6 h 33 minAudiobook16 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What can a hidden identity conceal—and what might guilt reveal?
Andrew Lang’s The Mark of Cain is a brisk Victorian mystery of crime, secrets and suspicion. Deception, identity and justice shape its questions. What can appearances tell us? What might they hide? This is a tale for readers who enjoy uncertainty without the weight of a long, slow novel.
The title draws on the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis. According to that text, Cain kills his brother and receives a mark from God. That reference brings the idea of visible guilt into focus, inviting you to consider hidden identity and the difficult question of how justice is earned.
What you’ll discover
- Secrets and suspicion Enter a Victorian mystery where crime and deception make appearances a source of doubt.
- The question of identity Explore the tension between what can be seen and what a hidden identity conceals.
- A title with weight Consider how the Genesis reference brings guilt and recognition into the book’s central questions.
- Justice beyond appearances Follow a mystery that places justice alongside the unsettling possibilities of deception and hidden identity.
- A brisk Victorian tale Enjoy a sharp story that offers the lighter side of Victorian fiction without a lingering pace.
Who will love it
Readers who love Victorian crime, clever clue-hunting, witty narrators and odd inventors. If you enjoy London fog, riverside pubs, Oxford dons and a villain who gets what he deserves, this book is for you.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A card game exposes a cheat
- A dead man in the snow
- Margaret at Miss Marlett's school
- The forged telegram and the vanished girl
- A doctor says the death was murder
- Cranley's plan and the poisoned oranges
- A trusting widow and a trap in Paris
- A night of knives, wheels and wings
- What the story is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Robert MaitlandA shy, rich Oxford Fellow who runs a riverside pub as a charity and guards a ward whose father has died.
- Frank BartonA big, cheerful, clever doctor in Chelsea and author of a book on tattooing, who spots a cheat and doubts a verdict.
- Thomas CranleyA smooth, middle-aged gentleman with a bad name, who will do anything to protect his own interests.
- Margaret ShieldsA bright, brown-eyed schoolgirl, daughter of a tattooer, who longs to earn her own living and be independent.
- Mrs. St. John DeloraineA kind, impulsive widow who runs the Bunhouse for wild young women and trusts everyone, however unwisely.
- Mrs. GullickThe landlady of the Hit or Miss, loyal to Maitland and fond of her daughter Eliza, the little actress.
- Eliza GullickA small pantomime performer who wears a bear costume at home and swears she saw a huge bird on the roof.
- William WinterA thin, battered inventor who tests a flying machine at night on waste ground behind the pub.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 33 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 16 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear La marca de Caín in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
La marca de Caín
by Andrew Lang · 1886
A schoolgirl vanishes in a fog of forged telegrams, and a tattooer's body turns up in a cartload of London snow.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
The Mark of Cain is a mystery novel by Andrew Lang, a Scottish writer best known for his folklore, poetry and essays. Here he turns to crime fiction set in the London of his own day, with a poisoner, a missing schoolgirl, a riverside pub and an Oxford scholar who wants to be useful and cannot quite manage it.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A card game exposes a cheat
The book opens in the Strangers Room of the Olympic Club, where Robert Maitland of St. Gatien's College, Oxford, is hosting a dinner he does not enjoy. He is a pale, serious man who does everything from duty, and he cannot wait for his twenty guests to go home. His old school friend Frank Barton sits down beside him. Barton is a big, fair, cheerful doctor who studied in Vienna and Paris, who has written a learned book on tattooing and chooses to practise among the poor of Chelsea.
Barton asks about one guest in particular, the Honourable Thomas Cranley. Cranley is a middle-aged man with a jester's face, a huge cat's-eye pin and a habit of surrounding himself with undergraduates. Barton knows he has left a university, a regiment and half the clubs of Europe under a cloud. Maitland knows only that Cranley tells good stories about the South Seas, and that Bielby, his college adviser, has told him to meet all sorts of people.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about La marca de Caín
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Mark of Cain by Andrew Lang about?
It is a Victorian mystery about a rich Oxford Fellow, his doctor friend and a vanished schoolgirl. A tattooer is found dead in a cart of snow, and a charming rogue appears to be behind a plot involving a forged telegram.
Who are the main characters in The Mark of Cain?
Robert Maitland is the shy Oxford philanthropist and guardian. Frank Barton is the doctor who spots the crime. Thomas Cranley is the villain. Margaret Shields is the girl at the centre. Mrs. St. John Deloraine is the trusting widow.
What does the mark of Cain mean in the book?
The title points to a mark on a person's body that stands for guilt and for tribal identity. A scholar in the book connects such marks to the story of Cain, and tattoos are the central clue of the plot.
The author
Andrew Lang
1844–1912 · Scottish poet and folklorist
Andrew Lang was a Scottish writer born in Selkirk in 1844. He lived in London and died in Banchory in 1912. He wrote poetry, novels, literary criticism, and works on folklore. He edited The Blue Fairy Book, published in 1889, and other fairy-book collections, including The Violet Fairy Book in 1901.
More by Andrew Lang
All 16 books
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in mystery and crime
See all
Free
