12 h 5 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 12 h 5 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A magistrate lies murdered in his locked library, and a soot-smudged handprint turns a quiet household into a circle of suspects.
In Arthur J. Rees’s The Hand in the Dark, the English countryside offers little shelter from fear. A respected magistrate’s death draws investigators into a household burdened by old grudges and hidden truths. From the grieving widow to the watchful butler, everyone has something to protect—and secrecy can look very much like guilt.
The investigation advances through clues, doubt and careful reasoning. Appearances mislead, motives overlap, and each discovery raises fresh questions about whom to trust. Rees invites you to weigh what people reveal against what they conceal. The stakes reach beyond finding a murderer: how can justice emerge when nobody tells the whole truth?
What you’ll discover
- A locked library Consider a seemingly impossible crime whose enclosed setting makes every clue feel close at hand.
- Secrets that resemble guilt Watch private fears and old resentments complicate the search for a killer.
- A shadowed country household Enter a quiet world where familiar rooms and guarded conversations take on menace.
- A puzzle for patient readers Follow the slow gathering of evidence and test your suspicions as the investigation unfolds.
- Motive beneath appearances Look beyond respectable surfaces to questions of deception, responsibility and what justice demands.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy country-house murders, clever clues and rival detectives, and anyone who likes a mystery of jewels, secrets and village gossip in wartime England.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A moat-house hosts a modern house party
- Musard's ruby story holds the dinner table
- A scream, a shot, and a vanished killer
- Scotland Yard's great man finds no clues
- Village gossip points toward Miss Heredith
- A girl with a hidden past is arrested
- Colwyn takes the case and the necklace vanishes
- Strong evidence can point the wrong way
- Honor, class and an old curse press on the family
- A dry, watchful voice and carefully placed clues
Who’s who
- ColwynA calm private detective who lives above Ludgate Circus and will not accept an answer until every odd detail has been explained.
- Superintendent MerringtonA huge, bullying Scotland Yard officer who trusts experience and the strong evidence against the housekeeper's daughter.
- Detective CaldewA village-born Scotland Yard man who wants promotion and finds the first clue, a small green brooch.
- Miss Alethea HeredithThe proud aunt who rules the moat-house and guards the family name, and who dislikes her nephew's London wife.
- Phil HeredithThe lame, bookish young master of the house, desperate to prove that a girl he has known since childhood is innocent.
- Vincent MusardAn explorer and jewel expert, an old friend of the family, who tells the ruby story at dinner.
- Hazel RathThe housekeeper's daughter, raised in the house, who is arrested and will not explain what she was doing upstairs.
- Captain NepcoteA young officer whose revolver is found in the housekeeper's rooms and who disappears when the police close in.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read today.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
The Hand in the Dark
by Arthur J. Rees · 1920
A scream and a shot interrupt a dinner at the moat-house, and a young bride lies dead upstairs.
Medium level10–20 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
A houseful of London guests sits down to an early dinner at an old English moat-house. Upstairs, a young bride lies alone with a headache.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A moat-house hosts a modern house party
The story opens on the moat-house in Sussex, a brick and stone home ringed by water and shadowed by a violent past. Its first builder burned the old owner alive inside the house. The dead man's ghost warned that a family founded in horror would end in horror.
In September 1918 the house holds a very different crowd. Phil Heredith, the lame and bookish son of the house, has brought home a bride named Violet. She has filled the place with London friends. Miss Alethea Heredith, the baronet's sister, runs the household with stately firmness and quietly dislikes her nephew's wife.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 8 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1920
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 50 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Rees, Arthur J. The Hand in the Dark. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-hand-in-the-dark.
Rees, A. J. (2026). The hand in the dark. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-hand-in-the-dark (Original work published 1920)
Rees, Arthur J. The Hand in the Dark. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-hand-in-the-dark.
@book{rees2026hand,
author = {Rees, Arthur J.},
title = {The Hand in the Dark},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-hand-in-the-dark},
note = {First published 1920}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Hand in the Dark
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Hand in the Dark about?
It follows the murder of a young bride at a Sussex moat-house in 1918. A shot and scream interrupt a dinner party, a housekeeper's daughter is arrested, and a private detective named Colwyn tests the strong evidence against her.
Who is Colwyn in The Hand in the Dark?
Colwyn is a private detective who lives above Ludgate Circus in London. He is calm, observant and unwilling to accept a neat answer, and the young husband hires him when he doubts the police case.
Is The Hand in the Dark a true story?
No, it is a work of fiction by Arthur J. Rees, set in the autumn of 1918 near the end of the First World War. The people, the moat-house and the murder are invented, though the wartime details feel real.
The author
Arthur J. Rees
1872–1942 · Australian mystery novelist
Arthur J. Rees (1872–1942) was an Australian writer of detective fiction. He was born in Melbourne and later lived in England. He wrote The Hand in the Dark, published in 1920, and The Moon Rock, published in 1922. He also worked as a journalist.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
