Book Review 22-01: Confessions of a English Opium-Eater by Thomas de Quincey

 With the war against opiates going on now, some of my viewers might ask, "Tim why are you reading a book about an opium addict?" My response is that I'm also reading the book Ruler of the Night by David Morrell. It is the third novel in the Thomas de Quincy series. In that series Thomas and his daughter are helping Scotland yard detectives solve mysteries in Victorian England where thy're tracking down serial killers that are doing gruesome murders in the London area. There are several parts of Morrell's series that refer parts of this book.

This book me a while to read, even though it's a short book. It is a non-fiction memoir about de Quincey's addiction habits and how bad it got over the years. Some parts are easier to understand than others since it talks about dreams he had caused by his addiction. This book was written in the 19th century give the reader a view of pre-Victorian through the eyes of an opium addict.

If you want to read this book you can download it for free in various formats from Project Gutenberg at: https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/2040

If you are interested in reading the David Morrell's series, you can purchase them from the following sites in various formats:

Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=thomas+de+quincey+series+david+morrell&i=stripbooks&crid=1PJQER5LMC9N7&sprefix=%2Cstripbooks%2C101&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_1_0_recent

Barnes & Noble: 

 https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Thomas%20de%20Quincey%20series%20David%20Morrell/_/N-8q8

Tim's Rating: 3.25 Stars

Check this site periodically for more book reviews.

Resurrection and changes to this blog.

 I have made a decision to make this my only reading blog. I am going to try adding more of my thoughts and try to write better reviews of of the books I read. I will still include download and/or purchase links for the books and am going to the star ratings for the books

Book Review 21-03: The Secret Adversary

      The Secret Adversary was the second novel written by Agatha Christie. First published in 1922, it was the first book in the Tommy and Tuppence series. Tommy and tuppence were playmates when they were little and had been friends ever since, but lost touch after the end of World War 1. a couple years later they run into each other in London, both broke and unable to find jobs. The jokingly form a business called Young Adventures to perform jobs that would earn themselves some money. Upon leaving each other and agreeing to meet the next day, Tuppence is approached by a gentlemen to come see him at his business the following morning. Tuppence didn't care for the looks of this gentleman but goes and sees him at a shabby looking office. During that meeting The name Jane Finn comes up and the gentleman gets nervous and hands her some money and asks her to come back the following morning. When she arrives the next day, the office is deserted. Because of that, she and Tommy decide to post a listing in the newspaper looking for information on Jane Finn. They get a response asking to see a Mr. Carter at a certain address. When they arrive, Tommy recognizes Mr. Carter from army intelligence. Mr. Carter contracts them to search for Jane Fin and to also look out for the organization of men that are trying to create problems in the british government, which the original gentlemen was part of and whose leader goes by the name Mr. Brown. Tommy and Tuppence start the search for Jane Finn not knowing what type of danger they would run into.

     This book is full of action in it and it keeps the reader guessing it who is Jane Finn and Mr. Brown up until the end of the book. I do want to and will read more books in this series.

Tim's rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Four out of five stars)

Links:

     You can download this book in various formats from Project Gutenberg at http://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1155.

PS-21-01: Project Stratemeyer Update

       I have read all of the books through The Rover Boys in the Air which is the sixteenth book in the first Rover Boys series by Arthur M. Winfield (Edward Stratemeyer). There are four books left in this series. After I finish those four books, I will post my review and thoughts of the series as well as the books in the series and possibly a brief synopsis of each.

Book Review 21-02: The Moon Rock

      The Moon Rock is a locked room mystery by Arthur J. Rees, first published in 1922. Robert Turold is a man who's been obsessed most of his life to gaining a title that had been in his family history and went into abeyance centuries before and is close to obtaining it until he is found dead in his residence that is in a house on top of the coastal cliffs in Cornwall. The house was locked at the time of his death were his family members, servants and his trusted doctor. First believed to be a suicde, it is later belived to be a murder. The search for his murderer takes place in Cornwall and the London area. Which one these killed him?

     To tell you the truth, this book was confusing to me at first, but then after the murder takes place, it gets interesting. This is the first book that I've read by this author and will read more by him in the future.

