Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 798

# Detective Burr's Lunatic Witness

This dime novel presents a detective mystery titled "The Riverside Drive Death-Mystery; Or, Detective Burr's Lunatic Witness" by Harold Payne, author of the Detective Burr series. The story follows detective Thad Burr as he discovers a young woman suspended on rocks beneath the Riverside Drive in New York. She has been struck on the head and appears near death. Burr rescues her with a teamster's assistance and has her taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she soon dies.

The victim's identity remains obscure. An umbrella found beneath the rocks bears the name "Kate Sherwood," while a handkerchief on her person reads "Mrs. O. Stern." A gold locket is missing from around her neck. Burr theorizes either murder or accident, though suicide cannot be ruled out. The broken chain and missing locket prove crucial. Burr consults with Superintendent Byrnes, proposing that Mrs. O. Stern was murdered by someone named Kate Sherwood. The investigation continues in subsequent chapters entitled "The Fatal Charm."