Last Stroke

A schoolmaster vanishes from his quiet village, and when his body surfaces, the mystery only deepens. Mr. Brierly was beloved, it seems, no enemies, no debts, no dark secrets anyone can name. Yet there he lies, and the question hangs in the autumn air: who kills a man with nothing to hide? The unlikely investigators are the under-teacher and his students, bright young minds unused to crime, stumbling through clues that lead everywhere and nowhere. As they dig into the victim's past, they discover that Brierly's spotless reputation may have been the most dangerous thing about him. Written by a Chicago socialite publishing under a masculine pseudonym, Last Stroke is a charming period puzzle that understands the cruelty hiding behind small-town respectability. The stakes are simple but sharp: solve the unsolvable, or let a murderer walk free among the innocent. For readers who crave the quiet tension of gaslit parlors and the satisfaction of outsmarting a killer.