Tim's rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Four out of five stars)

Links:

You can download this book in various file formats from Project Gutenberg at:  http://gutenberg.org/ebooks/12509.

Book Review 21-01: The Mischief Maker

      The Mischief Maker was written by E. Phillips Openheim and was published in 1913. Sir Julien Portel was the foreign minister for England whose career ended abruptly when a woman that he had known for years managed to get him to write her an intimate letter and she gave it to her political hungry husband who made it public which brought demands for his immediate resignation. Disgraced and not having much money, he goes to Paris where he is approached by people from a couple different factions that are trying to get him to work for them and betraying England. Being a true patriot of England and curious he just sees what they want him to do where they wine and dine him, one even trying to get him to go on a mission for them that would get him out of Paris for a period of time. He refuses to accept working for either he stays in Paris where he discovers places where the common man in Paris frequent and learns to understand them. He is then approached by an old friend with a a way he can earn money while hitting back against those organizations.

     I had selected this book for satisfy a prompt for the March Mystery Madness readathon, but it turns out not to really be a mystery, but more of a political/espionage thriller. But I also like reading that type of story, I kept reading and am glad I did as it has plenty of action in it.

Tim's rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Four out of five stars)

Links:

If you're interested in reading this book, you can download it in various formats from Project Gutenberg at: http://gutenberg.orhttp://gutenberg.org/ebooks/8878g/ebooks/8878

Starting Up Again

      2020 was a bad year in most peoples opinion chiefly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A lot of things were neglected that year including this blog. Being concerned with relatives that contracted COVID-19 during the year and my own health problems, I didn't read as much as in previous years. Whenever I finished reading a book I would tell myself to write a review in one of my blogs, but I kept putting it off and I would and I would with the next book.

     Well, I'm stopping putting that off beginning now. I am currently reading three books for March Mystery Madness that I'm trying to finish by the end of the month. two of them are in the public domain which I will post reviews for them in this blog. The other one that I'm reading not in the public domain, so I will post reviews for them them in my other blog, World of Sleuths. You will see everything in them that I have put in my other blogs, but might have a different layout.

So keep watching over the next week for the reviews.

Announcement: Project Stratemeyer

Over this past weekend I decided to start compiling a list of series that are in the public domain. I started off with an author that I have read some of his books. That author is Edward Stratemeyer. He wrote several book for children an many of them are in series. More important is that he formed the Stratemeyer Syndicate which consisted authors writing under pen names that he created. These each of the stories were started by guidelines or outlines that he created.

The best known series that were created by authors in the Stratemeyer Syndicate are The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. There are not any books in those series have any books in that are in the public domain, but most of the first Tom Swift series, The Rover Boys and The Bobbsey Twins each have several, if not all the books in the series that are in the public domain.

Project Stratemeyer is my reading project that will probably take at least y year to complete. I will be reading all of books that were written by authors that worked for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. I will be reading other books as will as these, some are in the public domain, others newer books, mainly mysteries and thrillers. after each book I read for this project, I will write a review after I finish each book and post them in this blog. Also, after I finish a series I will write a series review which I will post here also.

Yesterday I started reading the first book in The Rover Boys which was written by Edward Stratemeyer under the pen name Arthur M. Winfield. Some of these books are/will be rereads for me such as this one. I will post a review of it either later today or tomorrow after I finish reading it.

Project Stratemeyer:
Current book:  The Rover Boys at School; Or, The Cadets of Putnam Hall
Author: Arthur M. Winfield (Edward Stratemeyer)
Year first published: 1899
Series: The Rover Boys, First Series
Number in series: 1

Other books in the public domain that I'm reading:
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawtthorne
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

Book Review #59: The Red House Mystery

A. A. Milne is best known for writing Winnie-the-Pooh stories for his son, Christopher Robin Milne, in which Christopher and his teddy bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, play major roles. The first book with stories about them was a short story collection titled Winnie-the-Pooh which was first published in 1926. Four years before that, he wrote The Red House Mystery which he wrote for his father that enjoyed reading detective stories. This was the only mystery that he wrote.

