“Ten stories prove the superiority of Forensic pathology over coroner’s findings . . . Science and murder in a firm partnership.” —Kirkus Reviews
Nothing much gets past Midwest pathologist Dr. Daniel Webster Coffee, whose whip-smart mind provides logical solutions to what seem like unsolvable cases. While detectives search for motives, Dr. Coffee provides the means, searching for microscopic clues on bodies and evidence with an unbeatable combination of imagination and intelligence.
In ten Golden Age mystery stories, Lawrence G. Blochman pits Dr. Coffee, his able assistant Dr. Motilal Mookerji, and police lieutenant Max Ritter against criminals who, in an earlier era, might have just gotten away with murder. The former sweetheart of a married man dies after meeting him in a hotel room. Was the cause of death a faulty gas heater, the man himself, or his jealous wife? Dr. Coffee delivers the shocking results in “Old Flame.” “Stacked Deck” proves that even the fingerprints of a convicted killer don’t point to murder, when Dr. Coffee reveals the deadly consequences of poetic justice. Hang around for “Calendar Girl” and find out how a printer’s death from heart failure turns into an authentic homicide during Dr. Coffee’s investigation. These stories, and seven more, immerse you in a world of justice where forensics foil foul play every time.
Lawrence G. Blochman (1900–1975) was an Edgar Award–winning author of mystery novels, a prominent translator of international crime fiction, and served as the fourth president of the Mystery Writers of America. He died in New York City.