Dr. Mary Finney

A missionary doctor is on the hunt for a killer in the Belgian Congo in this 1945 mystery series debut exploring WWII-era Colonial Africa. World War II is raging, but in this dusty backwater of the Belgian Congo, the biggest problem is finding a cold beer. That's the case, at least, for Hooper Taliaferro, a U.S. government gofer sent to Africa on a vague errand related to the war effort. What he finds at the failing Congo-Ruizi plantation won't help the Allies much. Like colonialism itself, the owner is dying of a slow poison, and not even his wife-let alone his staff-can muster the energy to care. Good thing Hooper isn't showing up alone. With him is Dr. Mary Finney, a medical missionary who knows a homicide when she sees one. Middle-aged and unassuming, Mary is used to being underestimated. But with her quick mind and blunt manners, she doesn't suffer fools-or murderers-lightly.

The author of The Devil in the Bush returns to Colonial Africa in a mystery that is "at once an absorbing whodunit and a distinguished novel of atmosphere" (The New York Times). World War II is over but US gofer Hooper Taliaferro is still in Africa, typing up Uncle Sam's loose ends. The latest end is in Cabinda, a tiny Portuguese colony with gaily painted buildings and a history of slave-trading. Hoop should have a pleasant stay at the home of the local administrator-after all, the beer is cold and the women beautiful. Unfortunately, the other guests include a shady lawyer and an overly chummy Brit on constant look-out for a loan. When one of them is murdered, Hoop calls in Dr. Mary Finney, the Miss Marple of the tropics. As usual, Hoop is a bit fuzzy on the details, but the formidable Dr. Finney has both stellar sleuthing skills and a.45 in her "necessaries bag." Both will come in handy if she's to sort through the tangled threads of the Cabinda Affair.

When a Belgian beauty dies in the Congo, "sharp-eyed, sharp-tongued Dr. Mary Finney" is on the case in this "witty, well-written" mystery from 1950 (The New York Times). It doesn't take a lot to be the belle of the expat community in Leopoldville, a tiny outpost in the Belgian Congo. A pulse and a pair of pumps will do the trick. Liliane Morelli brought more than that to the party, but it apparently wasn't enough: She's still dead of what the doctor calls blackwater fever-though any idiot could tell you that mosquitoes were not to blame. One way or another, Liliane was just a little too fatale for her own good. Enter Dr. Mary Finney, the Miss Marple of the missionary brigade. She doesn't do a lot of praying, but her sleuthing skills are top-notch. Now she's looking into the young Mrs. Morelli's death, the so-called blackwater fever, and her much old husband who is somehow nowhere to be found. The more she looks, the more she sees the truth: Lots of people wanted Liliane. And a few others wanted her dead.

A medical missionary in post-WWII Paris is out to solve the murder of a nightclub singer in this 1955 mystery by the author of The Devil in the Bush. Paris at the height of its post-War chic is a far cry from the African backwaters that Hoop Taliaferro has been calling home. But with his American charm and American dollars, he fits in anywhere. He especially fits in at the Flea Club, a naughty nightclub for people who have pretty tame ideas of naughty. The real draw is Nicole, a third-rate chanteuse singing sad songs for the bored expats holding up the bar. When someone silences the music, it falls to Hoop to put things right. Sleuthing's not really Hoop's line. He runs more to clever quips and nicely ironed khakis. But he is saved, once again, by the timely arrival of the redoubtable Dr. Mary Finney. Stomping through the City of Light in her sensible shoes, Mary is everything Nicole wasn't-including one-step ahead of her killer.