This story is a “locked-room mystery”, which takes place at an English country house owned by Mark Ablett who liked to have guests stay there that participated in various sporting activities and games during there stay. One morning he announce that he just received a letter form his brother Robert, who had been living in Australia for the past 15 years, stating that he would be arriving that afternoon to see Mark. None of the staff or guests had ever heard anything about Robert, except for Mark and Robert's cousin, and Mark's right-hand man, Matthew Cayley. Robert was shown to Mark's office immediately upon arrival, per Mark's instructions, but Mark wasn't in there at that time. A short time later, a gun shot was heard coming from the office. Caley went to check in the office, but the door was locked from the inside and Caley started pounding on the office door insisting to be let in to see what happened, but with out any response.

About the same time, Antony Gillingham, a stranger to all there, but Bill Beverley shows up to see Bill. When he arrives, Caley is pounding on the door, Antony asks if there was any other way into the office, and is immediately taken around to a window outside by Caley. They see a body lying on the floor and mange to break into the office where after turning the body over, Caley identifies it to be Robert, but Mark is nowhere to be found. Unimpressed by the inspector sent to investigate the crime and having to stay there until after the inquest, Antony decides to try to solve the case with Bill being his “Watson.”

I had part of the result figured out early on, but wasn't sure of some of the other details. It was fun, and sometimes hilarious, following Antony and Bill around during their investigation and reading about some of their hypothesis.

Tim's Rating:  ➷➷➶➶

(Four out of six arrows)

If interested in reading this book, you can download it in various formats for free from Project Gutenberg at: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1872

If you'd prefer to listen to it as a free download from LibriVox at: https://librivox.org/the-red-house-mystery-by-a-a-milne/

If you want to read more about A. A. Milne and useless trivia facts such as one of his school teachers was H. G. Wells, you can start by looking at his Wilipedia page at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._A._Milne

Resurrection and Change

Its been almost a year since  I posted anything in this blog. Well that's about change. I have decided that I will start posting reviews of all the books that are in the public domain that I read again in this blog and also do series reviews, author spotlights and general talk about books in the public domain.

You may ask me why I'm doing this now. One of the reasons is that March Mystery Madness is going on all this month and every book that I'm reading this month is in the public domain and I can talk about them easier in this blog than I can in a video on YouTube. Also, there are several children's series in the public domain from 100 years ago that Id like to read. I have read some, but what I've read isn't even the tip of the iceberg. Because of some legal changes that were made on YouTube this year, I don't want to get fined for talking about children's books along with a number adult books that I read every month.

You will be seeing more changes including all of the links that I put in the post will be at the very end of the post. That way you, the reader won't have to look all over in the post for them. Also, I'll leave links to the audiobook along with the links for the book, if there is one. The book links will generally be for the location in Project Gutenberg if the book is available there, otherwise I'll leave the link for the site from which I obtained it. The links for audiodbooks will be in the Librivox location.

Will, I need to get back to my reading. I'll be posting a review for the book I'm currently reading within the next few days.

Book Review #58: The Silent Bullet

The Silent Bullet is the first book in the Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective series written by Arthur B. Reeve which was originally published in 1910.   Craig Kennedy is a chemistry professor at a university in the area of New York City.  He also becomes a detective on the side using scientific methods to solve crimes along with his roommate and newspaper reporter, Walter Jameson.  This book is comprised of twelve short stories tied together by the introduction titled "Craig Kennedy's Theories".  His clients are both police and private citizens.

This book, like many short story collections, contain some good and some not so good stories.  There are a few that are memorable.  It is interesting to see the technology that he uses to solve the crimes are precursors of some of the technologies of today be it medical and other crime fighting techniques.

