Heather’s Bookshelf: The Man in Lower Ten
Author: Mary Roberts Rinehart
Released: 04/30/2024
Genre: Mystery, Classic Retelling
“But I digress. That’s the trouble with an amateur storyteller; they meander and lose focus. They discard characters when they’re done with them and forget important details. And if they add a love affair, they give a sigh of relief when the characters reach the happily-ever-after in the final chapter.”
“The Man in Lower Ten” is a classic mystery rewritten for a modern audience. Originally released in 1909, this version comes out of 2024 and includes a writing tone true to Mary Roberts Rinehart. Short descriptions at the beginning of chapters also reference concepts and items that are now obscure.
“The Man in the Lower Ten” follows Lawrence Blakely, an attorney boarding a train the intent to deliver important papers to his destination. As part of the firm, Blakely, his partner warns him to be careful with his belongings.
His warnings go unheeded as Blakely soon loses the documents and the rest of his other belongings too. However, when a man is found murdered, Blakely becomes a prime suspect. On the brink of disaster, the train he’s on is wrecked. Saved by a mysterious young woman with ties to his business partner, Blakely and his new companion escape the carnage of the ill-fated train. His arm broken, he’s accused of murder, and there’s just something about that woman…
Will Blakely find out the truth before it’s too late?
Trigger Warning: violence, murder, death
Overall, I enjoyed this book. Told through the POV of Blakely, his voice provides insight into his emotions, motivations, and concerns. This book is super fast moving with so much packed into the first forty pages, it’s a little hard to keep up. It starts out like some other popular, recent mystery book-turned-movie. A little different is that the narrator/protagonist is accused of the murder that inevitably kicks off the tale. Even more unexpected is the crash of the train that throws everything into disarray. Inherently a who-dun-it type of murder mystery, there’s also a bit of a buddy comedy and a sweet little romance too. There’s not a ton of either, but it’s enough to break up what could be an overwhelmingly serious undertone. I enjoyed the development of several of the other ancillary characters as well including McKnight (friend and business partner) and Mrs. Klopton (housekeeper and confidant). I also felt that the last three chapters were very revealing and tied up everything nicely from the whole story. However, until that point it was hard to figure out the answer and I must admit I had to read these chapters a couple of times due to the amount of characters included and discussed. This story feels like a modern one, so the editors/current publisher did a nice job with the version. I’d be interested in reading more from this author and am happy to have learned more about this classic storyteller.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A classic mystery retelling with some comedy and romance thrown in. Good pacing and some surprises along the way provide an interesting who-dun-it with a bit of a confusing end.
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