The Man in Lower Ten

Description

Mary Roberts Rinehart was known for being an accomplished and successful author of exciting mystery stories. Among them, her first story, The Circular Staircase, was also her first great success, with many more to follow. The Man in the Lower Ten is a story of a young attorney named Blakeley, whose simple life is about to change when he boards the Pullman coach to Pittsfield, and is thrown – along with the reader – through some truly unexpected and quite exciting turns of events.

Initially, The Man in the Lower Ten was published in 1909, just a year before Rinehart’s debut with her first mystery story. It came as quite a shock at the time for many readers to find a story that not only challenged their thinking, and surprised them at every step, but also included many confusing clues and a whole lot of misleading evidence that made for an extremely unpredictable plot.

This is the beauty of the story, however, and its realism certainly doesn’t disappoint either. We are taken into Blakeley’s world as witnesses to his thoughts and experiences, while the book contours – slowly, but in a well-defined fashion – the complex personalities of each character in part, from the troubled woman in need of assistance, to Blakeley’s housekeeper who rarely has the interest of agreeing with anyone.

With a mysterious theft and a murder, as well as an extensive suspect list that Blakeley himself is also a part of, it becomes difficult even for the reader to follow the line of events and keep track of the subtle clues included in the plot – much less for the detective and policeman who are in charge of the case.

You will be completely thrilled to read this outstanding short novel, masterfully penned by Mary Roberts Rinehart, and painted into a mystery story as valuable and well-designed as those of the top authors of mystery stories from years to come.
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