The Abandoned Room
The Abandoned Room
A Mystery Story
The mystery of a secret room, scene of many murders, is unraveled by Carlos Paredes, the Panamanian Sherlock Holmes.
Book Excerpt
pany them upstairs while he questioned her. In the absence of the coroner he wouldn't let the doctor touch the body.
"I must repair this lock," he said, "the first thing, so nothing can be disturbed."
Doctor Groom, a grim and dark man, had grown silent on entering the room. For a long time he stared at the body in the candle light, making as much of an examination as he could, evidently, without physical contact.
"Why did he ever come here to sleep?" he asked in his rumbling bass voice. "Nasty room! Unhealthy room! Ten to one you're a formality, policeman. Coroner's a formality."
He sneered a little.
"I daresay he died what the hard-headed world will call a natural death. Wonder what the coroner'll say."
The detective didn't answer. He shot rapid, uneasy glances about the room in which a single candle burned. After a time he said with an accent of complete conviction:
"That man was murdered."
Perhaps the doctor's significant words, added to her earlier d
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A good book, published in 1917, with many of the hallmarks of classic books of the time. The story is convoluted with twists and turns throughout.
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A murder in a locked room but not just another murder in a locked room.
The story begins slowly but some twenty pages later I couldn't put the
book down.
The plot is complexe, fast-moving, with plenty of impressive twists and
turns, maintains an interesting equilibrium between a rational detective mystery and an assortiment of paranormal solutions, and explores a good variety of hypotheses in both directions.
One result of this construction is that the mysterious scenes are really
scary (I don't scare easily), and there is plenty of them.
Also, the most supranatural (apparently) twist of the story is a very possible paranormal occurence.
A great read that keeps your emotions going and leaves you with a good
feeling.
The story begins slowly but some twenty pages later I couldn't put the
book down.
The plot is complexe, fast-moving, with plenty of impressive twists and
turns, maintains an interesting equilibrium between a rational detective mystery and an assortiment of paranormal solutions, and explores a good variety of hypotheses in both directions.
One result of this construction is that the mysterious scenes are really
scary (I don't scare easily), and there is plenty of them.
Also, the most supranatural (apparently) twist of the story is a very possible paranormal occurence.
A great read that keeps your emotions going and leaves you with a good
feeling.
03/14/2015
this is utterly dire! Stupid protagonist, unending and rambling descriptions of not very much of anything, tedious storyline and a supernatural edge halfway through that is just ridiculous. This really is just awful. If you know your supernatural literature and are in ANY WAY familiar with EF Benson / MR James et al, don't waste your time. This is SO bad that I was moved to come on here and feed back. Please. Just don't!!!
11/22/2013
This is an entertaining mystery that presents the reader with some bizarre situations. It will keep you guessing as to what can possibly happen next.
04/24/2013
While this book is admittedly a page turner, I must say I was generally unimpressed by it. It is too long and drawn out, the characters are not very well developed, and a lot of vital information is withheld until the \"resolution\", which left me feeling cheated. While many murder mystery novels give the reader a chance to play detective and try to figure out \"who did it\" based on the facts, this one doesn\'t even attempt to let you try.
06/11/2012
Awesome story..well plotted and real mystery throughout...excellent...
04/04/2012
I have just finished reading this book and I would like to begin again to see how exactly the loose piedes fit at the end.I think there are some details that could have been changed in order to attain verosimilitude, but anyway this is a great book.
03/31/2012
I give this a rating of 5 stars because it\\\'s a real page-turner right until the end. The suspicion of who the murderer is shifts through the story, and the supernatural element just adds to the mystery.
I tried to solve the mystery but got it totally wrong as my chief suspect was in fact innocent.
This is not the sort of book I normally read, but I recommend this book to anyone.
I tried to solve the mystery but got it totally wrong as my chief suspect was in fact innocent.
This is not the sort of book I normally read, but I recommend this book to anyone.
12/04/2011
Excellent book, a real page turner. There are twists,turns and scenes that would rival some of the best suspense films.
07/09/2011
This was interesting enough to keep me turning pages. I liked the supernatural angle.
06/16/2010