A Random House mystery

The Grey Flannel Shroud (1959) by Henry Slesar was awarded the Edgar for Best First Novel in 1960. Slesar used his backgrond in advertising to set up a murder mystery set in the advertising world. This gives the agency a very real atmosphere and is one of the highlights of the book. It features Dave Robbins, a young ad man, who finds himself in charge of one of the Hagerty Taits Associates biggest campaigns.

Detective Richard Queen is determined to find the killer of a young fashion designer, even if he has to enlist the help of his father. A murder takes place in a Park Avenue penthouse and there's bound to be a suspect or three...The McKell family are all under suspicion. Ashton McKell is a wealthy and respectable businessman who had a relationship with the deceased and so this made him number one suspect. Lutetia McKell, his wife, was the second to be arrested, and their handsome son Dane, who falls in love all too easily, the third.

Set in middle/upper class Manhattan. When the main character's wife is murdered, suspicion goes from person to person in their families until the last chapter (Good Reads). Andrew Jordan might be called an everyman—if it meant that every man drifts through life in a perpetual haze of boredom, a completely bland creature married to a woman who neither appreciates nor loves him. Even the series of anonymous messages warning him of his wife’s infidelity spark nothing in him except a belief that whatever is wrong must be his fault. Then his wife is murdered, and the meek Andrew is a prime suspect. With no one to turn to, Andrew begins his own investigation, discovering there were more than a few people who had it in for his wife. The more he learns, the more he realizes someone is setting him up for a big fall. And if he doesn’t stand up and prove his innocence, they are going to succeed. (Mysterious Press)

Brash lawyer-detective Arthur Crook, of the ancient Rolls Royce, ginger hair and billycock headgear, is on the scene again, this time saving the day for client, love and the British police force. Crook finds intrigue on his doorstep when his neighbor, a prim milliner, disappears under strange circumstances, leaving behind strangled bird and little else in the way of a clues. When it turns out that the milliner has been involved with a smuggling ring, an attractive young artist finds herself the unwitting target of a vicious crime gang. London police are at a loss to find either the smugglers or the vanished milliner. When murder enters the picture, Crook, alarmed for the safety of his artist friend, seeks to get her out of London. His plan backfires, and he is plunged into a desperate chase-a race with death.

Sporting his familiar mustard-colored suit, his bowler hat and his bright yellow Rolls Royce, Arthur Crook is on the scene again. This time the imperturbable little Cockney criminal lawyer is drawn into a tangled case of suave murder than only he can unravel—a case that features as fine a collection of poisonously polite, potential murderers as he has ever been called upon to face.