Story summary
Samenvatting van In Jeopardy
- 8 min. leestijd
- 10 parts
- Binnenkort te beluisteren
A stranger inherits a Maryland estate, and the seat at its library desk may be deadly.
3 months free · unlimited eBooks, audiobooks and summaries, and print and large print at cost
Nothing to pay today · We mailen je voordat je betaalt · Online opzeggen in twee klikken
In Jeopardy in het kort
Samenvatting: 8 min leestijd
- Leestijd
- Ongeveer 3 h 50 min3 h fast, 4 h 30 min slow
- Lengte
- 54.400 woorden
- Bibliotheekniveau
- Gemiddeld longer sentences, everyday words
- Voor het eerst verschenen
- 1922by Van Tassel Sutphen
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Hoelang het duurt om de klassiekers te lezen · Bijgewerkt
3 maanden gratis
Ontvang de volledige samenvatting van In Jeopardy, gratis
- 200.000+ klassiekers als e-books, luisterboeken en samenvattingen in 15 minuten, en gedrukte boeken, ook in grote letters, tegen drukkosten
- Tot 5 lezers bij je thuis met één plan
In Jeopardy in short
In Jeopardy follows a young man who comes to a Maryland funeral for a small keepsake and ends up master of a great house. Hugh Hildebrand finds a woman who becomes his wife, an enemy in the neighboring family, and a library where men have died. A doctor doubts a death, a jury finds nothing, and a chemist notices a rose, a cocoon, and a lens.
What In Jeopardy is about
What would you do if a man you met only once left you his whole estate? Hugh Hildebrand, a young Philadelphia lawyer with little to do, gets a short letter in June 1919. It asks him to attend the funeral of a distant cousin in Maryland and to hear a will read. He expects a small keepsake. He gets a great house.
In Jeopardy is a mystery novel by Van Tassel Sutphen, set in tidewater Maryland just after the First World War. Hugh tells the story himself. You get a painted library, a secret door, a hidden lookout, a rival family, and a cipher with a key that must be guessed.
Voor wie is het?. Readers who like a country house puzzle with a hidden door, a family feud, a cipher to work out, and a love story running through it.
The story in 10 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A letter calls Hugh to a funeral
Hugh Hildebrand is a young lawyer in Philadelphia, living on a quarterly income from his mother's estate. He has few clients and plenty of golf. One June morning in 1919 a special delivery letter wakes him. It invites him to the funeral of Francis Graeme, lord of Hildebrand Hundred in Maryland.
Hugh met Graeme only once, three months before, when the older man walked into his office, claimed him as a cousin, and took him to lunch. Now the cousin is dead, and the letter says Hugh is named in the will.
He expects a small legacy, perhaps enough for a mourning ring. He gets off the train at a lonely flag station and decides to walk. A farmer points him to a shortcut across a neighbor's land, a right of way the owner resents. Before he reaches the funeral, he has found an enemy.
A modest man on a small errand begins the tale, because Hugh does not know what he is walking into.
- 2Begin gratis met lezen
Hugh meets the Thanefords on a shortcut
On the path to the church a powerful young man with black, V-shaped eyebrows stops Hugh.
- 3Begin gratis met lezen
The will makes Hugh master of the Hundred
At the funeral Hugh meets the lawyer, Mr. Eldon, and the two mourners, Betty Graeme and her cousin Eunice Trevor.
- 4Begin gratis met lezen
A doctor doubts how Francis Graeme died
After dinner on the first night, Doctor Marcy makes a quiet confession.
- 5Begin gratis met lezen
An inquest, a secret door, and a yellow rose
The doctor withdraws his death certificate, and John Thaneford, who happens to be the coroner, must hold an inquest.
- 6Begin gratis met lezen
A lookout on Sugar Loaf and a strange lens
Next morning Warriner studies the library with a hammer and a steel rod.
- 7Begin gratis met lezen
The dying man's numbers and the safe
Betty tries to reach Fielding Thaneford.
