Dog Show Murder — Frank Gruber

A rich man is murdered at the dog show, and the Human Encyclopedia is the prime suspect

Oliver Quade knows how to sell an encyclopedia. First, read it cover to cover three or four times, and make sure to remember everything in it. Next, dazzle an audience with your accumulated knowledge. Put on a good enough show, and the book will sell itself.

Quade, better known as the Human Encyclopedia, is performing his act at a local dog show when a dogfight breaks out. Wary of wild mutts, Quade backs away and returns to his booth to find a nasty surprise -- a dead man in white flannels. When the police insist on holding Quade responsible, he and his assistant -- the indefatigable Charlie Boston -- are forced to solve the murder the Quade way: by always being the smartest men in the room. But is the Human Encyclopedia clever enough to prove to these dog show cops that they are barking up the wrong tree?