Cleo Delaphine was the Lentement Decorating Shop’s most disagreeable customer but that didn’t mean the staff was exactly glad to see her dead, even if she did have a reputation for being slow-paying. The Lentement’s owner, Emily Murdock, was far more interested in talking employee Henry Bryce into marrying her. Henry, on the other hand, had other ideas. His last wife had cried a lot and ended up throwing a cup of hot coffee in his face. He wasn’t anxious to go there again. Still, Emily and Henry couldn’t help but wonder if the gun they discovered in the bust of Daniel Webster had anything to do with Cleo’s murder. After all, the cops hadn’t found the murder weapon. Emily figured the gun could have been there for the entire year the bust had sat on the shelf waiting for her to make some repairs, so she reattached it inside the bust and sent Henry to the Belasco Theater on Broadway where it was to be used as a stage prop in a new play—only someone socked Henry and stole the bust before he could make the delivery. It was then that Henry and Emily decided to visit the cops, who at first didn’t show much interest in their theories. That was all to change after a second body showed up in the stairwell leading up to the shop.  The cops took a long hard look at Emily and Henry, as well as some of their other friends, including Cleo’s ex-husband and Henry’s sister, Cornelia, a woman with a penchant for attempting suicide. First published in 1949, this lighthearted comedy of manners and errors is the first of four books to feature Emily and Henry.

Reviews

“The great thing about sitting down to read a book from the Rue Morgue Press is that you know they wouldn’t be reprinting these lesser-known Golden Age authors if they didn’t have something to recommend them, and hence you can anticipate an entertaining read. Such is the case with The Gun in Daniel Webster’s Bust… it’s a lot of fun.  It’s a comic mystery, with a cracking pace and plot, and really transports you back to New York in the late 1940s. Some of the actions and events might not stand up to detailed scrutiny, but if you read just for the sheer pleasure of diversion, this book is very enjoyable. I always read introductions after I finish a novel in case they give something away. This edition has a very interesting one by Tom and Enid Schantz, which made me warm to the author even more. How could you not like someone who called her political memoir ‘One Cow, One Vote’?”
—Reviewing the Evidence

“Consistently inventive and amusing… many witty lines.”
—Mystery News

“This is a wonderful read, and the writing is superb. Strongly recommended.”
—I Love a Mystery

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