A bully is
found shot to death, in a locked room bolted from the inside. A boy is
entrusted to carry money to pay for cattle, because no one would suspect a boy
of having that much money with him. A letter is forged. A sailor, long believed
dead, returns home, to claim his inheritance. A former sheriff is suspected of
carrying off country revenues. An innocent man is about to be hung by
vigilantes. A girl is cheated out of her inheritance. And more.
The 22
stories that comprise Uncle
Abner: Master of Mysteries are all set just before the American Civil
War. The geography is the mountains of western Virginia, before the war changed
the region into the state of West Virginia. The reach of the state government
in Richmond barely extends into the mountains, and enforcing law and order is
generally left to individual sheriffs and county judges. And to men like Uncle
Abner.
Melville Davisson
Post (1869-1930), born and raised in West Virginia, created Uncle Abner,
one of six fictional detectives populating many of the 230 books written by the
author during his lifetime. Of all of Post’s creations, Uncle Abner is the best
known and best remembered. The Uncle Abner stories were serialized between 1911
and 1928 in magazine likes The Saturday
Evening Post. Numerous critics – then and now – consider these stories to
be among the finest mysteries every written.
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| Melville Davisson Post |
Uncle
Abner (his last name is never mentioned) is a bear of man, who knows his Bible
and quotes it frequently and often with devastating effect. He also knows human
nature, and especially the natures of the people of western Virginia. He’s also
physically large, his size being useful for bashing in locked doors, for
example. He is also not intimated by the often lawless types he meets and
knows.
Most of
the stories are narrated by Abner’s nephew, Martin, who often accompanies his
uncle during his investigations and travels. Martin is no naïve child; in this
region, children have to grow up quickly. And he observes his uncle closely. (In
one story, Martin is also the boy entrusted by his father with serving as a
courier for the payment for cattle, and finds himself very close to death.)
The
stories of Uncle Abner: Master of
Mysteries are a slice of Americana from both the period in which they were
written and the period they’re about. And they are still fine mysteries.
Related:
Top photograph by Jean Beaufort via
Public
Domain Pictures. Used with permission.