The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rhinehart

I had forgotten how well Mary Roberts Rhinehart puts her mysteries together. The opening page pulls you in and sets the flow. The Era she is writing in is Downton Abbey's time frame of plastic collars and alligator suitcases. The Women are Ladies even if they are scheming and old fashioned words are thrown around like "cur." Still there is a forgotten mystique about the authors who wrote and wove these tales and a charm.

Reading this story, set in another Era, you also get a social history lesson. I can spend hours just listening to the slang, savoring the descriptions of costume. As I am a train aficionado I also loved the lurid and inconvenient train trips during this murder mystery. There was a particularly amusing description of a horse and buggy ride too. But I will let you discover that for yourself.

When you read this... go into it with the enjoyment of a student in a strange land. Small details and the larger plot are both here and a cast of amusing and somewhat villainous characters. Personally I enjoyed the housekeeper very much as well as several of the side characters. But in the end the mystery stands on good writing and from her time frame Rhinehart was one of the best.