The Puzzles of Peter Duluth

More about the book

Patrick Quentin was the pseudonym of Richard Webb (1901-1966) and Hugh Wheeler (1912-1987). The sketch on the left shows Webb (with cap) and Wheeler during their years of collaboration. Together they wrote some of the finest detective novels during the Golden Age of the classic mystery. Anthony Boucher wrote: "Quentin is particularly noted for the enviable polish and grace which make him one of the leading American fabricants of the murderous comedy of manners; but this surface smoothness conceals intricate and meticulous plot construction as faultless as that of Agatha Christie." Beginning with Puzzle for Fools, (1936), Webb and Wheeler placed their detective-hero, Peter Duluth, into perilous situations in which he must extricate himself (and his actress wife Iris) by solving the crime. This book contains two previously uncollected novellas about Peter and Iris, and two short stories, all of which show Patrick Quentin's sophisticated handling of puzzles. The Puzzles of Peter Du