6 h 18 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 18 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Behind the smiling faces of Washington society, murder turns good manners into a reason for doubt.
In The Red Seal, Natalie Sumner Lincoln brings a murder mystery into the drawing rooms and official circles of Washington, D.C. A crime gathers a circle of suspects from polite society, and the search for truth asks you to look beyond the faces people show the world.
Disguise and hidden secrets give this puzzle its pull. Who is what they seem, and what lies behind a polished appearance? Lincoln's measured style makes room for dialogue, deduction and atmosphere. The pleasure is in watching closely, weighing what people say, and deciding how much their manners really tell you.
What you’ll discover
- A polished social world Enter the capital's drawing rooms, where social life gives the mystery its distinctive setting.
- Secrets beneath the surface Look past smiling faces as the search for truth unsettles a circle of suspects.
- The uncertainty of disguise Let the promise of concealed identity sharpen your doubts about appearances.
- Room to weigh clues Enjoy a measured mystery that favours dialogue and deduction over fast violence.
- An older detective tradition Discover the atmosphere of early American crime fiction through Lincoln's Washington social world.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like classic whodunits with clever clues and cliffhanger chapters, period Washington settings, and society families with secrets.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An ordinary hearing hides uneasy signs
- A disguise falls away in death
- Kent takes on two connected puzzles
- A small clue threatens Barbara
- Swapped sisters unsettle the testimony
- Evidence gathers against the missing partner
- The household conceals another danger
- Small clues test personal loyalties
Who’s who
- Harry KentA young Washington lawyer who loves Barbara and has until Saturday night to clear his dead friend's name and find the missing securities.
- Helen McIntyreThe older twin, who demands an autopsy for the man she calls her fiancé and guards a sealed envelope she will not explain.
- Barbara McIntyreThe livelier twin, whose wager with Jimmie Turnbull started the night's trouble and who hires Kent to learn the truth.
- Jimmie TurnbullThe popular cashier of the Metropolis Trust Company, fond of practical jokes and loved by both his friends and the McIntyre sisters.
- Philip RochesterKent's senior law partner and Turnbull's roommate, who defends the burglar, insists on a heart attack, and then disappears.
- Detective FergusonA Central Office detective with a keen instinct for odd cases who distrusts Rochester's quick explanation of Turnbull's death.
- Colonel Charles McIntyreThe twins' wealthy, proud father, who distrusts Kent, admires his houseguest, and accuses the dead cashier of forgery.
- Mrs. Margaret BrewsterA young widow from California, staying with the McIntyres, whose handkerchief and pills become part of the case.
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The Red Seal
by Natalie Sumner Lincoln · 1922
A bank cashier in a burglar's wig collapses in a Washington police court, and two identical sisters hold the key.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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In short
A bank cashier in a shabby wig stands in a Washington police court, charged with housebreaking by the young woman he loves. Within minutes he is dead, and his lawyer insists, a little too quickly, that it was his heart.
The Red Seal at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 40 min2 h 55 min fast, 4 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 52,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1922by Natalie Sumner Lincoln
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A burglary trial that should have been a joke
The story opens in a Washington police court. Benjamin Clymer, president of the Metropolis Trust Company, has just given a character reference when his friend, the lawyer Philip Rochester, asks if Miss McIntyre has been here. Clymer says certainly not. Then the doors open, and two famous young women walk in behind a patrolman. They are the twin daughters of Colonel Charles McIntyre, a wealthy retired manufacturer, and they have come to charge a burglar with housebreaking.
Helen McIntyre tells the court how she was waiting up for her sister. She went down to the library and saw a man slip into a coat closet. She turned the key on him and called the officer under the street lamp. The prisoner gives his name as John Smith, looks like a tramp, and says almost nothing. No weapon was found on him. Still, the judge sends the case on for a jury trial.
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Details
- First published
- 1922
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Lincoln, Natalie Sumner. The Red Seal. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-seal.
Lincoln, N. S. (2026). The red seal. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-seal (Original work published 1922)
Lincoln, Natalie Sumner. The Red Seal. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-seal.
@book{lincoln2026red,
author = {Lincoln, Natalie Sumner},
title = {The Red Seal},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-seal},
note = {First published 1922}
}
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What is The Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln about?
It is a Washington detective novel about a bank cashier who dies in police court while disguised as a burglar. A young lawyer, Harry Kent, tries to learn who killed him and to recover missing securities.
Who are the twins in The Red Seal and how are they told apart?
Helen and Barbara McIntyre are identical twins whose father cannot tell them apart by sight. Helen is the older and more reserved, Barbara the livelier. A small mole beneath Barbara's earlobe is their one lasting difference.
What does the red seal mean in the story?
The red seal is a blob of wax stamped with the letter B that closes a sealed envelope. Many people want it, and it passes from hand to hand. It also leads to hidden places in the McIntyre house.
The author
Natalie Sumner Lincoln
1881–1935 · American crime writer
Natalie Sumner Lincoln was an American crime writer who lived in Washington, D.C. She was born there in 1881 and died in 1935. She wrote mystery novels in the early twentieth century. Her books include The Trevor Case, The Thirteenth Letter, and The Red Seal.
More by Natalie Sumner Lincoln
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