The House in the Wilderness by Herman Petersen, 1957

 

This is Doc Miller #4 (of 4). Doc Miller, the country coroner, is the series detective and local Ben Wayne is the narrator.

About the author: Herman Petersen (1893-1973) sold his first story, “ The Seven Gilded Balls, ” to Black Mask in 1922. He worked for Utica (NY) newspapers and was the postmaster for Poolville, New York. All his mysteries were set in this area.  

The Toronto Star, 1957

Bibliography (full length titles):

• 1940 Murder in the Making (Doc Miller #1)
• 1942 Murder R.F.D. (Doc Miller #2)
• 1943 Old Bones (Doc Miller #3)
• 1943 The D.A.'s Daughter (Hank Wilbur)
• 1945 Country Chronicle (autobiography)
• 1948 Night on Castle Hill (serial)
• 1950 The Covered Bridge (historical novel)
• 1950 The Road (romance)
• 1957 The House in the Wilderness (Doc Miller #4, published as a serial)

This title, originally published as a serial, was also published in one complete version in a supplement to the Toronto Star on June 15, 1957. This version is pictured above.

Major characters:

• Doc Miller, county coroner
• Ben Wayne, narrator
• Marian Wayne, his wife
• Mrs. Wales, their housekeeper
• Winifred Mayland, 18-year old
• Uncle Rudolph and Aunt Dora Hackett, Winifred's guardians
• Del Slocum, local carpenter
• Craig Boone, veteran, Ben's hired farm hand
• Sanders Peary, suitor for Winifred
• Lloyd Richmond, suitor for Winifred
• Paul Burns, District Attorney

Locale: upstate New York

Synopsis: Local farmer Ben Wayne is visiting county coroner Doc Miller, when the doc is called to an auto accident. They find the driver, Dora Hackett, drunk and injured and pack her off to the hospital. Ben remembers that Dora and her husband Rudolph Hackett have a remote place out in the middle of "The Wilderness".

Ben returns to his farm, Dark House. While out mending fences, he encounters a young girl, Winifred Mayland, and invites her home to dinner. It turns out she has been staying at the Hackett place, they being her guardians. Winifred becomes a friend of Ben's and enjoys helping out around the farm.

Winifred has two potential suitors coming to visit, Sanders Peary and Lloyd Richmond. Both city boys, they are uneasy around the woods. One night a forest fire occurs nearby. Ben and his farm hand, Craig Boone, respond and assist in putting it out. Later, Winifred finds the body of Sanders Peary there, and Lloyd Richmond missing.

It turns out the Hacketts have been receiving $25k annually from Winifred's father's estate, until she marries. The appearance of possible suitors for Winifred provides a motive that any marriage not occur.

Review: If you enjoyed The D.A.'s daughter, you will feel right at home in this title. We have the same locale, farm operations, and a similar young girl protagonist. The story does take a darker turn than the earlier Doc Miller stories as it deals with the effects of alcoholism. As in the other stories, the actual detection is a team effort between Ben and Doc. It is clear the writing was intended as a serial, as it is broken into equal-size chapters with little cliffhangers at the end of each one. This is a difficult story to find, I was fortunate to locate one of the Toronto Star 1957 supplements which contains the complete story.