Ethel Thomas Detective

The Whispering Window, first published in 1936, is the first in the series featuring amateur detective Ethel Thomas. The setting is a large department store plagued by missing products and, more seriously, four murders in a single day's time. From the dustjacket: Meet Miss Ethel Thomas! - the shrewdest spinster-sleuth that ever walked the pages of a mystery story. You've seldom encountered as lively a lady of her years (age 75), and it's a treat to be taken along with her through the solution of what the newspapers called "The Bargain Day Murders."

The Moving Finger, first published in 1937, features private detective Ethel Thomas as she searches for a set of private diaries, which, if made public, would scandalize New York's high society. From the publisher: "Scandal, which threatens to blast New York society wide open, is the background for a particularly interesting series of crimes, and Miss Ethel Thomas, who won the hearts of mystery lovers in The Whispering Window is back again in The Moving Finger. From the moment it is known that young Terry Lassimon has the Van Wyck diaries, his life is in danger. Ethel's entrance comes when Terry barely escapes death on her doorstep. Her problem is (a) to protect Terry from death, and (b) to prevent publication of the revealing diaries which would bring disaster and ruin to a group of prominent people. She plunges into the baffling mystery and series of macabre crimes which seem insoluble. She is almost instantly involved in strange, unheard of dangers as she learns, little by little, the secrets of terrible criminals who operate under the security of established social position." Cortland Fitzsimmons (1893-1949) wrote mysteries, often featuring a sports-theme, some of which were made into movies. He also worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood.