5 h 41 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 41 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the ghost is a trick—and someone is counting on your fear?
In A Master of Mysteries, L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace bring John Bell face to face with apparently uncanny events. A house seems haunted. A curse seems to work. Where others see spirits, Bell sees a claim to test. His task is to find a plain cause beneath the fear—and uncover who has reason to create it.
These six detective stories explore ghostly deception, hidden science, and the power of belief. Their central concerns are Bell’s practical method, the machinery that makes strange effects possible, and the fear that villains exploit. Medicine and chemistry offer possibilities that look like magic to the unwary. The tension lies between what people believe and what Bell can establish.
What you’ll discover
- Ghosts put to the test Follow Bell as he treats each apparent haunting as a problem rather than proof.
- Science behind the strange Explore how nature and technique can produce effects that seem to defy explanation.
- Fear becomes a weapon See how belief in a curse gives a deceiver room to act.
- Motives beneath the mystery Look beyond the supposed spirits for people with something to gain.
- Brisk Victorian puzzles Enjoy short cases where uncanny atmosphere meets a determined search for plain causes.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy locked-room puzzles, haunted houses with a rational secret, and clever Victorian inventors. It suits readers who like a calm, curious detective and a night of suspense.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A lawyer's letter sends Bell to a death
- A family curse sets a trap in the chapel
- Two signalmen die at the tunnel mouth
- A voice in the lock follows a lost bracelet
- An idol speaks and a doctor hesitates
- A dummy, a missed train, and a night drive
- Fear is the real machine in every case
- Each tale builds a night of dread
Who’s who
- John BellA gentleman of private means and a professional ghost exposer who uses science and nerve to explain haunted houses.
- Mr. EdgcombeBell's lawyer and old friend, who sends him to the Castle Inn to look into the death of a young painter.
- Allen ClintonThe heir to Clinton Abbey, who wants to marry Phyllis Curzon despite his dying father's strange pleas and an old family curse.
- Geoffrey BainbridgeChairman of the Lytton Vale Railway, who seeks Bell's help after one signalman's mysterious death puts an innocent man on trial.
- Ralph VynerA wiry naval engineer among the houseboat guests, who shares Bell's love of science and watches the Countess's diamonds.
- Helen ThesigerA loyal niece who stays beside her uncle, believes in his sanity and suspects foul play at The Hynde.
- Arthur CressleyA gentle man home from Australia with a fortune, who wants to restore Cressley Hall despite its fearful reputation.
- Dr. LaurierA young specialist in mental illness who hesitates to sign a certificate and asks Bell to help him find the truth.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
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.
Un maître des mystères
by L. T. Meade; Robert Eustace · 1898
John Bell uses science to investigate a bed that will not move and a mysterious voice inside a lock.
Easy read5–10 hours to readfrançais
Excellent
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
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
What would you do if you were told to sleep in a room where three men have already died, and no doctor can say why? John Bell does it.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A lawyer's letter sends Bell to a death
The first case begins with a short letter from a lawyer. Mr. Edgcombe asks his friend John Bell to call on a matter of the utmost privacy. Archibald Wentworth, a rising painter and heir to a great estate, has died at a lonely inn on the River Merran. The doctors find a healthy body, no poison and no wound, so the coroner writes syncope, a learned word for an unknown cause.
In the village of Harkhurst, the landlady tells Bell the painter died of fright. The doctor admits he has attended three similar inquests, each with the same verdict. Bell leaves a letter to be posted if he has not returned in three days, and he walks to the Castle Inn alone.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1898
- Language
- français
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Meade, L. T., and Robert Eustace. A Master of Mysteries. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-master-of-mysteries.
Meade, L. T., & Eustace, R. (2026). A master of mysteries. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-master-of-mysteries (Original work published 1898)
Meade, L. T., and Robert Eustace. A Master of Mysteries. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-master-of-mysteries.
@book{meade2026master,
author = {Meade, L. T. and Eustace, Robert},
title = {A Master of Mysteries},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-master-of-mysteries},
note = {First published 1898}
}
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 Un maître des mystères
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 A Master of Mysteries about?
It is a collection of six detective tales told by John Bell, a professional ghost exposer. In each one he investigates a haunted house, curse or strange voice and looks for a scientific explanation behind the fear.
Who is John Bell in A Master of Mysteries?
Bell is a gentleman with private means who has made it his life's work to explain supposed hauntings through science. He narrates every tale, travels to lonely places, and often risks his own safety to test a theory.
Are the ghosts in A Master of Mysteries real?
Each tale builds a frightening atmosphere, then Bell works out an explanation based on observation and science. The pleasure of the book lies in watching how each apparent haunting is understood step by step.
More by L. T. Meade; Robert Eustace
Voir tous ses livresMore like this
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