If interested in reading this book, you can download it from the following sites in various formats:

Project Gutenberg:  https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2454

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/ARTHUR-B-REEVE-COLLECTION-Prometheus-ebook/dp/B07JQQKPTK/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=The+Silent+Bullet+Arthur+B.+Reeve&qid=1554523394&s=digital-text&sr=1-3

Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/arthur-b-reeve-crime-mystery-boxed-set-arthur-b-reeve/1129830772?ean=9788027242962

Tim's Rating:  ➷➷➹➹
(Four out of six arrows)

March Mystery Madness 2019

It’s about that time of the year again and my favorite month of the year for reading. “What are you talking about?” you ask? Why it’s about time for the March Mystery Madness readathon. March Mystery Madness is a readathon that was created four years ago by two Booktubers Elizabeth (lizziefayeLovesBooks) and Troi (Troi Towel). Since then, the readathon has been expanded to Goodreads, Twitter and Instagram. The first year I participated was two years ago, less than a month after I started making videos on Booktube. Last year, Elizabeth wanted to add more co-hosts and asked me to be one of them, which I accepted. I was asked to be a co-host again this year and I couldn’t turn it down.

Like most readathons, there are challenges for this one. We have established five one word prompts which can be interpreted by readers in various ways and a bonus prompt for this year. The books that qualify are more than just mysteries. They can be thrillers, suspense, police procedural, true crime, pretty much anything that some sort of mystery of any kind is to be solved. The challenges/prompts are:

1.) Old – Read an older mystery/thriller such as a Sherlock Holmes book or one written by Agatha Christie. Or it could be a historical mystery or thriller. Or it could be one that gives you an old feeling.

2.) Again – Reread a mystery or thriller or read one by an author in which you read another one of their books or read another book in a series.

3.) New – Read a newly released mystery or thriller, or read a book that you just bought, or read one that is by an author that you’ve never any of their works.

4.) Borrowed – Read a mystery or thriller you checked out from a library, or one borrowed from a friend, or one from Kindle Unlimited.

5.) Blue – Read a mystery or thriller with a blue cover, or one that has blue in the title, or one that makes you feel blue, or one that has a setting around blues music.

Bonus) Read a mystery or thriller that has a wedding in it.

If you want to participate in it and make a video on YouTube or a post on Instagram, please leave #MarchMysteryMadness somewhere that it will let us know that others know that you are participating.

Here’s the announcement video that I posted on Booktube this morning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN9bfl5kgio&t=1s

The Goodreads group for this readathon can be found at: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/184109-mystery-madness

I have a Goodreads group that does a read-along of a book in a series each month. The book that we will be reading next month will be Pop Goes the Weasel by James Patterson. That book would qualify for the again challenge if you have been reading these along with the group or if you read anything by James Patterson before. My Goodreads group can be found at: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/602824-world-of-sleuths

I will be posting more videos related to this throughout the rest of this month and next month. I will post something here when I make the videos that pertains the subject matter for this blog.

Below are the links to the other co-hosts channel. The will be posting videos from today through the end of March that promise to be interesting, so you might want to view them and subscribe if you have a Google account (that includes a gmail account). Here are their channels and other links:

Creators:
LizziefayeLovesBooks
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA5YIIIh2MQ9wFrMXazPn1g

Troi Towel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDXuAdVsxAgVIpuqcIZrOpw

Goodreads Moderator/Twitter Host:
Disis19 Hearts
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUivQ7uYwojmtr8pQj75S-A

Co-Hosts:
Courtagonist
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGli6OijbAYLXxGGrcU7HZg

FreeFormLady
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDlB5VwrhV1fman6-xffh6g

Jayne Catherine On Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6FLwH_JclBvP3za2X9k9MA

KayT
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqWD_kolwsDNOjc3FPlN7Zg

mom2triplets04
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTD2t_Jo0lrlrT-7DSzvanQ

Paperback Junky
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa_Bj_lFQ5nCbM6flBlKhYA

Pretty Brown Eye Reader
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXA0kXgLIwcCjZ92LIChZw

Remembered Reads
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpslOZdjsglmXfq1AfPJ2dA

Retired Book Nerd
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEHdvdxilEkeGvVg_Q6Kp3w

Steeped in Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz9qRN473ffD7HtUHZbQjtw

Steve Donoghue
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1B9FfvVLRt8s6scUa79oag

The Redhead is Reading
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC10eg9LiUkB1U5pDQzYpG8g

World of Sleuths
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_6HnShtKqQySiYKAC5ORpw

Guest host:
Books Like Whoa
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzfZdP0V5wRtO3xR79nAS2A

Mystery Madness Goodreads Group:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/184109-mystery-madness

Twitter for the readathon
https://www.twitter.com/marchmysmadness

Book Review #57: The Woman in White

I would like to first start off by apologizing to my readers for not posting any reviews for the past four months.  It mainly due to my health problems.  One of my New Years resolutions is to post reviews all of the books that I read into one of my blogs.  The ones that are old enough to fall into the Public Domain will be posted in this blog.  The others will be posted in my other blog, World of Sleuths.  I have some more ideas for posts that I will go into over the next two or three months.

