Dead Man Inside (An American Mystery Classic)

Vincent Starrett, Otto Penzler (Introduction and notes by)

$15.95

Publication Date: March 7th, 2023

Publisher:

American Mystery Classics

ISBN:

9781613163948

Pages:

288

Usually Ships in 1 to 5 Days

Description

A wealthy dilettante is on the trail of a killer with a penchant for theatrics in this cozy mystery by the author of Murder on “B” Deck.

A strange sight greets Chicago haberdashery clerk Rufus Ker as he prepares to begin his workday by unlocking the door to Bluefield, Inc. A sign is attached to the glass. It reads: DEAD MAN INSIDE! I AM DEAD. THIS STORE WILL NOT OPEN TO-DAY.

Once inside, Rufus is relieved to discover the shop is still in one piece and assumes the sign to be a prank. But no one is laughing when Rufus realizes the dummy in the window is no dummy at all. It’s the body of his boss, Amos Bluefield, and unfortunately this is only the beginning.…

Scientist, explorer, and former intelligence officer Walter Ghost has come to Chicago to research some history, but after a stint in the hospital due to appendicitis, he quickly finds himself investigating a string of puzzling murders. Ghost is certainly no stranger to playing detective, but if he’s not careful, he’s about to get more familiar with the hospital.

About the Author

Vincent Starrett (1886–1974) was a Chicago journalist who became one of the world’s foremost experts on Sherlock Holmes. A books columnist for the Chicago Tribune, he also wrote biographies of authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson and Ambrose Bierce, various books on books and book collecting, plus Sherlockian pastiches and numerous short stories and novels. A founding member of the Baker Street Irregulars, he is perhaps known best today for The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, an imaginative biography of the great detective.

Otto Penzler, the creator of American Mystery Classics, is also the founder of The Mysterious Press (1975); MysteriousPress.com (2011), an electronic-book publishing company; and New York City’s Mysterious Bookshop (1979). He has won a Raven, the Ellery Queen Award, two Edgars (for the Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, 1977, and The Lineup, 2010), and lifetime achievement awards from NoirCon and The Strand Magazine. He has edited more than 70 anthologies and written extensively about mystery fiction.

Praise for Dead Man Inside (An American Mystery Classic)

Starrett makes the most of the setting and populates it with an array of potential suspects. This definitely merits being labeled an American Mystery classic.
— Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on Murder on “B” Deck

An ingenious plot with enough complications to keep the reader guessing.
— The New York Times on The Great Hotel Murder

Full of puns and literary humor … A bibliophile’s delight.
— Booklist