrider and his talking car, K.I.T.T. threw in the towels a very long time ago. But the character Sophia Petrillo in The Golden Girls persisted in my head space as a possible twin to Henrietta Dessinger! I just could not get the picture to go away.
Etta was a private investigator who saved herself from boredom, by quietly doing her amateur meddling into open and shut murder cases on her computer. She would solve them all and have the authorities choking on their expensive, but useless computer data.
Circumstances led Etta, with the help of a few trusted friends and family, to team up with the devil in disguise - Mephistopheles. In folklore he was the devil to whom Faust sold his soul, remember? In her next challenge to solve the two-year old Underwood murder mystery -disguised as her alter ego Henry Derringer, things will be very... oh so very... different...
She was already doing a lot more on computers than playing games, when this super computer entered her life. She already created bogus email addresses, ping-ponging all over the place, avoiding detection by the local and national authorities, using ingenious methods to get results. Mephistopheles would be the super tool which would not only work in the background, often in the dark, to trap liars and baddies, he would take her abilities to an impressive higher level to save her retirement village and town from the villains. The much advanced results would be "based on technological achievements - fingerprints, photographs, data storage and retrieval. And they all had their place in the scope of things." But Henry Derringer was not ready to sell his soul to the dark forces just yet. With human ingenuity Henry would change the game as only Etta would now how.
The Underwood-murder investigation will become much much more than anyone ever anticipated...
The wit is contagious; the plot promises lots of adventurous drama, and a wheelchair will become a weapon in disguise. The characters are lovable and believable. The entire story makes Ninety plus an age to aspire to thanks to the Derringers. If our genes agree, there is a delightful adventure lying ahead but you will have to read this book to dream on....
I just love the idea!
Guest Review for The Phantom Paragrapher Blogspot
there is Ida Herbert, the 96-year old yoga teacher who made the Guinness Book of Records; Phyllis Sues, 90-year old dancer and musician; Los Angeles blogger Barbara "Cutie" Cooper(96), a bestseller on Amazon; Pullitzer prize-winning author, Herman Wouk(96) who sold his latest novel The Lawgiver to Simon & Schuster; Author James Arrudra Henry who learnt to read at 96; George Dawson(103), who at the age of 98 became America's poster child for literacy and co-wrote his life story Life is so Good. Just Google, the list is impressive!
This information fueled my curiosity at the start of the book. I wanted to believe in the story and did some reading before I started.
The Case of the Locked Drawer - a Henri Derringer Mystery was not totally a thumb-sucking grapple into What if.... at all! The nonagenarians, 92-year old Etta, and her 96-year old husband, Randy, took off where Murder She Wrote, and Knightrider and his talking car, K.I.T.T. threw in the towels a very long time ago. But the character Sophia Petrillo in The Golden Girls persisted in my head space as a possible twin to Henrietta Dessinger! I just could not get the picture to go away.
Etta was a private investigator who saved herself from boredom, by quietly doing her amateur meddling into open and shut murder cases on her computer. She would solve them all and have the authorities choking on their expensive, but useless computer data.
Circumstances led Etta, with the help of a few trusted friends and family, to team up with the devil in disguise - Mephistopheles. In folklore he was the devil to whom Faust sold his soul, remember? In her next challenge to solve the two-year old Underwood murder mystery -disguised as her alter ego Henry Derringer, things will be very... oh so very... different...
She was already doing a lot more on computers than playing games, when this super computer entered her life. She already created bogus email addresses, ping-ponging all over the place, avoiding detection by the local and national authorities, using ingenious methods to get results. Mephistopheles would be the super tool which would not only work in the background, often in the dark, to trap liars and baddies, he would take her abilities to an impressive higher level to save her retirement village and town from the villains. The much advanced results would be "based on technological achievements - fingerprints, photographs, data storage and retrieval. And they all had their place in the scope of things." But Henry Derringer was not ready to sell his soul to the dark forces just yet. With human ingenuity Henry would change the game as only Etta would now how.
The Underwood-murder investigation will become much much more than anyone ever anticipated...
The wit is contagious; the plot promises lots of adventurous drama, and a wheelchair will become a weapon in disguise. The characters are lovable and believable. The entire story makes Ninety plus an age to aspire to thanks to the Derringers. If our genes agree, there is a delightful adventure lying ahead but you will have to read this book to dream on....
I just love the idea!
Guest Review for The Phantom Paragrapher Blogspot
August 22, 2013
Etta "Henri Derringer", a 92 year old that you would think may want to settle for cards and television all day, is really in her prime. She reopens shut cases as a hidden detective working in her wheelchair with a government computer named Mephistopheles. Her home at Epworth Villiage Retirement community in Florida has the loving support of her 96 year old husband that hardly passes up a fishing trip, and an array of resident gossips known to "visit" when needed.
In The Case of the Locked Drawer, Etta would revisit the shut case of Chester Underwood's murder with the murder weapon gun found in the desk drawer. Though protected by undercover agents, she manages to slip away with her husband in a clever attempt to go to the scene of the murder in Georgia, dodging identity along the way. This is a story of two dramas that unfold as the murderer would resurface at Epworth that killed her daughter and son-in-law 25 years ago. It is double suspense with a double climatic feel to it.
