Final Proof
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Twelve mysteries, dozens of clues, and two detectives matching wits
Detective Jack Barnes is good at his job—no nonsense and thorough, his dogged nature makes him the best at what he does. Mr. Robert Leroy Mitchel is entirely different: a gentleman and an amateur sleuth, Mitchel is confident in his ability to find answers where the professionals cannot. But by choice or circumstance the two are thrown together in pursuit of the truth. Sometimes partners, often competitors, these dueling detectives tackle a slew of unsolvable cases in Gilded Age New York: a body washed up in the river after its cremation, the disappearance of a priceless emerald that leaves a trail of death in its wake, and an IOU demanding a man's life, to name a few.
A long-neglected master of detective stories, Rodrigues Ottolengui was a gifted dentist and lover of mysteries whose work established forensic dentistry as a science and emphasized the value of evidence. Through crisp prose, captivating plot twists, and charming characters, Ottolengui's collection of stories delves into the bizarre—sometimes dangerous, sometimes ridiculous—side of human nature.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Library of Congress Crime Classics series rescues another gifted author from obscurity with this collection of 12 stories set in the 1890s featuring PI Jack Barnes and his amateur sleuth friend, Robert Leroy Mitchel. Ottolengui (1861 1937), who was also a dentist, makes good use of his expertise in the best entry, the intriguing "The Phoenix of Crime." The autopsy of a male corpse retrieved from New York City's East River reveals that the dead man's face is marked by an unusual skin disease shared by Rufus Quadrant, a wealthy gentleman who died recently and was supposedly cremated. Members of Quadrant's family swear that the cremation definitely occurred, despite Quadrant's doctor's conviction that the body dragged from the water was his patient. The clever solution hinges on an early use of forensic dentistry. Other highlights include "The Nameless Man," in which Barnes is consulted by a man who doesn't know his own identity, and "A Frosty Morning," in which Mitchel must identify the thief of a banknote stolen in the midst of a will reading. Mystery fans devoted to logical deduction will welcome this reissue.