The Woman in White is a mystery/thriller novel by Wilkie Collins that was originally published in 1860.  This book is written in a similar style as Dracula was written where it is a combination of documents written by characters in the story.  In this story they are written more in the form documents for a inquiry for a law suit.  It is either as characters testimony or their journal entries.  This story starts out with Walter Hartright who is an artist by trade and gives private lessons to people.  He applies for and is offered a position in the country at an estate where he will be instructing two younger women, Miriam Halcombe and her half-sister Laura Fairlie, and he will board at the estate.  The night before he is to leave London, he comes across a mysterious woman dressed all in white while walking back to his flat after visiting his mother and sister.  This mysterious woman asks him to walk with her into London where she disappears.  When Walter arrives to the estate, he is greeted by Miriam and doesn't meet Laura until later.  When he see's Laura, he cant believe how much she looks like the mysterious woman.  He starts falling in love with Laura during his time there until he finds out that she is engaged to be married to Sir Percival Glyde, who along with his friend Count Fosco, has plans, other than what he perceives, to swindle Laura's inheritance. 

This book had been put on my radar as one to read after reading David Morrell's novel Inspector of the Dead where he included an essay about thrillers and how this novel is credited to be around the first thriller.  It was a slow read for me because of how it is written and the sheer size of the book.  After reading it, I'm glad I did and plan to read more novels by Wilkie Collins in the future.

If interested in reading this book, you can download it at the following sites in various formats:

Project Gutenberg:  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/583

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Woman-White-Wilkie-Collins-ebook/dp/B0082Z447U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1548387956&sr=1-1&keywords=the+woman+in+white+by+wilkie+collins

Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/woman-in-white-wilkie-collins/1001834504?ean=9781365970399


Tim's Rating:  ➷➷➹➹➹
(Five out of six arrows)

Book Review #56: When a Man Marries

When a Man Marries is a short novel that was originally a play written by Mary Roberts Rinehart.  In this story, Kit is trying to cheer up her friend Jim who is depressed because it was two years to the day that his divorce with the woman that he is still deeply in love. Kit decides that they will have a dinner with several of their friends that evening and then play bridge. After all of their socialite friends and others have been eating, Jim's butler becomes very ill and they send for a doctor. Before the doctor arrives, all of Jim's servants disappear from the house. After the doctor arrives, he believes that the butler has small pox and quarantines the house with all of Jim's guests having to stay there until the quarantine is lifted. It is full of humor with all of these wealthy people having to do work which they have never done in their lives such as cook. There is a mystery included in the story when the guests' valuables start disappearing.

I enjoyed this book even with the romance that occurs in it. It kept my wondering what will happen next.

If interested in reading this book, you can download it from free in various e-book formats from the following sites:

Project Gutenberg:  https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1671

Many Books:  http://manybooks.net/titles/rinehartetext99whamm10.html

You can also purchase it from the following site in various formats:

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/When-Marries-Mary-Roberts-Rinehart-ebook/dp/B0082S24PQ?keywords=When+a+man+marries&qid=1537754604&sr=8-1&ref=sr_1_1

Barnes& Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-a-man-marries-mary-roberts-rinehart/1104709765?ean=9781548663230

Tim's Rating:  ➷➷➹➹➹
(Five out of six arrows)

Book Review #55: Love Insurance

Love Insurance was written by Earl Derr Biggers, who later on wrote the Charlie Chan books. In this book, a gentleman walks into the Lloyds of London office in New York City and introduces himself as Lord Harrowby and wants to take out an insurance policy to insure that his wedding with Miss Cynthia Meyrick in two weeks in San Marco, Florida. After making the policy Mr. Richard Minot was ordered to go down on the yacht that Lord Harrowby was to leave on that evening to San Marco to make sure the wedding goes on without a hitch.

