The Hollow Tree Mystery - Paperback

by Madelon St Denis (Author)

Lynn Trevor, president of Cedarcliff's bank, has disappeared, and his father hires Tam O'Brien (professionally known as Tam o' Shanter) to investigate. She goes undercover as a nurse, and soon finds there is more than enough reason for grave concern. Multiple professional and personal motives arise for getting rid of Trevor, and when a body is finally discovered, Tam must use all her skill and resources to uncover the truth.

Tam O'Brien, as a young female detective, breaks more than a few of the literary cliches of Golden-Age Detective Fiction. She is smart, capable, well-trained, and unsusceptible to the allure of passing romance if it's going to get in the way of her job. Her father, Rance O'Brien, is an ex-Chief of Detectives on the police force, so she grew up surrounded by officers and detectives. Inspector Pete McCoy is an old friend, willing to discuss and debate a case, though not above a little friendly competition. Dips is the young, streetwise lieutenant of her inquiry agency.
The Hollow Tree Mystery was published as a magazine novel in 1930.