The Scarlet Circle
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The Scarlet Circle
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See moreA Golden Age mystery featuring a sleuthing small-town doctor who’s out of his depth as a killer haunts a waning New England summer.
On vacation with his daughter on the New England coast, Dr. Hugh Westlake is enjoying the sun, the sea, and the fishing. It being September, the inn where they're staying is almost empty, except for a few other guests. But the peace is shattered when a woman's body is found strangled on the beach, with a red circle drawn around a mole on her face.
The morbid scene becomes more so when she's identified as the governess of a family staying at the inn. Hugh gets drafted by local law enforcement to help with the investigation. He uncovers dysfunctional parents, a creepy mortician, a handsome lifeguard, and a woman painter—all with secrets to hide. Not to mention local legends. When another woman is murdered, with another mole circled, Hugh realises there's a madman on the loose. And he must tie up the loose ends of crimes past and present to net a most diabolical killer.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781613167120
Publisher: Penzler Publishers
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 02 September 2025
Country: United States
Imprint: American Mystery Classics
Contributors:
- Introduction by Otto Penzler
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 28.0mm
Width: 142.0mm
Height: 211.0mm
Weight: 411g
Pages: 288
About the Author
Jonathan Stagge was one of the pen names under which Hugh Callingham Wheeler (1912–1987), Richard Wilson Webb (1901–1966), Martha Mott Kelley (1906–2005), and Mary Louise White Aswell (1902–1984) wrote detective fiction. Most of the stories were written together by Webb and Wheeler, or by Wheeler alone. Their best-known creation is amateur sleuth Peter Duluth. In 1963, the story collection The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow was given a Special Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. Otto Penzler, the creator of American Mystery Classics, is also the founder of The Mysterious Press (1975); MysteriousPress.com (2011), an electronic-book publishing company; and New York City’s Mysterious Bookshop (1979). He has won a Raven, the Ellery Queen Award, two Edgars (for the Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, 1977, and The Lineup, 2010), and lifetime achievement awards from NoirCon and The Strand Magazine. He has edited more than 70 anthologies and written extensively about mystery fiction.
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