Unpunished

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's first and only detective novel begins with a murder to confound any mystery fan: a local attorney, Wade Vaughn, is found dead in his study with a bullet in his temple, a knife in his back, a gaping wound in his skull, a cord around his neck, and a poisoned whiskey glass by his side. As the plot unfolds, it reveals motives for murder as numerous as the means: Vaughn is an evil man who has abused and blackmailed clients, servants, and family members, driven his wife to suicide, and devised…