The U.S.A. has definitely entered World War II by this book. Grace Latham must have learned to knit since she wished she could in an earlier book because she started to knit a pair of socks for Sergeant Buck, sure he was going to go back on active duty. No, like Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin during the war, the Army has other things for the Sergeant and Colonel Primrose to do. (I had to chuckle over what Grace said Buck would do if she ever married the Colonel.) The author hadn't given Primrose and Grace's ages for a couple of books or so, but now she admits that the Colonel is 55. Grace's age isn't mentioned, but as she was 38 when he was 51, she's either 42 or will be soon.

A very tired Primrose needs to meet the Chief of the O.P.M. in a casual way, so he tells Grace that if she hasn't met him and his wife yet, do so at once and then invite them dinner. Grace balks at being mistaken for his Sergeant, but this is still the days of good manners, so her voice is merely acidly sweet when she replies. The Colonel is wise enough to apologize.

The problem with Lawrason Hilyard, officially an assistant branch chief of the O.P.M., is that his civilian company produces almost all the promethium, a critical metal needed for the war effort. There's not enough of it and rumors are flying that Hilyard is keeping some back for special customers. There's no evidence that Hilyard is doing anything of the kind, but the politicians are getting ugly.

If the rumors and politicians weren't enough to make Hilyard's life miserable, there's his wife. Bowen Digges, his assistant, tells Grace their office has two big signs. One of them is 'Tell Mrs. Hilyard the Boss is Out'. From what Grace accidentally overhears Mrs. Hilyard saying, if that sign doesn't really exist, it should.

It so happens that an old friend of Grace's who'd moved to where the Hilyards used to live had written to her about them. She'd also told unmarried Diane Hilyard that she could go to Grace when they moved to D.C. The family is having another fight, so Diane goes to Grace's house even though they've only met once -- which says a lot about how bad those family fights are. (We also learn from Lilac, Grace's African-American cook, that the Hilyards are willing to pay $1,000 a month to rent a house that went for $300 a month before the war, but hesitate to pay $125 a month for a cook and butler. Lilac got this nugget straight from the butler.)

Diane is another of Ms. Ford's beautiful blondes with hyacinth eyes. Her family broke up her romance with a young man 'from the wrong side of the tracks' a few years ago. Diane's paternal half-brother was killed at Pearl Harbor. Her married older sister, Joan, has always been the perfect daughter to their mother, with Diane being anything but. She envies Grace for having a lot of older brothers and no sisters. Diane is willing to marry an impoverished Polish aristocrat because he's open about marrying for money, unlike her brother-in-law. Her parents and her sister have been telling her it's not decent to be an old maid. (She's almost 23, for heaven's sake!)

Then the murder happens. Was it murder or was it suicide? Whichever it was, you can bet that Sergeant Buck and Grace will be on Diane's side.

Chapter 2 is where we find out that Lilac is '...a ranking blossom in the Rosebud Chapter of the Daughters of the Nile, a member of her church's Vigilante Committee, doesn't believe in vitamins, and considers eating tom turkeys instead of hens a crime'. In chapter 13 Grace informs us that all of her property is Lilac's by definition after Lilac demands to know when she's 'going to remember to see about my chair'.
Just as Lilac's backstairs gossip was handy for this case, running that errand for her gives our good guys another break.

Aside from sexism and racism, I like the look into the past I get from these books. I remember seeing the Jefferson Memorial when I was a girl, but chapter 14 taught me that it was new back then. I would have assumed that 'O.P.M.' stood for 'Office of Personnel Management' if chapter 5 hadn't spelled it out as 'Office of Production Management.' In chapter 20 some bloodstains are said to be Type 2, instead of using a letter. Grace remarks on several changes since the USA entered the war.

Dog lovers should know that Sheila, Grace's Irish setter, gets a bigger role here. She even finds one of the clues.

According to this site, http://connection.ebscohost.com/tag/FORD%252C%2BLeslie , Murder in the O.P.M. was serialized in at least three 1942 issues of the Saturday Evening Post : v.214, #25 , Feb 28; #36, Mar 87; & #38, Mar 21.

Although this mystery was first published more than half a century ago, the reason for the murders doesn't seem outdated. Fans of the classic cozy or novels set during World War II should check this out.

My copy is the Popular Library mystery with one man rowing a boat with another man slumped over and bleeding into the water. Yes, there is a boat near the murder scene, but I wouldn't expect anyone to be wearing a T-shirt or a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up in Maryland in the winter! ( )