7 h 31 minAudiobook12 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
A murder, a circle of suspects, and small facts that refuse to fit: what will you notice first?
In The Clue, Carolyn Wells introduces Fleming Stone, a detective who relies on observation and reasoning rather than force. A murder leaves a circle of people under suspicion. The challenge is to weigh what you learn, consider who could have acted, and decide which details deserve a closer look.
Published in 1909, this mystery belongs to the early years of the detective novel, when puzzle stories are finding eager readers. Stone’s gift for close attention gives you a way into the case. You can follow his reasoning while testing your own suspicions, ready to change your mind as small facts take on weight.
What you’ll discover
- Meet Fleming Stone Discover the investigator’s first appearance, where close attention matters more than force.
- A puzzle to play Keep your own list of possibilities as you weigh who could have acted.
- Small facts worth weighing Enjoy the quiet challenge of setting one detail beside another and testing its importance.
- Reasoning takes the lead Follow a detective whose strength lies in noticing what others may miss.
- Early detective fiction Explore a mystery from the years when one crime could shape a whole novel.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy a closed circle of suspects, a locked house and a trail of small physical clues, and for anyone who likes to guess the culprit alongside an amateur sleuth in love.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A proud house and a vast fortune
- The eve of the wedding
- A cry for help at half past eleven
- Two doctors and a clean white hand
- A soft pencil and a copied hand
- Locked doors and a missing quarter hour
- Suspects, a burned paper and a cachou
- Love, money and the power of appearances
- How the puzzle is built and solved
Who’s who
- Robert FessendenA New York lawyer and amateur detective who is determined to prove his friend Carleton innocent and who falls for Kitty along the way.
- Kitty FrenchMadeleine's lively bridesmaid who insists from the first that her friend was murdered and becomes Fessenden's helper and companion.
- Schuyler CarletonThe reserved fiancé who finds the body, will not explain his errand and wants to protect the woman he truly loves.
- Tom WillardMadeleine's cheerful, hot-tempered cousin who loves her, has just come home from abroad and would inherit the fortune on her death.
- Cicely DupuyMadeleine's secretary, who copies her handwriting, admits to writing the note and is secretly devoted to Carleton.
- Miss MortonA sharp-tongued old friend of the dead uncle who arrives the day before the wedding and finds she has inherited the house.
- Fleming StoneThe renowned detective called to Mapleton, who listens kindly to everyone and searches every room for what others missed.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 31 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 12 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.
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25 languages, side by side
Read and hear L'indizio 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.
L'indizio
by Carolyn Wells · 1909
A bride lies stabbed in her library on the eve of her wedding, and one man holds the only latchkey.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Clue is a detective novel by Carolyn Wells, an American writer who produced many mysteries in the early twentieth century. It opens in the quiet New Jersey village of Mapleton, where the richest and proudest young woman in town is about to marry.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A proud house and a vast fortune
The story begins with the Van Norman mansion, the finest house in Mapleton, a white Colonial building set back among tended lawns. Its mistress is Madeleine Van Norman, twenty-two years old, beautiful, haughty and an orphan. Villagers admire her but do not love her, and she keeps even close friends at a distance.
Her late uncle Richard left her the house at once. His great fortune would come to her when she married, or at the age of twenty-three if she stayed single. If she died before either, the whole estate would pass to her distant cousin Tom Willard. That one clause shapes everything that follows.
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What is The Clue by Carolyn Wells about?
It is a detective novel about the murder of Madeleine Van Norman, a rich young woman in Mapleton, on the eve of her wedding. An amateur lawyer-detective and a famous investigator try to find who killed her.
Who is Fleming Stone?
Fleming Stone is a celebrated detective, nearly fifty, with a kind face and quiet manner. Carolyn Wells used him as the hero of many mysteries, and in this book he is called in when the local investigation stalls.
What does the note found on the table mean?
The note says the writer loves S. but is not loved in return, and it appears to be a suicide message. The story treats it as a puzzle about who wrote it, when, and who S. stands for.
The author
Carolyn Wells
1862–1942 · American humorist and mystery writer
Carolyn Wells (1862–1942) was an American writer born in Rahway, New Jersey. She later lived in New York City, where she died. She wrote poetry, humor, children's books, and mystery novels. Her works include the Patty and Marjorie series, The Clue (1909), and The Gold Bag (1911).
More by Carolyn Wells
All 6 booksMore like this
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