The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart

Tuesdays Tomes is a weekly book review of vintage book available free on-line.

Train travel…Pullman cars…Romance. That’s what I’ve always thought. But Mr. Lawrence Blakely thought differently-he even thought of writing the Pullman Company.

"If they are built to scale, why not take a man of ordinary stature
as your unit?" I 'wrote mentally. "I can not fold together like
the traveling cup with which I drink your abominable water."

Lawrence, affectionately called Lollie, is traveling in Pullman cars because of a business trip – from Washington, D.C. to Pittsburgh and back. He’s taking important documents believed to be forgeries to be looked over by the one man who can testify as to whether or not they are forgeries. On the train journey back, the excitement begins…a murder! A theft! A mistaken identity!

There’s a girl (the girl in the blue dress), an auburn haired mystery woman, our “confirmed bachelor” lawyer, an amateur detective, and of course, a great riddle.

Mary Roberts Rinehart shines in this 1906 tale- her very first mystery.. Can you guess who did it? I must confess I really couldn’t…maybe a fleeting suspicion but that was it.

Pleasantly read by MaryAnne, you can download this free audio-book here or the free e-book in pdf or kindle format here.

Here's what the interior of a Pullman Car looked like-the beds have been made up on the right side only.

I just couldn't resist sharing this illustration of what went under those elegant 1906 ladies dresses. :)What more fashion?