No amount of childish nonsense can put Philo off the trail of a murderer. After solving the Greene murders, Philo Vance has taken a well-earned holiday in Switzerland. Returning to New York City, he finds his old chum District Attorney Markham up against a bizarre series of murders inspired by children’s nursery rhymes. The first murder, involving a beautiful young woman and a private archery range, was apparently based on “Who Killed Cock Robin?”; it is followed by more hideous deaths referencing Mother Goose. But Philo Vance is not a man to be fobbed off with points to juvenilia. Markham and his colleagues may be worried that a certain Mr. H. Dumpty is riding for a great fall, but Philo suspects a connection to a rather more sophisticated writer.
