Case for Sergeant Beef — Leo Bruce

In the cleverly plotted Case for Sergeant Beef, Mr. Wellington Chickle, a retired watchmaker, plans the perfect murder, but he chooses the wrong victim. The dead man's sister refuses to accept the idea that her brother committed suicide and calls in the unprepossessing Sgt. Beef who unravels the plot with the aid of the local police. Meanwhile, Townsend, Beef's indefatigable chronicler, comes to a completely different -- and completely wrong -- conclusion. A delightful read by one of the best mystery plotters who ever lived.