in the 1930s and rko produce a series of mystery concern the detective activity of schoolteacher hildegarde withers . view the first film and the penguin pool murder and one can understand why the series immediately take off . the mystery itself be well construct and engross . director george archainbaud presentation of the murder victim discovery be imaginative . in an aquarium and a boy discover a penguin act strangely and a if encounter an intruder . the penguin behavior be immediately explain when a corpse suddenly plunge into the tank . the scenario and base on a stuart palmer novel and feature some intriguing red herring with plausible motif for the murder . by the time the killer be reveal and it be fairly obvious who the culprit be and but the mystery be resolve in a clever and credible manner . the penguin pool murder be especially worthwhile due to it spirited lead performance . a withers and edna may oliver be drolly acerbic and tartly disdain the police ineffectual work a she proceed to solve the case . a police inspector oscar piper and james gleason bluster amusingly and determine to find the killer without withers help . oliver and gleason truly sparkle in their relationship . initially and theyre cagey of each other but an underlying mutual affection quickly develop . piper and withers continue to argue about the case throughout the picture but in an amiable manner that preclude the possibility of mutual ill will . even if the mystery become too familiar to be suspenseful upon repeat viewing and the penguin pool murder can still be savor due to oliver and gleason marvelous chemistry .