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Hildegarde Withers #3
Murder on the Blackboard
While overseeing detention, Miss Withers finds a fellow schoolteacher’s corpse
Anise Halloran is young to be teaching school, and much too pretty, but third-grade teacher Hildegarde Withers is not the sort to condemn a coworker just because she wears high heels. When she overhears nine-year-old Buster Jones spreading rumors about Miss Halloran being sweet on the principal, Miss Withers orders the schoolyard quarterback to write discipline on the chalkboard one hundred times. Anise Halloran stays late after school, too. In fact, she stays forever.
Miss Withers finds Anise in the cloakroom, her head bashed in, and her high heels strewn across the floor. She sends Buster to fetch Inspector Piper, the hard-nosed detective whom she occasionally assists with murder inquiries, but by the time he arrives, the body has vanished. There is a killer inside the elementary school, and Buster Jones is not the only person whom Miss Withers will have to teach a lesson about discipline.
Anise Halloran is young to be teaching school, and much too pretty, but third-grade teacher Hildegarde Withers is not the sort to condemn a coworker just because she wears high heels. When she overhears nine-year-old Buster Jones spreading rumors about Miss Halloran being sweet on the principal, Miss Withers orders the schoolyard quarterback to write discipline on the chalkboard one hundred times. Anise Halloran stays late after school, too. In fact, she stays forever.
Miss Withers finds Anise in the cloakroom, her head bashed in, and her high heels strewn across the floor. She sends Buster to fetch Inspector Piper, the hard-nosed detective whom she occasionally assists with murder inquiries, but by the time he arrives, the body has vanished. There is a killer inside the elementary school, and Buster Jones is not the only person whom Miss Withers will have to teach a lesson about discipline.
185 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
About the author
Stuart Palmer
91 books31 followersPseudonyms Theodore Orchards, Jay Stewart
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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
June 13, 2013
“I got instructions to send all the teachers in there [in Room 1A] as they get here, and to send the kids home. Only the kids say they want to stay and see the fun.”
“I’ll settle that quickly enough,” Miss Withers promised. She turned around and faced the swarm, clapping her hands for silence.
“Children,” she told them, “if you all will wait quietly here I am sure that we will be able to get back to our classes and our work in an hour or two.”
Even as she spoke, the fringe of the crowd began to melt away. Children scampered toward the playground, others made a beeline for Tobey’s candy store, and still others raced down the street toward the distant elevated [train].
Miss Withers looked around again as she stood in the doorway [of Jefferson School]. Not an urchin remained in sight….
I may be inclined to love Hildegarde Withers, no-nonsense third-grade teacher and shrewd amateur sleuth, because I myself am a teacher, albeit in a high school. But who wouldn’t love a woman with such aplomb and knowledge of human nature? As she did in the first two books in this series — The Penguin Pool Murder and Murder on Wheels — the formidable Miss Withers arrives at the truth while the police stumble and arrest the wrong person. Murder on the Blackboard is the best one yet!
Anise Halloran, the pretty young music teacher at Jefferson School, gets murdered in a grisly way while Miss Withers is in the very building! If that’s not enough to shatter someone’s nerves, Miss Withers’ beau on the police force, Inspector Oscar Piper, nearly dies from a crack on the head administered by the same villain. Sergeant Taylor, Piper's replacement, won't pay Miss Withers any mind, but you can be sure the intrepid middle-aged schoolteacher teaches the New York police force — and a certain visiting Viennese “psycho-criminal expert” — a lesson in crime! The witty dialogue, sarcastic tone, and laugh-out-loud funny situations make Murder on the Blackboard another winning entry in Stuart Palmer's Hildegarde Withers mystery series.
October 11, 2019
I read this one with the movie version playing in the back of my head. I will say the movie version was pretty true to the book, with a couple of things Hollywooded up. I enjoyed the story and I liked the time line at the beginning of each chapter so you knew the date and time.
