Licensed for Murder, first published in 1958, is book no. 68 in the series of mysteries featuring private detective Dr. Priestley. Author John Rhode, a pen name of Cecil Street (1884-1964), was a prolific writer of mostly detective novels, publishing more than 140 books between 1924 and 1961. Licensed for Murder concerns the new managers of an English country inn, who, during the inn's renovation, discover the grisly, burned remains of a person behind corrugated sheeting in the inn's main fireplace. With the person's identity impossible to determine, Superintendent Jimmy Waghorn calls on the now elderly Dr. Priestley for much needed assistance in solving this gruesome case of murder.