After being thrown off the yacht by the supposed owner just before departure, Richard ended up taking a train down to Florida. After the train gets into Florida, Richard notices that the train was going slow. There was a beautiful young woman near him and agreed. They got off the train and hired a taxi to take them to San Marco. By the time they got to San Marco Richard fell in love with this woman. When they got to San Marco, Richard found out that the woman is Cynthia Meyrick, which saddened him that he had to help Lord Harrowby marry her. There are several incidents that happen after that which threatened the wedding.

This book as humorous moments along with plenty of action. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

If interested in reading this book, you can download it from the various sites: 

Project Gutenberg:  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56077

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Love-Insurance-Earl-Derr-Biggers-ebook/dp/B0091M9JQO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1536686925&sr=8-2&keywords=love+insurance

Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-insurance-edward-lee/1121328365?ean=2940151371575

Tim's Rating:  ➷➷➹➹➹
(Five out of six arrows)

Book Review #54: The Window at the White Cat

The Window at the White Cat is a mystery novel written by Mary Roberts Rinehart and was originally published in 1910. Jack Knox is an attorney in a city when a beautiful 19 year old woman comes to his office to ask him to help her find her father who is the state treasurer and has been missing. Because of her father’s position, she doesn’t want it to go public. Jack gets a detective to help him and there are mysterious happening from the start such as footsteps at night after everybody has gone to bed and the disappearance of objects and other people at night. Jack believes all of this is tied together and is set on seeing to these mysteries end.

There is action throughout the book and the mysteries aren’t solved until the last few chapters of the book. There is a little bit of romance tied in, but enough to ruin the story. This is only the third book of hers that I’ve read and am quickly becoming a fan. I highly recommend this book if you want to read a mystery that is in the public domain.

If interested in reading this book, you can download it in various e-book formats from the following sites:

Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34020

Many Books: http://manybooks.net/titles/rinehart3402034020-8.html

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Window-at-White-Cat-ebook/dp/B004UJSJKA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533243213&sr=8-1&keywords=the+window+at+the+white+cat

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-window-at-the-white-cat-by-mary-roberts-rinehart-mary-roberts-rinehart/1028944824?ean=2940012542021

Tim’s Rating:  ➷➷➹➹➹

(Five out of six arrows)

Book Review #53: The Wisdom of Father Brown

The Wisdom of Father Brown was the second collection of Father Brown short stories written by G.K. Chesterton. Father Browns friend, Flambeau, criminal turned detective, appears in around half of the stories in this book where Father brown solves mysteries, be it a death or theft, in his own unique way. There are some names and places repeated in these stories.

There is action in these books varying by degrees. Some hold the reader’s interest better than others. These stories are good, but not quite as good as the ones in The Innocence of Father Brown.

If interested in reading this book, you can download it from the following sites in various formats:

Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/223

Many Books: http://manybooks.net/titles/chestertetext95wifrb11.html

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Father-Brown-Stories-Book-ebook/dp/B00MF0ZVWK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1528224913&sr=1-1&keywords=the+wisdom+of+father+brown

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-complete-father-brown-mysteries-collection-g-k-chesterton/1102283690?ean=2940012630988

Tim's Rating:  ➷➷➹➹

(Four out of six arrows)

Book Review #52: The Man in Lower Ten

The Man in Lower Ten is a mystery novel written by Mary Roberts Rinehart which first in magazines in 1906 in serialized form and was published as a novel in 1909. Lawrence Blakely is in attorney who has to travel by train to Pittsburgh from Washington D.C. to get depositions for a major forgery case. On his return trip, is is assigned berth lower ten in car seven for sleeping. When he goes to his assigned berth, there is a man drunk and passed out in his berth, which he can’t wake. He is given an open berth across from his assigned one. When he wakes in the morning, he discovers his clothes and other possessions have been stolen, including is bag that held the signed depositions. Even worse, the man that was found in his assigned berth is founded murdered and everything is pointing at Blakely as the murderer. Will he be able to to find actual murderer and avoid avoid jail time for himself and also find the depositions?