May 8, 2018
3.5*
This 3rd entry in the Golden Age mystery series featuring Hildegarde Withers wasn't quite as much fun as the first book. I think that was due to the fact that Still, there was plenty to enjoy and I look forward to reading more of these.
This 3rd entry in the Golden Age mystery series featuring Hildegarde Withers wasn't quite as much fun as the first book. I think that was due to the fact that Still, there was plenty to enjoy and I look forward to reading more of these.
January 26, 2019
I like this series. I'm thinking I may like it more when there aren't movies made of it. Because I did like the last one more than this one. Here, despite my best efforts, I still knew who did it and almost everything that was going to happen.
But it was still fun.
On to The Puzzle of the Pepper Tree.
But it was still fun.
On to The Puzzle of the Pepper Tree.
May 17, 2018
This is the second book I've read in this series, and I don't believe I'll try any more. They're clearly not my style. These books feel old0-fashioned, but in a negative way. The characters are flat, they never feel like real people. The cops are big, dumb and happy to beat confessions out of people rather than look for clues. The heroine is a blank, and as a detective she seems to operate solely by "feel", with no reason for believing someone's innocence and no plan to guide her. I don't care about the dead people, and the solutions to the mystery are crazily convoluted and unbelievable. Not my cup of tea.
April 13, 2019
Una novela policiaca donde la protagonista es una maestra de escuela y resuelve el grotesco asesinato de otra de las profesoras. Bastante ágil, aunque un poco ingenua para los estándares actuales. De todas formas, resulta entretenida y, para haber sido escrita en 1932, hace buen uso de los recursos forenses. Es hasta un poco enternecedor ver cómo el autor se regodea ensalzando las virtudes de la dactilografía, la toxicología, los teletipos y del teléfono. ¡Sin pensármelo dos veces leería alguna otra aventura de la maestra-detective Hildegarde Withers!
November 16, 2025
Certainly of its time, but a nice addition to the series.
March 12, 2014
In Murder on the Blackboard (1932) Stuart Palmer's features schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers and police inspector Oscar Piper for the third time.
As one of the characters jokes, "Schoolteachers rush in where detectives fear to tread, or something."
Murder on the Blackboard abounds with humor as well as the clues (and red herrings) necessary for a satisfactory mystery novel.
Palmer's sense of humor is well-illustrated by these two quotes:
"Then [Miss Withers, who was reading the letters section of the newspaper,] returned to Irate Citizen, who was openly in favor of legible house numbers and against dry-sweeping."
"Anderson was letting the words tumble forth, like a pent-up torrent. 'I play the stock market, I lose. I play the Mexican lottery, I lose. I play the Chinese lottery, I lose, again and again. I bet on Dempsey in Philadelphia, and on Al Smith in the election. Always I lose.'"
I found my International Polygonics reissue of Murder on the Blackboard for only 75 cents plus postage. All Palmer's other books, however, are going for much more than that bargain price!
Three-and-three-quarter daggers out of four.
As one of the characters jokes, "Schoolteachers rush in where detectives fear to tread, or something."
Murder on the Blackboard abounds with humor as well as the clues (and red herrings) necessary for a satisfactory mystery novel.
Palmer's sense of humor is well-illustrated by these two quotes:
"Then [Miss Withers, who was reading the letters section of the newspaper,] returned to Irate Citizen, who was openly in favor of legible house numbers and against dry-sweeping."
"Anderson was letting the words tumble forth, like a pent-up torrent. 'I play the stock market, I lose. I play the Mexican lottery, I lose. I play the Chinese lottery, I lose, again and again. I bet on Dempsey in Philadelphia, and on Al Smith in the election. Always I lose.'"
I found my International Polygonics reissue of Murder on the Blackboard for only 75 cents plus postage. All Palmer's other books, however, are going for much more than that bargain price!
Three-and-three-quarter daggers out of four.
