Mary Roberts Rinehart - The Man In Lower Ten

The first detective novel ever to appear on national bestseller lists, The Man In Lower Ten is still a delightful read decades after its publication - written by Mary Roberts Rinehart, perhaps the greatest American mystery writer of her generation. 


The Man In Lower Ten has all the thrills of a contemporary whodunit plus a satiric edge that gently mocks the conventions of male detective fiction.


Vividly imagined, it combines adventure, suspense, horror, and mystery at breakneck speed.


Our hero, Lawrence Blakely, attorney-at-law, sets off by train to deliver vital documents in a criminal case: a fortune in forged banknotes. 


His ride will be eventful. 


Along the way he'll encounter romance, treachery, a train wreck, even a murder in which he'll become the prime suspect when the murder weapon is found under his pillow.


Who's after Blakely and his papers—and why? 


MARY ROBERTS RINEHART (1876–1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie.


Rinehart is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it" from her novel The Door (1930), although the novel does not use the exact phrase. 


Rinehart is also considered to have invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing, with the publication of The Circular Staircase (1908).


She also created a costumed super-criminal called "the Bat", often cited by cartoonist Bob Kane as one of the inspirations for his iconic detective series Batman.