Virginia Perdue was an America writer of mystery novels. Very little is known of her, and her output was limited by comparison with other writers of the mid-20th Century. Yet, her books were published as Doubleday Crime Club selections and one, "He Fell Down Dead," was made into the 1946 movie "Shadow of a Woman."
Two of her mysteries feature the character of Eleanora Burke, a five foot eleven, two hundred pound investigator for the district attorney's office. The first of the two is "The Case of the Grieving Monkey," in which Burke his involved in a case of attempted murder by poison.
In this briskly paced and entertaining story, Eleanora poses as an old friend of Marian Gantley, a wealthy explorer who is convinced that someone tried to poison her in two occasions. In her disguise, she sets out to discover which member of Marian Gantley’s household in the Hollywood hills may be the culprit.