July 11, 2019
Jefferson Elementary School teacher, the fortyish spinster Hildegarde Withers solves another mystery. This time a fellow teacher, Annie Halloran, is murdered, right there in the school. When Hildegarde’s friend Inspector Piper comes to investigate he is attacked so while he is hospitalized Hildegard carries on with the sleuthing. A criminal psychologist from Vienna, Professor Pfuffle, is assigned to the case but bungles it. Other characters are not quite as far-fetched but most are fairly interesting including Sergeant Swarthout, Principal McFarland, and the drunken janitor. Originally published in 1932 this book holds up well for modern readers and has some interesting 1930’s background details
November 4, 2016
I was introduced to the Miss Hildegard Withers series (and others by Stuart Palmer) many years ago by my grandmother. They are quite humorous mysteries and several of them were made into movies (old black and white movies). They've started showing up as e-books and when they are on sale, I've been purchasing and re-reading them. They are usually good for a laugh or two.
November 30, 2017
A popular cozy mystery series, The Hildegarde Withers Mysteries, by Stuart Palmer, includes Murder on the Blackboard, set in New York City in the 1930s, at a time when teaching positions were often given to unmarried women because "they needed the work”, and a time when, generally speaking, teachers were much more prim and proper than today.
The cast of characters is quite interesting, yet a bit antiquated, even for the time. The pince-nez-wearing Miss Withers has a history with the local police precinct, and has helped them solve several crimes. Some of them appreciate her assistance, and others, of course, do not.
Some of the language is a bit archaic, but is perfect for the time in which the story is set. The prose of this book led me to feel as if I were reading the script from an old black and white movie, and considering the setting, if that was the intent of the author, he succeeded beautifully.
The story opens as Miss Withers is keeping a young boy after school to write sentences on the blackboard as his punishment for misbehaving. She steps out of the room, and finds that a young, attractive teacher has been murdered. Unfortunately, the detective who appreciates her help the most is in the hospital. The one who fills in for him is full of himself, and listens to no one.
I loved Miss Withers, and her feisty, independent personality. She was ahead of her time in demanding to be taken seriously, and treated with respect by men in positions of authority. I especially applaud the fact that a male writer created her. I found the archaic language to be a bit cumbersome, but story itself is intriguing and entertaining.
What Makes This Book Reviewer Grumpy?
Using the word “loaned” instead of “lent”;
The improper placement of the word “only” within a sentence;
Beginning sentences with the conjunctions “and” and “but when (most times) those sentences should have been combined with the preceding sentence.
The cast of characters is quite interesting, yet a bit antiquated, even for the time. The pince-nez-wearing Miss Withers has a history with the local police precinct, and has helped them solve several crimes. Some of them appreciate her assistance, and others, of course, do not.
Some of the language is a bit archaic, but is perfect for the time in which the story is set. The prose of this book led me to feel as if I were reading the script from an old black and white movie, and considering the setting, if that was the intent of the author, he succeeded beautifully.
The story opens as Miss Withers is keeping a young boy after school to write sentences on the blackboard as his punishment for misbehaving. She steps out of the room, and finds that a young, attractive teacher has been murdered. Unfortunately, the detective who appreciates her help the most is in the hospital. The one who fills in for him is full of himself, and listens to no one.
I loved Miss Withers, and her feisty, independent personality. She was ahead of her time in demanding to be taken seriously, and treated with respect by men in positions of authority. I especially applaud the fact that a male writer created her. I found the archaic language to be a bit cumbersome, but story itself is intriguing and entertaining.
What Makes This Book Reviewer Grumpy?
Using the word “loaned” instead of “lent”;
The improper placement of the word “only” within a sentence;
Beginning sentences with the conjunctions “and” and “but when (most times) those sentences should have been combined with the preceding sentence.
