Celle Qui Devait Mourir

Catalog Note *Celle qui devait mourir* (She Who Was Destined to Die), a detective novel by Charles de Richter published in 1934, opens on the Victoria Embankment in foggy November London. Detective Inspector Stanley Chester and his journalist companion Sidney Webb encounter a well-dressed man asleep on a bench, contradicting Webb's assertion that ordinary life contains no extraordinary occurrences. When awakened, the stranger mutters about "the Chinois" and repeatedly references a dead woman whose hair he claims to have touched. Chester, dismissing drunkenness and suspecting drugging, brings the man to the police station. The stranger's identity emerges as F. C. Porter-Smith of Eaton Square. His cryptic utterances about the dead woman and a mysterious Chinese figure suggest a murder mystery, pulling Chester into an investigation despite Webb's skepticism and Chester's superior's reputation for romanticizing cases.