Drink the Green Water / The Milkmaid’s Millions

Sultan, Sultan, & Sultan, Counselors at Law was among the oldest, mustiest, and most dignified firms in New York, now represented by the last of his line, Wm Sultan, an old-young man who desires nothing more than to work on his uncle’s Life & Letters. His staff (he would have been horrified to learn they were known as Sultan’s Harem in the building) is bored to tears, and wants something more exciting to bring their careful, respectable employer to life. Murder does the trick. Said staff includes Kelly, Sultan’s brunette secretary: chic, sardonic, and the brains of the operation; Roberts, the athletic, blonde receptionist: well able to take care of herself; and Morgan, the red-headed file clerk: impetuous, irrepressible, and capable of speaking several dialects at once while working undercover. Readers who enjoy light, humorous mysteries with entertaining characters and swift plotting will appreciate an introduction to Sultan’s Harem.

In Drink the Green Water (1948), Wm Sultan discovers a mystery involving a lost toe within some dusty correspondence, leading to shenanigans with the possible heirs of the Silliman fortune-and murder.

In The Milkmaid’s Millions (1948), Wm Sultan is goaded by his staff into helping a demure, young milkmaid who stands to inherit a fortune. Not everyone appreciates his help, and it isn’t long before Sultan himself is the target of a police investigation for murder. Sultan finds he must deal not only with the District Attorney, but with the Harem’s own unorthodox actions to keep him safe.

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