The Clue

On the eve of her wedding, stunning heiress Madeleine Van Norman is found stabbed to death in the library of her palatial country mansion, killed by a single thrust from her Venetian letter opener. Suspicion falls by turns to the groom who loved another, the cousin who stands to inherit her fortune, the woman the groom loves, the murdered woman's secretary, and the former lover of the murdered woman's uncle who will inherit the mansion. A suicide note is found next to her body, but the evidence points to murder. The house had been securely locked with no sign of a break in.
The local authorities are mystified. With pressure mounting, they call on the services of the famed detective Fleming Stone to resolve the case. In the end, his solution rests on a single tiny clue.

American writer Carolyn Wells (1862-1942) is best known for her children's books, poetry, and mystery thrillers. Wells, who was raised in Rahway, New Jersey, showed an early aptitude for writing and went on to become a prolific and creative writer. Early in her career, Wells published multiple volumes of poetry and hilarious verse, which helped her establish her reputation as a poet and humourist. But her contributions to the mystery genre-especially her detective novels with well-known sleuths like Fleming Stone and Pennington Wise-are arguably what she is most known for. Wells was a prolific writer as well as an active participant in a number of literary and social groups. She was a member of the Mystery Writers of America and the Poetry Society of America, among other esteemed literary associations. Even though her novels are today regarded as detective fiction masterpieces from the early 20th century, Wells's influence goes beyond the mystery subgenre. She was a talented writer who flourished in a variety of genres, and her body of work still inspires and amuses readers to this day.