First published in 1932, ''Murder in the Dentist Chair'' by Molly Thynne (d. 1950), public domain worldwide.
In Death in the Dentist's Chair (1932) Thynne adopts the same crime scene as Agatha Christie used some years later in One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (1940). She centres her crime in that most fearsome of places, the dentist's surgery. Constantine is visiting his dentist and encounters in the waiting room Sir Richard Pomfrey, the son of an old friend, and Mrs Vallon, a charming widow with whom Sir Richard is clearly in love. The dentist has gone downstairs to adjust a denture and, on his return, discovers his surgery door is locked. It seems probable that his patient is still in the surgery but she is not the sort of woman to take to imprisonment quietly or calmly. When the screws are removed from the door, his patient is discovered with her throat cut. The victim is Mrs Miller, an ex-showgirl and wife of a merchant who deals in precious jewels. To Constantine's consternation, Mrs Miller had acrimonious past history with Sir Richard and he was absent from the room for several minutes at the time the murder was committed. Constantine joins forces with his Scotland Yard friend, Detective Inspector Arkwright, whom he met towards the end of the investigation of the murder at the Noah's Ark hostelry. Arkwright is suspicious of Sir Richard but Constantine is certain of his friend's innocence and is determined to prove it.--The Golden Age, Molly Thynne (1881-1950) by Carol Westron