February 25, 2026
There is a romantic fallacy that the [police] Force is hopeless when faced with a clever crime; indeed many persons hold the departments of the country in contempt and derision. From short stories and novels they seem to have gained the impression that puzzling crimes are solved only by brilliant amateurs.That quote from About the Murder of Geraldine Foster, which was written at around the same time as this book, perfectly describes the attitude taken by Stuart Palmer here. It’s so exaggerated, in fact, that I could only read this book as farce.
Nevertheless, it’s a pretty entertaining farce. The doughty Miss Withers is always three steps ahead of the cops, although it would have been less if her pal Oscar Piper hadn’t been out of commission. (He was bonked on the head by the killer and spent the book in Bellevue.) Miss W is an American Miss Marple or Miss Silver—tarter and more outspoken than those genteel British ladies. She is a 40-ish elementary school teacher on the Lower East Side who tends to treat dullards, however lofty their position, like naughty pupils. But she gets results.
One of the pleasures of reading a book this old (it was published in 1932) is the picture it draws of life at that time, more accurate than any historical novel written today. New York during Prohibition, the life of a schoolteacher (she lives with two roommates on the Upper West Side—they have the bedroom and she sleeps in the living room), schools where each grade is a single class, the prices of things—it’s fascinating, a time capsule. I found the identity of the killer to be a tad obvious, but it was a fun ride.
September 5, 2017
During the Depression, only single women were teachers. The feeling was that single women needed to support themselves while married women could live on their husband's salary. (now I know this wasn't always true, as my grandmother was the breadwinner when my grandfather lost his job, but that has nothing to do with this book.
Miss Hildegarde Withers is the third grade teacher at Jefferson, where almost all of the other teachers are much younger. She was keeping a youngster in after-school detention, when she became aware that one of the other teachers has gone into the teachers' cloak room, and hadn't returned after 15 minutes. Always curious, Miss Withers goes to the cloak room to see if the young woman was ill. No, she's not ill, she's dead!
With her friend, detective Piper, she sets out to solve the crime. Detective Piper ends up in the hospital and with the help of some of his staff and a psychological crime specialist, solves the mystery. What does an ant have to do with it?
Miss Hildegarde Withers is the third grade teacher at Jefferson, where almost all of the other teachers are much younger. She was keeping a youngster in after-school detention, when she became aware that one of the other teachers has gone into the teachers' cloak room, and hadn't returned after 15 minutes. Always curious, Miss Withers goes to the cloak room to see if the young woman was ill. No, she's not ill, she's dead!
With her friend, detective Piper, she sets out to solve the crime. Detective Piper ends up in the hospital and with the help of some of his staff and a psychological crime specialist, solves the mystery. What does an ant have to do with it?
November 14, 2020
An enjoyable mystery. The Hildegarde Withers series features Miss Withers, a third grade teacher, who helps Inspector Oscar Piper of the NY Police with murders, starting with the Penguin Pool Murders. A movie series was made with James Gleason as Inspector Piper and in the first three Edna May Oliver as Hildegarde. They have wonderful chemistry together. In this one there is a murder in the grade school where Hildegarde teaches, and she takes on the investigation after Inspector Piper is hit over the head in the basement of the school shortly after the murder is reported. Since most of the suspects are teachers, as well as the principal and the janitor, Miss Withers ends up finding out more about her colleagues than she really wants to know!
February 7, 2019
I have seen this movie more then once and thoroughly enjoyed, enough that I found the book at a Library Used Book Sale and added it to myt library at home! Miss Withers comes from the early 1930’s and is an amusing, comical character and yet shrew and very capable of taking care of herself and helping her local Police department solve problems --- the book was a tad more detailed then the movie. I particularly enjoyed the very last chapter which totally explains how she solves the crime!
March 22, 2021
As usual with Miss Withers mysteries, this tale was entertaining from start to finish. The characters are unique and often more to them than what they first appear to be, often there's some skeletons in their closets. The settings definitely are unique - in this case the primary site is a New York City grade school, where Miss Withers is a teacher. At the end, the killer's thought process got a bit complex for my taste, but not enough to alter my enjoyment.