As Henri Derringer completes the Underwood case over the motive, death, and guilty parties, the discovery at home will be all but welcoming. The murderer's knowledge of Etta and her granddaughter will find this villain reappearing. Take in the full effect of a cleverly written novel that will immerse your curiosity and emotions.
Author Larry Winebrenner brings with this novel an array of professional endeavors, honors, and vastly different residencies that helped shape the creativity composed in this work. The Case of the Locked Apartment is another book well worth exploring in this Henri Derringer series.
In The Case of the Locked Drawer, Etta would revisit the shut case of Chester Underwood's murder with the murder weapon gun found in the desk drawer. Though protected by undercover agents, she manages to slip away with her husband in a clever attempt to go to the scene of the murder in Georgia, dodging identity along the way. This is a story of two dramas that unfold as the murderer would resurface at Epworth that killed her daughter and son-in-law 25 years ago. It is double suspense with a double climatic feel to it.
As Henri Derringer completes the Underwood case over the motive, death, and guilty parties, the discovery at home will be all but welcoming. The murderer's knowledge of Etta and her granddaughter will find this villain reappearing. Take in the full effect of a cleverly written novel that will immerse your curiosity and emotions.
Author Larry Winebrenner brings with this novel an array of professional endeavors, honors, and vastly different residencies that helped shape the creativity composed in this work. The Case of the Locked Apartment is another book well worth exploring in this Henri Derringer series.
May 13, 2013
In this cozy mystery an energetic nonagenarian amateur detective named Etta Derringer investigates unsolved crimes using the nom de plume Henri Derringer. In this book Etta investigates the murder of Chester Underwood, owner of a septic tank company, who was found slumped over a desk with the murder gun in a locked drawer. Etta, being in a wheelchair, conducts most of her investigations with a very nifty computer and high-tech accessories; Etta also has the assistance of acquaintances, friends, and relatives. That said, the story gives fairly short shrift to the mystery and is mostly about the circle of people in Etta’s life. Etta has an eclectic group surrounding her, including shop clerks, gossipy neighbors, a granddaughter whose family was murdered, and a billionaire with gripping war stories. In fact I found the interactions among these people more interesting than the mystery in this book. Etta does eventually resolve the mystery but this is due more to a "eureka" moment than to her investigative work. There is some dialog among rural characters that includes racial epithets which may offend some readers. Though some people may still use language like this it’s not quite believable – in this day and age- that people would speak like this to strangers (i.e. Etta and her husband) who might not share their prejudices. A strength of the book is its depiction of spry older folks engaging in stimulating activities and enjoying their lives. All in all I'd give the book 3 stars.
October 18, 2011
Can a 92 year old wheelchair bound woman solve a two year old murder that has the police stumped? Not only is the case long unsolved, but other puzzling factors complicate the case. The victim is found slumped over a desk in which the murder weapon is locked in a drawer.
Why is the weapon locked in the drawer?
How did it get there?
The author presents a twisting, surprising answer to this mystery. A fascinating character, Henri Derringer, the fictitious name Etta Derringer, threads his [her] way through the maze of dead ends to the final solution.
Henri Derringer is destined to be the new mystery lovers' delight.
Characters in this mystery are incredibly life-like and interesting. Including Mephistopheles, the lovable, talking computer every reader wishes to own.
The Case of the Locked Drawer is a lively, fascinating mystery.
Quo vadis, Henri Derringer?
Why is the weapon locked in the drawer?
How did it get there?
The author presents a twisting, surprising answer to this mystery. A fascinating character, Henri Derringer, the fictitious name Etta Derringer, threads his [her] way through the maze of dead ends to the final solution.
Henri Derringer is destined to be the new mystery lovers' delight.
Characters in this mystery are incredibly life-like and interesting. Including Mephistopheles, the lovable, talking computer every reader wishes to own.
The Case of the Locked Drawer is a lively, fascinating mystery.
Quo vadis, Henri Derringer?
October 8, 2014
This sometimes amusing, sometimes suspenseful story tells of a lady who solves cold cases as an interest from her retirement home in Florida. Etta has helped people in the past and we now see that a wealthy tycoon presents her with a complex net-connected computer, voice-operated in case her arthritis makes using a standard computer difficult.
However the human element is always present, with a few digressions to share life experiences, as Henri Derringer - actually, Etta - works on the murder of a septic tank firm owner who was shot dead in his office, with the gun then placed in a locked drawer of his desk. This case takes her to new depths of complexity and danger.
However the human element is always present, with a few digressions to share life experiences, as Henri Derringer - actually, Etta - works on the murder of a septic tank firm owner who was shot dead in his office, with the gun then placed in a locked drawer of his desk. This case takes her to new depths of complexity and danger.
May 12, 2013
What do you get when you cross Ironside, Murder She Wrote & Miss Marple? Henri Derringer, tech savvy grandma PI. Henrietta or Etta Derringer solves crimes while a resident of Epworth Village Retirement Community. Henri Derringer is an alias to protect herself, family and friends. The Underwood murder. Was the motive jealousy, embezzlement or something else?
August 15, 2015
Great to have older protagonists, but hard to tell what this book was sometimes.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews