Zelda Popkin made a definite place for herself when her first mystery novel Death Wears a White Gardenia was published last year. The New York Times Book Review said: "Zelda Popkin has a genuine talent for writing mystery stories." The Saturday Review's Guide to Detective Fiction, The Criminal Record, pronounced the Verdict, "Good!"

In Time Off For Murder Mary Carner, the efficient department store detective, leaves her job at Blankfort's Fifth Avenue Store when her friend, Phyllis Knight, a young socialite attorney is found murdered after having been missing for six months. Inspector Heinsheimer of the New York Homicide Squad admires Mary Carner and is willing to work with her but - Mary is finally on her own entirely; poking into the affairs of Rockey Nardello who is doing time as leader of a numbers racket gang. Dangerous? . . . so Mary Carner found out! Smart, tough, sophisticated, fast, Time Off For Murder will keep mystery fans burning the midnight oil.