May 20, 2023
Second one in the series I just finished. The “detective” school teacher is fun to read. She is smart, respected by her peers and the police, considering the time frame, is very unusual. This particular story, lots of twists and turns, felt repetitive in parts. Not as tightly written a story as the first one in the series, the Penguin Pool murder. I like the school teacher detective Ms Withers, will definitely read more in this series. Hopefully they are better written.
September 21, 2023
Hildegard Winters solos
When a murder occurs in Miss Winters own school she is of course upset but when Inspectir Pike, her dear friend, is nearly mudered, she takes up the case with ruthless efficiency. Miss Winters must not only find the murderer but also deal with a drunken escaped suspect and a Vienese criminologist .
When a murder occurs in Miss Winters own school she is of course upset but when Inspectir Pike, her dear friend, is nearly mudered, she takes up the case with ruthless efficiency. Miss Winters must not only find the murderer but also deal with a drunken escaped suspect and a Vienese criminologist .
July 3, 2024
I enjoyed the first of this series. Couldn’t get a copy of the second, so went with this, the third. MC is supposed to be crotchety, headstrong schoolteacher, and that worked in the first book. Something drastic must have happened in the second book because now she is an egotistical, narcissistic, overbearing, bully.
In short, she’s no fun now.
In short, she’s no fun now.
April 27, 2025
Miss Withers really hits her stride in this one and becomes the principal sleuth with Piper literally sidelined. The mystery is complex and the herrings very red. But, Withers runs rings around the killer.
February 17, 2019
Miss Withers is always entertaining and the puzzle is fun. I like more of the Inspector, though.
October 29, 2019
Wonderful!
Love the Hildegarde Withers Mysteries. The books take you on a journey of mystery and suspense. They are wonderful and fantastic to read.
Love the Hildegarde Withers Mysteries. The books take you on a journey of mystery and suspense. They are wonderful and fantastic to read.
November 16, 2021
Really enjoyed the mystery! There is one goofy "clue" that is eye-rolling, but otherwise, a fun read.
June 22, 2022
An old book written in the 1930s came in to the thrift store. I read it in 2 days. A genuine cozy mystery.
May 19, 2023
Muy buena trama, desenlace impecable en este misterio de la época de oro de los whodunit.
July 23, 2025
“It's all like a puzzle that won’t work out."
adapted film:
murder on the blackboard (1934) dir. George Archainbaud.
adapted film:
murder on the blackboard (1934) dir. George Archainbaud.
January 18, 2022
Out of the mouths of babes?
The third book in the Hildegarde Withers series, this one finds Miss Withers in both of her natural habitats. The teacher/sleuth is at school AND in the middle of a murder scene. She's kept a small boy late as punishment for spreading rumors that pretty young music teacher Anise Halloran is "sweet" on the principal, Mr. McFarland. Miss Withers resents the ill-will toward Miss Halloran, who's guilty of nothing but being attractive and well-dressed. But could there be something to the rumors? When Miss Withers discovers Anise Halloran's murdered body in the teachers' cloakroom, the young woman's life goes under the microscope.
Naturally, Miss Withers immediately calls in her friend, Inspector Oscar Piper of the New York City Homicide Squad. But when he goes to the basement to investigate noises, someone bashes in HIS head and soon he's in an ambulance headed for surgery. The Homicide Squad, as Miss Withers knows all too well, doesn't have a deep bench. The thrill of heading up a murder investigation goes to Sgt Taylor's head and (unfortunately) there's nothing else there. Officer McTeague is strong and loyal, but no thinker. Hildegarde Withers isn't too impressed with police work as carried out by the capable Inspector Piper. Without him, she doesn't give the NYPD a snowball's chance in hell of solving the murder and, of course, she's absolutely right.
