A PUZZLE FOR FOOLS: Number 4 of The Dell Great Mystery Library

NY: Dell Publishing Company, Inc., 1957. 1st Dell printing, March 1957, so stated. Dell #D-192, [.35 cover price]. Vintage Paperback. Spine edges lightly rubbed, reading crease, covers lightly creased, edges lightly sunned. Number 4 of the Dell Great Mystery Library. The panel choosing the books for Dell consisted of Anthony Boucher, Humphrey Bogart and Louis Untermeyer. Peter Duluth title. Broadway producer Peter Duluth sought solace in a bottle after his wife’s death; now, two years later and desperate to dry out, he enters a sanitarium, hoping to break his dependence on drink—but the institution doesn’t quite offer the rest and relaxation he expected. Strange, malevolent occurrences plague the hospital; and among other inexplicable events, Peter hears his own voice with an ominous warning: "There will be murder." It soon becomes clear that a homicidal maniac is on the loose, and, with a staff every bit as erratic as its idiosyncratic patients, it seems everyone is a suspect—even Duluth’s new romantic interest, Iris Pattison. Charged by the baffled head of the ward with solving the crimes, it’s up to Peter to clear her name before the killer strikes again. A Puzzle for Fools is the atmospheric and complex mystery that first introduced Peter Duluth; the character and his love interest Iris went on to star in eight more novels, two of which were adapted for film. All Vintage Paperbacks come sealed in 2.5 mil plastic bag and taped closed with removable tape which will not tear the covers if it sticks to them when the book is removed.. First Printing. Mass Market Paperback. Very Good. Vintage Paperback.