- 8Begin gratis met lezen
A warning from the dead and a marriage under strain
Hugh explains the main kinds of cipher to Betty, and he makes her a square of letters for a system called the Undecipherable Cipher.
- 9Begin gratis met lezen
What the story says about inheritance, trust, and jealousy
The book is about what we inherit and what it costs.
- 10Begin gratis met lezen
How the story is told and what to watch for
Hugh tells the story in his own voice, years later.
Read all 10 key ideas now
3 months free, then USD 0,14 a day: unlimited eBooks, audiobooks and summaries, and print and large print at cost.
- Nothing to pay today
- We mailen je voordat je betaalt
- Online opzeggen in twee klikken
Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Hugh Hildebrand A young Philadelphia lawyer who tells the story and unexpectedly inherits Hildebrand Hundred. He wants to do the right thing and to win Betty.
- Betty Graeme Francis Graeme's adopted daughter, warm and clever. She wants to protect her family and to learn the secret behind her father's death.
- John Thaneford A rough, dark neighbor and cousin who believes the Hundred should be his. He wants the estate and will not accept losing it.
- Fielding Thaneford John's very old father, hairless and silent. After a stroke he tries to pass on one last message through numbers.
- Chalmers Warriner A chemist and moth collector with a sharp eye for small clues. He wants to understand how Francis Graeme died.
- Eunice Trevor Betty's pale, bitter cousin, who has lived as a poor relation. She wants to help John Thaneford and she holds secrets.
- Doctor Marcy The scarred local physician who doubts that his friend Francis Graeme died of natural causes and presses for an inquest.
How it ends (spoiler)
The danger is a deadly ray of sunlight. Years before, Fielding Thaneford set a special lens in the library window so that the June sun would strike whoever sat in the master's chair. Repairs moved the lens, so Hugh is spared and John Thaneford dies in its path. Betty and Warriner, who were never lovers, save Hugh. The library burns, the windows are replaced, and Hugh and Betty are reconciled.
The whole book is coming to your plan
The full text of In Jeopardy opens soon. Keep this summary as a file today.
Paperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way. Email me when it is printed
Vragen over In Jeopardy
What is In Jeopardy by Van Tassel Sutphen about?
It is a mystery about Hugh Hildebrand, a Philadelphia lawyer who inherits a Maryland estate from a cousin he met once. He soon finds that deaths in the library may not be natural, and a rival neighbor wants the estate.
Who is John Thaneford in the novel?
John Thaneford is Hugh's cousin and neighbor, a dark and fierce young man who believes Hildebrand Hundred should be his. His father, Fielding Thaneford, is a silent, hairless old man who holds a family secret.
What do the numbers 1-4-2-4-8 mean?
They are the last message a dying man gives to Betty. The numbers open a safe holding a coded diary, and they also work as a clue to the key needed to read the cipher in the book.
When is In Jeopardy set and is it a true story?
It is a work of fiction set in Maryland in 1919 and the years after. The estate, families, and events are invented, though the setting reflects real postwar life in the American South.
Is In Jeopardy easy to follow?
Yes, in the sense that it has a clear first-person voice, short chapters, and a steady stream of clues. Hugh explains each puzzle as he goes, so a reader can follow the ciphers and the clues along with him.
Verwijs naar deze uitgave
Sutphen, Van Tassel. In Jeopardy. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/in-jeopardy.
Sutphen, V. T. (2026). In jeopardy. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/in-jeopardy (Original work published 1922)
Sutphen, Van Tassel. In Jeopardy. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/in-jeopardy.
@book{sutphen2026jeopardy,
author = {Sutphen, Van Tassel},
title = {In Jeopardy},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/in-jeopardy},
note = {First published 1922}
}
Crime and Punishment
Wuthering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
The Iliad
Romeo and Juliet
The Picture of Dorian Gray3 maanden gratis
Ontvang de volledige samenvatting van In Jeopardy, gratis
- 200.000+ klassiekers als e-books, luisterboeken en samenvattingen in 15 minuten, en gedrukte boeken, ook in grote letters, tegen drukkosten
- Tot 5 lezers bij je thuis met één plan
