The alarm of the black cat

First published in 1942, this stellar mystery from Hitchens (1907--1973) opens in a quiet residential neighborhood in Los Angeles, where 70-year-old Rachel Murdock is looking to rent a house. From the window of a vacant property a real estate agent is showing her, Miss Rachel spots eight-year-old Claudia Byers saying a prayer over the newly dug grave for the girl's pet toad. The reader already knows that someone killed the toad by stomping on it. Miss Rachel, who fears that the toad killer is bent on further harm aimed at Claudia, rents the vacant house. While living there with her cat, Samantha, she gets involved in investigating a murder, which may connect with the toad's death. Hitchens's superior fair-play will delight golden age devotees, as will the alluring prose: "The toad, drowsy in the heat of the underside of a rosebush, looked up to meet the face of Murder, and he died as befits a gentleman, quietly and without too much struggle." Miss Marple fans who haven't yet discovered this astute student of human nature are in for a treat. (Apr.)