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DEAD MAN INSIDE
by Vincent Starrett

DEAD MAN INSIDE by Vincent Starrett

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.

Praise for Vincent Starrett:

★ PW -"Starrett makes the most of the setting and populates it with an array of potential suspects.” ― Murder on “B” Deck

The New York Times: "An ingenious plot with enough complications to keep the reader guessing." – Great Hotel Murder

Booklist: "Full of puns and literary humor … Starrett is a bibliophile’s delight."

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

Penzler/AMERICAN MYSTERY CLASSICS * March 2023 (AMC release) * 288 pages

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.

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.