Jefferson School was probably a typical elementary school at the time. Principal McFarland and Assistant Principal (and science/woodworking teacher) Robert Stevenson head up a faculty of 10 teachers, all of them single women. For decades, married women weren't allowed to teach. During WWI the shortage of male teachers changed the rules and that continued through the 1920's. Were professional women making progress? Not really. During the Great Depression, school boards decided that single women needed jobs more than married ones. This decision was hard on young couples struggling to survive on one salary and (as the investigation shows) it created the temptation to find ways around the rules.
Another interesting thing about Jefferson School is that there's no back entrance. There is, however, a fire escape chute leading from the second and third floors. The murderer finds this very convenient and so does Miss Withers when she needs to get away to do some quiet snooping on her own.
When the police assemble at the school, they find that Anise's body has been shoved into the furnace, but a thorough search finds no living person. Then the school janitor - a big Swede named Olaf Anderson - shows up out of nowhere, drunk as a lord. He's immediately arrested. It's an open-and-shut case, declares Sgt Taylor proudly. And that remains the opinion of the department for most of the book, although Miss Withers repeatedly tells them that Anderson can't be the murderer. His feet are too big and he had straw in his eyebrows when he was arrested!
It turns out to be a complicated case, not helped by the presence of daffy Austrian "criminologist" Professor Pfaffle. The Police Commissioner is impressed with the Professor's credentials, but he loses faith when the famous psychologist is out-witted by a bunch of spinster school teachers. Naturally, Hildegarde thought he was useless from the get-go. By this time, Inspector Piper is recovered enough to play the part of the goat tied to a tree to attract a man-eating tiger. Miss Withers knows who committed one murder and almost a second one, but she's got to have proof. In the end, she gets it.
I don't think this book is as outstanding as the first two in the series. For one thing, there's less humor. I also miss the banter between Miss Withers and Inspector Piper. It's interesting watching Hildegarde go it alone, but seeing the two old friends on the hunt together is even better. Still, it's a good mystery and gives a fascinating look at everyday Americans during the Great Depression.
Like all of us, the very respectable staff at Jefferson School have some skeletons in their closets. Miss Withers solves the mystery by tracking down sneezes, shoes, Irish Sweepstakes entries, library tickets, the murdered woman's strange illness, and a warehouse full of Scotch whiskey. In the interests of finding a murderer, the prim spinster even becomes an imbiber. Temporarily, of course. Stuart Palmer had a talent for creating eccentric, but believable characters. I can see why these books were so popular when they were published. Almost 100 years later, they're still great reading.
The third book in the Hildegarde Withers series, this one finds Miss Withers in both of her natural habitats. The teacher/sleuth is at school AND in the middle of a murder scene. She's kept a small boy late as punishment for spreading rumors that pretty young music teacher Anise Halloran is "sweet" on the principal, Mr. McFarland. Miss Withers resents the ill-will toward Miss Halloran, who's guilty of nothing but being attractive and well-dressed. But could there be something to the rumors? When Miss Withers discovers Anise Halloran's murdered body in the teachers' cloakroom, the young woman's life goes under the microscope.
Naturally, Miss Withers immediately calls in her friend, Inspector Oscar Piper of the New York City Homicide Squad. But when he goes to the basement to investigate noises, someone bashes in HIS head and soon he's in an ambulance headed for surgery. The Homicide Squad, as Miss Withers knows all too well, doesn't have a deep bench. The thrill of heading up a murder investigation goes to Sgt Taylor's head and (unfortunately) there's nothing else there. Officer McTeague is strong and loyal, but no thinker. Hildegarde Withers isn't too impressed with police work as carried out by the capable Inspector Piper. Without him, she doesn't give the NYPD a snowball's chance in hell of solving the murder and, of course, she's absolutely right.
Jefferson School was probably a typical elementary school at the time. Principal McFarland and Assistant Principal (and science/woodworking teacher) Robert Stevenson head up a faculty of 10 teachers, all of them single women. For decades, married women weren't allowed to teach. During WWI the shortage of male teachers changed the rules and that continued through the 1920's. Were professional women making progress? Not really. During the Great Depression, school boards decided that single women needed jobs more than married ones. This decision was hard on young couples struggling to survive on one salary and (as the investigation shows) it created the temptation to find ways around the rules.
