The Crimson Query TPB

Trade paperback. Arlton Eadie wrote this mystery novel in 1929, just before he began writing his horror stories for Weird Tales and other pulps. The subtitle (How the Squid Got Besuckered) hints at a playful story, but don't be shocked to find a few elements of weirdness in the tale. When Detective-Inspector Lee Norton gets a coded message to report to the local police station, then gets an anonymous note warning him off, he finds himself imbedded in diabolic intrigue that even he can't tell is supernatural or not.
This is a wonderful introduction to the world of Arlton Eadie before it really gets too strange.
Arlton Eadie was the byline used by Leopold Leonard Eadie. His eerie thriller The Trail of the Cloven Hoof is also available under Ramble House's Dancing Tuatara Press imprint edited by John Pelan.