Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Buckled Bag | 1914 | Mary Roberts Rinehart | Buy |
| 2 | Miss Pinkerton | 1932 | Mary Roberts Rinehart | Buy |
| 3 | Locked Doors | 1914 | Mary Roberts Rinehart | Buy |
| 4 | The Haunted Lady | 1942 | Mary Roberts Rinehart | Buy |
| 5 | Episode of the Wandering Knife | 1950 | Mary Roberts Rinehart | Buy |
The Hilda Adams series features one of mystery fiction’s earliest nurse-detectives. Hilda Adams, nicknamed “Miss Pinkerton,” takes nursing assignments in households where the police suspect foul play. Her medical access gives her a front-row seat to family secrets and criminal behavior, and she reports her observations back to the authorities.
The five books span from 1914 to 1950, making this one of Rinehart’s longer-running character series. Miss Pinkerton (1932) is the best-known entry and was adapted into a film the same year. The premise of a nurse as detective was innovative for its time and influenced later mystery writers who used medical professionals as amateur sleuths.