Puzzle for Fiends, The Peter Duluth Mysteries

In this “bright, amusing addition to this series” by an Edgar Award winner, sleuth Peter Duluth faces his greatest challenge: remembering who he is . . . (Kirkus Reviews).

Patrick Quentin, best known for the Peter Duluth puzzle mysteries, also penned outstanding detective novels from the 1930s through the 1960s under other pseudonyms, including Q. Patrick and Jonathan Stagge. 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.”

When Gordy Friend wakes up in the hospital, he’s got a broken arm, a broken leg, and apparently a broken head, since he can’t remember anything that’s happened before now.

Luckily, Gordy learns he has a doting mother, a loving sister, and an absolute knockout wife to care for him and remind him of his lavish, hedonistic lifestyle. He’s also in line to inherit a great deal of money from his recently deceased father—if the will isn’t contested by some killjoys who think Gordy isn’t up to snuff.

Then, his trip down easy street hits the skids as Gordy realizes not everything around him is what it seems, and that his father’s passing might not have been so peaceful. Plus, he’s got some weird thoughts clanking around his head—strange memories about the bright lights of Broadway and a beautiful starlet.

The more Gordy finds out about himself, the more he suspects that his entire life might be a lie. And that the lie might just kill him . . .