Four Lost Ladies Author:Stuart Palmer When suddenly asked if he knew how many lonely, middle-aged, unnattached women disappeared in New York every year Inspector Piper only said, "Not enough." And when Miss Hildegarde Withers, retired schoolma'am in search of a crime, suddenly realised the importance of the Christmas card that hadn't arrived and went rushing off, leaving Inspector ... more »Piper with two Italian dinners, he was convinced the old girl was slipping. It was a slip that led to a fall -- the plunge of one Harriet Bascom from the thirty-eighth floor of Manhattan's latest luxury hotel -- and put Miss Withers on the trail of the four lost ladies.« less
A fun read, not too deep (not deep at all, actually), and if you're a fan of Miss Withers, it will satisfy you. For others it might be too flippant and full of cliches (probably even for the late 1940's when it was written.)