''Vegetable Duck'' is a 1944 detective novel by John Rhode, the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the fortieth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. The title refers to a dish including a Marrow stuffed with minced beef, which features in the plot. It has been described as "one of the oddest titles for a detective novel in the genre". Although written during wartime, the setting was post-war. It was published in America by

Dodd Mead Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990. History Origins In 1839, Moses Woodruff Dodd (1813–1899) and John S. Ta ...

under the alternative title ''Too Many Suspects''.Reilly p.1257

Synopsis

At the London service flat where she lives with her husband, dies after eating a meal which later analysis shows was infused with digitalis.

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

at first suspect her husband, who had been called away by a telephone call of murdering her. However, with the assistance of Priestley, the investigating officer is able to prove this is a long-premeditated crime by someone else.

References

Bibliography

* Herbert, Rosemary. ''Whodunit?: A Who's Who in Crime & Mystery Writing''. Oxford University Press, 2003. * Magill, Frank Northen . ''Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction: Authors, Volume 4''. Salem Press, 1988. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. 1944 British novels Novels by Cecil Street British crime novels British mystery novels British thriller novels British detective novels Collins Crime Club books Novels set in London {{1940s-novel-stub