Lethal Lady

by Rufus King

When Clara Davis grew tired of her stodgy husband Harold, she came up with an inspired Why not fake her own death? And why not be paid for being dead? After all, wealthy Harold wouldn't remain a widower long, and when he remarried, Clara would demand a handsome payment to disappear and stay dead. Then when Clara spotted a woman on the street who was almost her double, she knew this was her chance...and a week later the body of a different "Clara Davis" was pulled from the river -- and the real Clara, now "Miss Solda Carmadine," had a new life. Meanwhile, Sergeant Morris of the Missing Persons Bureau had an uneasy feeling about the dead Mrs. Clara Davis and was quietly trying to answer some of his own questions. There was one little item that bothered him...and he wouldn't let go until he unravelled the mystery.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1947

About the author

Rufus King was an American author of Whodunit crime novels. He created two series of detective stories: the first one with Reginald De Puyster, a sophisticated detective similar to Philo Vance, and the second one with his more famous character, the Lieutenant Valcour.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Reviews

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost gave this 4 stars due to a couple minor "flaws," but it's such a page-turner and satisfying in the end, I think the author's skill overcame them. The characters are well drawn and interesting and the suspense starts in the first few pages, when you know Clara is up to something.
One of the flaws, in my view, was that what she's up to (not a spoiler because it's so early in the book) -- murdering her doppelganger, Solda, to take her place, thus faking her own death to come back and blackmail her husband for (she predicts) bigamy later -- is so complicated and unpredictable she probably could have much more simply just found a way to divorce him and get half his money. The author explains this as her superstition compelling her with the remarkable, opportune coincidence of meeting Solda.
The second flaw, in my view, is another coincidence providing a major plot twist later on; two coincidences are too much for one novel -- but the author again handles that skillfully enough I could easily overlook it considering the overall entertaining style, suspense, and satisfying conclusion.
I found this book in my parents library with books that belonged to both my maternal aunt and my paternal grandmother; one of them read it before me.

[Slagle Rock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of hard-boiled but with a cozy edge, I enjoyed this body-double tale of murder and deception, though, not suprisingly, it was pretty far-fetched.