The Girls in the High-heeled Shoes

Two-Headed Mary, the philanthropic panhandler who dresses like a society matron when she approaches theatergoers for donations to nonexistent charities, is missing. So is sidelined hoofer Billie Trask, who disappeared from the cashier's office of K. Jeffrey Welton's hit show Lucky Lady with the weekend take. Could either of them have followed a third Broadway babe, Fine and Dandy chorine Lydia Laurent—whose strangled, nude body, accompanied by two complete suits of clothing, has been found in Central Park? If this seems like an awful lot of women in jeopardy, Two-Headed Mary turns out to have enough separate identities to populate a small European monarchy: She's claimed under various guises by a Broadway hanger-on, a daughter, a husband, and a big-time con man, the Professor, who's got even more cover stories than she does. Since the police are as helpless as they always are in 1935, it falls to New York World columnist Alexander Brass and his cheerfully wide-eyed sidekick Morgan DeWitt to dig up the truth.

MICHAEL KURLAND is the author of more than thirty novels, but is best known for his Edgar-nominated mystery series featuring Professor Moriarty, includingThe Infernal Device and The Great Game. He has also edited several Sherlock Holmes anthologies and written non-fiction titles such asHow to Solve a Murder: the Forensic Handbook. He lives in Petaluma, California.