9 h 3 minAudiobook4 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 if the answer sits in plain view, hidden only by what everyone expects to see?
In The Sleuth of St. James's Square, Melville Davisson Post presents sixteen short detective puzzles built on cunning, deception, and careful reasoning. Each tale sets a problem and follows a detective at work. The crucial detail is often there for anyone to notice, but seeing it clearly makes all the difference.
The wrongdoers plan, conceal their purpose, and rely on others accepting a convenient story. Against them stands the art of looking again. These self-contained cases bring together clever reasoning and the workings of the law, with manners, settings, and a pace that belong to an earlier age. Every new puzzle asks you to weigh what matters.
What you’ll discover
- The overlooked detail Watch a small fact become the key to a problem others cannot solve.
- Deception with a purpose Meet wrongdoers who hide their intentions behind stories they expect others to believe.
- Reasoning at work Follow a detective's attention toward the point that changes the meaning of a scene.
- A case at a time Enjoy each complete puzzle without needing to carry clues from one tale into another.
- An earlier detective world Settle into older manners and measured pacing, where careful observation holds the pleasure.
Who will love it
For readers who love short, tidy detective puzzles, cunning and deception, and cases solved through sharp observation. For listeners who enjoy a complete case in a single sitting.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Each tale is a self-contained puzzle
- Seeing what others miss is the method
- Cunning and deception drive the crimes
- How to read and hear these stories
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- 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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L’investigatore di St. James’s Square
by Melville Davisson Post · 1920
A detective spots the small fact everyone else overlooks, turning cunning and deception into a puzzle you can test.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
Each tale is a self-contained puzzle
The book is a collection, so every story stands on its own. You do not need to remember one case to follow the next. Each tale opens with a problem, a crime or a strange situation that seems to have no clear explanation.
This suits the short form. A writer has only a few pages to set the scene, present the people involved and plant the facts that matter. Post works in that economy. The reader is given what the detective is given, and the pleasure lies in seeing how the pieces fit.
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What is The Sleuth of St. James's Square about?
It is a collection of short detective stories by Melville Davisson Post. Each tale presents a puzzle or crime and shows a detective solving it by noticing a detail that other people missed.
When was The Sleuth of St. James's Square written?
It was published in 1920. The stories are works of fiction, not true accounts, written in the period when short detective tales were a favorite form in magazines and books.
Who wrote The Sleuth of St. James's Square?
Melville Davisson Post, an American writer and lawyer who died in 1930. He is also remembered for his Uncle Abner stories and for his Randolph Mason tales about the law.
The author
Melville Davisson Post
1869–1930 · American mystery writer
Melville Davisson Post (1869–1930) was an American writer born in Harrison County, West Virginia. He worked as a lawyer and wrote detective fiction. His books included Uncle Abner, Master of Mysteries, published in 1918, and The Sleuth of St. James’s Square, published in 1920. He died in West Virginia.
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