When a headless corpse is discovered in a Manhattan theatrical lodging house, who better to call in than the Beagle sisters? Sixty-five-year-old Amanda employs good old East Biddicutt common sense to run the agency, while her younger sister Lutie prowls the streets and nightclubs of 1940 Manhattan looking for clues. It’s their first murder case since inheriting the Beagle Private Detective Agency from their older brother, but you’d never know the sisters had spent all of their lives knitting and tending to their garden in a small, sleepy upstate New York town. Even a hardened homicide cop like Inspector Moore is impressed with the tenacity displayed by the two women. Lutie is a real charmer, who learned her craft by reading scores of lurid detective novels borrowed from the East Biddicutt Circulating Library.  With her younger cousin Marthy in tow, Lutie is totally at ease as she questions suspects and orders vintage champagne. Of course, if trouble pops up, there’s always that pearl-handled revolver tucked away in her reticule. It’s no wonder a contemporary reviewer announced that Lutie was now at the top of her list of favorite fictional detectives. Our First Murder is a charming hybrid of the private eye, traditional, and cozy mystery, written in 1940 by a woman who earned two Caldecott nominations for her illustrations of children’s books.

Contemporary Reviews

“Quaint but funny.”
—Will Cuppy, Books

“Charming.”
—Boston Transcript

“Delightful .”
—New York Times

Current Reviews

“Complex and intricate, with unpredictable twists and turns.”
—Romantic Times

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