Riassunto
Riassunto di Il mistero di Quattro-Pools
A chi è rivolto
Readers who like a classic whodunit with clues to weigh, a haunted old house, a lively courtship and a hero who talks his way into every room. It suits anyone fond of Southern settings and clever reporters.
Che cos’è questo libro
The Four-Pools Mystery is a detective novel by Jean Webster, who also wrote Daddy-Long-Legs. It is told by Arnold Crosby, a New York lawyer worn out by a forgery case, who goes south for a rest and walks into a haunting, a robbery and a death. You get a country house in the Shenandoah Valley, a family at war with itself, and a reporter who solves crimes faster than the police.
The book is built like a puzzle you can work on yourself. Arnold tells you what he sees, and he is a decent but stubborn guide. He trusts his first impressions, and some of them are wrong. Clues sit in plain view: a missing chicken, a black bundle crossing a lawn, a matchbox, a set of footprints. The author trusts you to notice them before the characters do.
It is also a portrait of a place and a time. Virginia in the early twentieth century shows its charm, its pride and its cruelty, and the story looks hard at how a master treats the people around him. There are courtship scenes, a ghost hunt by torchlight and a hearing in a packed courtroom. Let us begin where Arnold does, with a young newspaperman who walks into his office and refuses to leave.
In questo riassunto
- 1A reporter who makes the newsFree
- 2A homecoming to a changed house
- 3A ghost takes supper
- 4Polly, a rival and a sheet in the moonlight
- 5The safe is robbed and a detective arrives
- 6Clancy's theory and a Colonel who rules by temper
- 7A day at Luray Cave
- 8Arrest, inquest and a stubborn silence
- 9Terry steps off the train
Punto chiave 1 di 9
A reporter who makes the news
The story opens in New York with Arnold Crosby, a lawyer in a firm that rarely touches criminal cases. He has been handling the Patterson-Pratt forgery matter, and the publicity around it is the worst part. The cause of that publicity is Terry Patten, a reporter for the Post-Dispatch, a paper known for sensation.
Terry strolls into Arnold's office, takes a chair and begins asking impudent questions. He asks them with such friendly innocence that Arnold answers them before he can stop himself. Within a quarter of an hour Terry knows the inside of Arnold's affairs and is giving advice. Arnold is furious when he reads the paper the next morning, yet he finds himself hoping the young man will call again.
They become friends. Terry has an Irish face, a thorough education from the streets of the East Side and a university degree on top of it. He often solves crimes before the police do and prints the answer under the words our reporter. He has cooked on a millionaire's yacht to overhear secrets, tramped the countryside with a monkey and a hand organ after a suspect, and helped start a revolution in South America.
When the forgery case ends, Arnold is a nervous wreck and his doctor orders quiet. A fishing trip is proposed, and Terry laughs at it. He says the best rest in the world is a counterirritant, meaning a fresh problem to chase. He would as soon spend a holiday in the Sahara.
So Arnold thinks of Four-Pools, a stock farm in the Shenandoah Valley owned by his great-uncle, Colonel Gaylord. The Colonel gave him an open invitation months ago. The doctor loves the idea of outdoor life and no excitement. Arnold narrates the story years later, and he warns us that the doctor would have chosen differently had he known what was coming.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
- Nothing to pay today · Renews every year
- We email you before you pay
- Cancel online in two clicks
Questions about Il mistero di Quattro-Pools
What is The Four-Pools Mystery about?
A New York lawyer visits his uncle's Virginia plantation to rest and finds a ghost, a robbery and a death. His cousin is accused, and a clever reporter arrives to find the truth.
Who is Terry Patten?
Terry is a young Irish-American reporter for the Post-Dispatch who often solves crimes before the police. He is quick, impudent, charming and good at getting people to talk.
What is the Gaylord ha'nt?
Ha'nt is a Southern word for a haunt, or ghost. The Gaylord ha'nt is said to be the spirit of a man beaten to death by an ancestor, who walks the old cabins and laurel path.
Where and when is it set?
It is set in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, at a horse-breeding plantation called Four-Pools, in the early twentieth century. The nearby village is Lambert Corners and the county seat is Kennisburg.
Is The Four-Pools Mystery easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that matters: a clear first-person narrator, short chapters, lively dialogue and a steady supply of clues make it easy to follow and fun to puzzle over.