Summary
Summary of Mary Regan
Mary Regan at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 5 h 40 min4 h 30 min fast, 6 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 80,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1916by Leroy Scott
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
Respectability and crime share a table
At the Grand Alcazar, Robert Clifford watches wealthy diners mingle with polished crooks. To this honest detective, the boundary between respectable society and the underworld is far less clear than people pretend. Meanwhile, he keeps looking for Mary Regan, who promised to write when she was ready.
Uncle George, a retired crook who likes Clifford's honesty, brings a warning. Bradley, the former detective chief Clifford exposed, is free and wants revenge. His attacks come through other people, making even friendly company a possible source of danger.
Key idea 2
A promise keeps Clifford at a distance
Mary finally appears, descending a staircase beside Peter Loveman, the lawyer who helped Bradley escape punishment.
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Key idea 3
Mary chooses money over love
When Clifford finds Mary at the Grantham, she insists that she feels nothing for him and is acting freely.
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Key idea 4
Clifford lets go of the strings
Clifford discovers why Loveman brought Mary and Jack together.
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Key idea 5
The Golden Doors conceal fresh dangers
Mary imagines marriage as the Golden Doors opening onto wealth and admiration.
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Key idea 6
Maisie sees goodness Mary has hidden
Mary moves near Maisie Jones and studies her pride and jealousy.
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Key idea 7
Mary faces the cost of caring
Mary withdraws to a small apartment and asks Clifford to help keep Jack steady.
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Key idea 8
Experience reveals what declarations cannot
Mary calls herself worldly, while Clifford believes her real self can awaken through experience.
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Who it’s for
Readers who like old New York, with its cabarets, hotel lobbies and Broadway gossip, will enjoy this. It suits anyone who loves a detective with a conscience and a heroine who argues with her own heart.
What this book is
What does a detective do when he has promised to stay away from the woman he loves, and then sees her sweep down a staircase beside the city's cleverest lawyer? That is where Mary Regan begins. Leroy Scott wrote it as the story of Robert Clifford, an honest New York detective who has waited six months for a word from Mary and has heard none.
She is the daughter of a famous swindler, and she now says she wants luxury, admiration and money. She plans to win them by marrying Jack Morton, a rich and likable young man. Behind the scenes stand Peter Loveman, a charming lawyer who profits from scandal, and Bradley, a former chief of detectives whom Clifford once brought down.
In this summary
- 1Respectability and crime share a tableFree
- 2A promise keeps Clifford at a distance
- 3Mary chooses money over love
- 4Clifford lets go of the strings
- 5The Golden Doors conceal fresh dangers
- 6Maisie sees goodness Mary has hidden
- 7Mary faces the cost of caring
- 8Experience reveals what declarations cannot
The whole city sits down together
The novel opens on the night of a new show at the Grand Alcazar, a black and gold restaurant on Broadway. Clifford sits alone at a small table, and his eyes drift over the crowd. Without quite meaning to, he looks for Mary Regan, as he has looked for her during the six months of silence they agreed on. She said she would write when she was ready, so he waits.
He sees millionaires whose fortunes rest on schemes that clever lawyers kept just inside the law. Polished crooks dine with polished women. Clifford smiles grimly. There is no separate underworld and no separate upper world, because the two keep blending.
Then Uncle George arrives. He is a large, genial retired crook who has never been arrested. He thinks everyone has a streak of crookedness. Clifford answers that people in trouble were rarely given a real chance to choose. Uncle George calls that nonsense, yet he likes Clifford because Clifford is honest.
He has come with a warning. Bradley escaped on a technicality after Clifford trapped him, and he now runs a private detective agency. Bradley means to settle the score, and he strikes through other people.
Danger in this city travels through the people sitting closest to you.
That’s 1 of 8 key points.
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Check yourself
Why does Clifford initially hold back from seeking Mary?
Right. “He is not to seek her until she sends for him.”Not quite. “He is not to seek her until she sends for him.”
How does Loveman expect to profit from Mary's marriage?
Right. “A secret marriage would pay him in hush money, in detective bills and in an annulment case.”Not quite. “A secret marriage would pay him in hush money, in detective bills and in an annulment case.”
What does Clifford believe can awaken a person's real self?
Right. “Clifford holds that the real self can be woken only by experience.”Not quite. “Clifford holds that the real self can be woken only by experience.”
Go deeper: the whole of Mary Regan
About 5 h 50 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 80,500 words
- Reading timeAbout 5 h 40 min
Questions about Mary Regan
What is Mary Regan about?
It follows Robert Clifford, an honest New York detective, and Mary Regan, the daughter of a famous swindler, who plans to marry a rich young man. A scheming lawyer and a crooked ex-police chief try to use her.
Who is Peter Loveman?
Loveman is a charming New York lawyer who specializes in domestic scandals. He wins cases, backs shows and quietly arranges troubles for rich families, then profits from fixing them. He is the book's chief schemer.
What are the Golden Doors in Mary Regan?
Mary's own name for the life she wants: luxury, admiration and the pleasures money can buy. She pictures them as a glorious gate that opens when she marries into a rich family.
Is Mary Regan easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that it moves quickly. Short scenes, lively dialogue, a quick-witted old friend named Uncle George and a steady series of schemes and chases keep the story clear and bright.
What is the main message of Mary Regan?
People are shaped by their surroundings, and the true self comes out under pressure. Clifford believes that only experience, not force or lectures, can wake the better person inside Mary.
Cite this edition
Scott, Leroy. Mary Regan. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/mary-regan.
Scott, L. (2026). Mary Regan. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mary-regan (Original work published 1916)
Scott, Leroy. Mary Regan. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mary-regan.
@book{scott2026mary,
author = {Scott, Leroy},
title = {Mary Regan},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mary-regan},
note = {First published 1916}
}
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