Red Threads — Rex Stout

Val Carew had come a long way -- from Oklahoma to Wall Street -- only to be clubbed to death at his wife's tomb. The wealthy financier had built the magnificent crypt in memory of his beautiful Cherokee bride, whose premature death left behind a lot of unanswered questions. Now Carew himself is dead, struck down by a reminder from his past: an Indian war club.

The case lands in the capable hands of Inspector Cramer of the New York Homicide squad. The cigar-chomping detective has to follow the only clue left behind -- a piece of red thread found in the dead man's hand that no doubt leads to his killer.