This is a good story and the author keeps you wondering if the truth will be found. That said, I didn’t like it as well as The Circular Staircase by the same author.

If interested in reading this story, you can download it from the following sites in various formats:

Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1869

Many Books: http://manybooks.net/titles/rinehartetext99tmilt10.html

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Lower-Mary-Roberts-Rinehart-ebook/dp/B0082UL4F0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1525733491&sr=1-1&keywords=the+man+in+lower+ten

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-man-in-lower-ten-by-mary-roberts-rinehart-mary-roberts-rinehart/1028634242?ean=2940012539212

Tim's Rating: ➷➷➹➹

(Four out of six arrows)

Book Review #51: The Circular Staircase

The Circular Staircase is a mystery novel written by Mary Roberts Rinehart and was originally published in 1908. In this book, Rinehart’s first bestseller, Rachel Innes, a well-to-do spinstress rents a home in the country for the summer. Her orphaned niece and nephew, Gertrude and Halsey, who are in their early twenties and are in her custody arrive to the rented house the day after Rachel. On the her first night at the house, Rachel starts hearing noises in the stairway at around 3:00 AM. When she opens her bedroom door to investigate, the noises had stopped and nobody is there. When Gertrude and Halsey arrive the next day, Halsey has a friend along who plans on staying the night. That night there are gun shots in the house, again at 3:00 AM. When they get downstairs, there is a dead body on the floor and Halsey, along with his friend have disappeared. Rachel decides to try solving this crime since it appears the Halsey and Gertrude might be implicated with the murder. Along the way, many more mysterious things happen.

The way this book is written, the author draws the readers in and keeps their attention by everything that goes on without there being too much that would cause readers to get confused. There is plenty action and mysteries in this book and is a very good read.

If interested in reading this book, you can download it in various formats from the following sites:

Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/434

Many Books: http://manybooks.net/titles/rinehartetext96circs10.html

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Circular-Staircase-Mary-Roberts-Rinehart-ebook/dp/B0083ZIT7A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523979216&sr=8-1&keywords=the+circular+staircase+mary+roberts+rinehart

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-circular-staircase-by-mary-roberts-rinehart-mary-roberts-rinehart/1028636253?ean=2940012539243

Tim's Rating:  ➷➷➹➹➹ 

(Five out of six arrows)

Book Review #50: Seven Keys to Baldpate

Seven Keys to Baldpate was the debut novel written by Earl Derr Biggers, first published in 1913. It was later adapted a play and has been adapted to movies several times, as well as radio and television. It takes place the week before Christmas at Baldpate Inn, a summer resort on Baldpate Mountain in upstate New York. Billy Magee, author of several light romance novel goes up to Baldpate Inn during the night, which is closed for the winter, planning to live there in seclusion in order to write the ultimate novel. He has a key to the inn and figures he will be the only one there. Shortly after his arrival and for the next twenty four hours, a cast of characters arrive with their own stories for wanting seclusion, most of them tall tales to cover what they are really after. Their true purposes come to light throughout the story as well as a mystery unfolds.

Biggers went on to write several other novels and screenplays, including six Charlie Chan novels. Many of his works are mystery and detective based, but there is usually a romantic thread included in them. This book was a bestseller for him.

There is plenty of action in this book with humor and a romantic thread tied in to keep most readers interested. It’s hard to figure out the outcome of the mystery in it until the final few chapters of the book. It is an enjoyable read.

If interested in reading this book, you can down load it in various ebook formats from the following sites:

Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30836

Many Books: http://manybooks.net/titles/biggerse3083630836-8.html

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Baldpate-Biggers-Unabridged-Original-Version/dp/1973986523/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522979322&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+keys+to+baldplate

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seven-keys-to-baldpate-earl-derr-biggers/1100078788?ean=2940148864943

Tim's Rating:  ➷➷➹➹➹

(Five out of six arrows)

If you want to find out more about the rating system this blog uses, please see http://world-of-sleuths.blogspot.com/2018/04/new-rating-system.html.