The Nine Mile Walk — Harry Kemelman

From the New York Times�"bestselling author of the Rabbi Small Mysteries: Eight tales about a witty, crime-solving college professor.

Before creating the widely popular Jewish sleuth Rabbi Small, Harry Kemelman authored a series of short stories featuring another quick-witted and wisecracking amateur sleuth: college professor Nicky Welt. Collected in The Nine Mile Walk, the Nicky Welt stories are a mix of ingenious logic puzzles and brilliant detective work, revealing that Kemelman has always been a master of the genre.
 
In the collection's title story, Welt overhears a simple phrase: “A nine mile walk is no joke, especially in the rain,” and from this evidence alone he not only figures out that a crime is about to be committed, but also realizes how to stop it. Whether chasing a kidnapper or puzzling over a dead man's chessboard, Welt is armed with the most powerful weapon on earth: the human mind.