Another interesting thing about Jefferson School is that there's no back entrance. There is, however, a fire escape chute leading from the second and third floors. The murderer finds this very convenient and so does Miss Withers when she needs to get away to do some quiet snooping on her own.
When the police assemble at the school, they find that Anise's body has been shoved into the furnace, but a thorough search finds no living person. Then the school janitor - a big Swede named Olaf Anderson - shows up out of nowhere, drunk as a lord. He's immediately arrested. It's an open-and-shut case, declares Sgt Taylor proudly. And that remains the opinion of the department for most of the book, although Miss Withers repeatedly tells them that Anderson can't be the murderer. His feet are too big and he had straw in his eyebrows when he was arrested!
It turns out to be a complicated case, not helped by the presence of daffy Austrian "criminologist" Professor Pfaffle. The Police Commissioner is impressed with the Professor's credentials, but he loses faith when the famous psychologist is out-witted by a bunch of spinster school teachers. Naturally, Hildegarde thought he was useless from the get-go. By this time, Inspector Piper is recovered enough to play the part of the goat tied to a tree to attract a man-eating tiger. Miss Withers knows who committed one murder and almost a second one, but she's got to have proof. In the end, she gets it.
I don't think this book is as outstanding as the first two in the series. For one thing, there's less humor. I also miss the banter between Miss Withers and Inspector Piper. It's interesting watching Hildegarde go it alone, but seeing the two old friends on the hunt together is even better. Still, it's a good mystery and gives a fascinating look at everyday Americans during the Great Depression.
Like all of us, the very respectable staff at Jefferson School have some skeletons in their closets. Miss Withers solves the mystery by tracking down sneezes, shoes, Irish Sweepstakes entries, library tickets, the murdered woman's strange illness, and a warehouse full of Scotch whiskey. In the interests of finding a murderer, the prim spinster even becomes an imbiber. Temporarily, of course. Stuart Palmer had a talent for creating eccentric, but believable characters. I can see why these books were so popular when they were published. Almost 100 years later, they're still great reading.
May 8, 2018
IBook-$1.99-Bookbub. 31/2 stars I recommend all these Miss Withers mysteries
November 2, 2017
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
May 12, 2016
I surprisingly really enjoyed this 3rd book in the Hildegarde Withers series by Stuart Palmer. The murder of a young teacher in the school building after hours has Miss Withers joining with the police force to solve the crime.
This book took place in 1932 and was probably written in the same. I learned some interesting stuff:
1) It was acceptable to smoke cigars while hospitalized
2) Although unmarried woman were teachers, it was not uncommon for them to be forced to leave their jobs once they married. It was expected of them to give up their jobs to the other single women who needed the money to survive on their only salary
3) The book mentioned Boss Tweed. Did some research to learn he was a mover and shaker in the mid 1800's in the City of NY. He was benevolent to his constituents as a politician, but crooked as heck as he used tax payer money to line the pockets of his cronies as well as himself. He ultimately went to jail for his shadiness.
All this and a nifty mystery solved by Miss Withers!
This book took place in 1932 and was probably written in the same. I learned some interesting stuff:
1) It was acceptable to smoke cigars while hospitalized
2) Although unmarried woman were teachers, it was not uncommon for them to be forced to leave their jobs once they married. It was expected of them to give up their jobs to the other single women who needed the money to survive on their only salary
3) The book mentioned Boss Tweed. Did some research to learn he was a mover and shaker in the mid 1800's in the City of NY. He was benevolent to his constituents as a politician, but crooked as heck as he used tax payer money to line the pockets of his cronies as well as himself. He ultimately went to jail for his shadiness.
All this and a nifty mystery solved by Miss Withers!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews