I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley but all opinions provided are my own.

Attorney and bachelor Lawrence Blakeley’s returning from a trip to Pittsburgh with evidence in a case involving forgery. On the train, he’s robbed, accused of the murder of a man in berth lower 10, and injured in a subsequent train crash. Once he returns home, dazed, he, his law partner, and an amateur detective named Hotchkiss must piece together who took the evidence/who murdered the man in lower 10/and who framed Lawrence for the crime.

Complicating this high-stakes, delightfully complicated mystery is the three women who circulate throughout the mystery, one of whom—Alison West—quickly captures Lawrence’s heart and rouses his protective instincts. How is she involved with the murder and does she care for Lawrence in return?

Throughout The Man in Lower Ten, Rinehart deliciously makes use of foreshadowing to amp up suspense. This mystery has a lot of moving parts which she handles adeptly, and I wasn’t sure of the murderer’s identity until Lawrence was sure. I’d enjoy reading the novel again, now that I know all the secrets.

But as impressive as the mystery actually is, the narrator’s occasionally racist language and misogynistic actions are off-putting and offensive, and while Alison’s a pretty nuanced character (and her actions, to me, often suspicious & therefore interesting), the other females seem pretty flat and easily reduceable to their one prominent characteristic. I wanted more firsthand from the women, especially since the women are central to the mystery and the romance between Lawrence and Alison is no small part of the book.

This was my first time reading a Mary Roberts Rinehart book, and I’m excited to have discovered a new-to-me female mystery writer honing her craft at the beginning of the twentieth century. And one who shows a lot of promise based on this debut, even if I have reservations about it.

not for me, sorry, ..........................................

This was kind of an odd one. I love Mary Roberts Rinehart – but this one was not quite up to where I expected it to be. Unfortunately it's one of those books where the unsolved mystery is more interesting than the solution. It's a great setup – rather dull lawyer fellow (with vivid best friend – I liked that the kind of boring one was the narrator) goes off to get some very important papers for a very important case, and on the train ride home has them stolen. And also comes in as the best suspect for a murder in his Pullman car. Luckily for him, the train suffers a horrific accident, so he has the chance to avoid immediate investigation, and also to fall in love – with his best friend's girl.

The writing is entertaining; characterization works, and all the red herrings and wrong suspects that litter the landscape make for a good yarn. Everything eventually pulls together and gets cleared up – and I admit to disappointment at the wrap-up. Sometimes the journey is just more fun than the destination.

One warning: this is very much of its time. In a couple of ways, actually – it startled me when the narrator talks about choosing a hansom cab; the involvement of the train made me think for some reason that it was a Golden Age book, from the forties or so. Then there's the line "Pittsburg without smoke wouldn't be Pittsburg, any more than New York without prohibition would be New York." So – Pittsburgh used to be spelled without the "H", and it's during Prohibition. Check.

But just in case you go into this thinking it's just a very well-written historical mystery that uses some great details to let you know when it's set – well, reality will hit you like the Ice Bucket Challenge when words are used to refer to non-white races that would probably not be used today, even by the most dedicated anti-anachronistic writer. Yeah. It was first published in 1909. Things were different then. It can be (to use a period-appropriate adjective) delightful – but it can be cringe-worthy as well. Which was also the case with a few remarks about women, too, which – come now, Ms. Rinehart.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.

I don't know if it's the hot weather or if I'm losing it but this novel was impenetrable for me - 20 pages in and I couldn't make heads or tails of the characters or where they were going or who was what and why. And when the the love interest appears, purely in photograph, with hands clasped demurely in front of her youthful, slim figure my eyes nearly rolled out of my head; what I wouldn't give for a heroine that's like a smooth 20 pounds overweight. I understand that this novel is both using and subverting the male detective tropes of its day but I found this hard cheese indeed. Perhaps Ms. Rinehart's not for me,however, as I didn't care for The Circular Staircase either. For completists only.

Although the first publication date is given as 1909, this refers to the issuing of a hardback edition. The Man In Lower Ten was originally a serial, dating from 1906 and is the author’s first work.These facts help,I think, to explain the rather fragmented/ choppy style and the episodic nature of the story which I found difficult to take.
The story is fairly typical of its era, very melodramatic and with the strong love interest nearly overwhelming the mystery.The author is often referred to as the American Agatha Christie but I really failed to see the connection in this book, my first Rinehart.
I thought the dialogue poorly written although the main characters were well-realised: there was a lot of potential here unfulfilled.
Overall I was disappointed but will try others to see if I missed something here.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dover for the review copy.

This is my first encounter with Mary Roberts Rinehart writing. While compelling, humorous, and readable, it is hard to compare her to Agatha Christie. When Lawrence Blakely discovers a dead man in his bunk on the train and his luggage with essential evidence for a case missing, he must steel himself for the difficult task of investigating.

Attorney Lawrence Blakely is on a train bound to deliver some important papers to a client. While on the way he ends up switching train berths with another man who mistakenly falls asleep in his. The next morning that man is found murdered and the murder weapon is found in the berth that Lawrence was sleeping in. That's all I'm going to say about the plot setup because the whole switching berths thing becomes a little more complicated than that and you really just need to read it.

This is only the second book I've read by Mary Roberts Rinehart and I liked it quite a bit. It seems a lot of people say this book is weak compared to her later books, but having previously read The After House I can say that story-wise I prefer this one. That's not to say that this one wasn't without its faults and I can see just from reading the two books how her writing improved over time. The dialog in this one was tedious to follow at times, and at a couple of points it was hard to follow what was happening. I also wasn't all that crazy about the romantic aspect of the book. It was a bit too insta-love for me and I really couldn't see why all the men were so crazy about the lady in question as she lacked personality. Thankfully that was a small part of the story.

The best part of the book for me was while they were on the train. After that there is a lot of running here and there to try to solve the mystery. The mystery itself was pretty good, but I never felt like it kept me guessing. From the very beginning there was no question in my mind as to the fact that the killer was one of three people, simply because of one particular item that was found that proved to be key evidence. In the end the solution to the mystery felt rather anticlimactic. I would like to read more of Rinehart's work because I feel like I just haven't yet read her at her best.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Dover for giving me a copy of this book for review.

I have a soft spot for closed door mysteries, and ones taking place on a moving train are extra spine tingling. This one held a lot of promise. A man murdered in his train berth, stolen forgery notes, an irresistibly beautiful woman who holds the heart of two best friends, a broken and bloody necklace. Set in the early 1900's, when cars are referred to as "machines" and many unfortunate and outdated racial terms are still employed.

Lawyers Blakely and McKnight feature as the main characters, with Blakely the faithful narrator and the character most implicated in the mystery as it was he who was meant to be sleeping in lower ten, the berth in which the dead man is found. I'm not sure if the gentleman appear in other books by this author; their friendship and teamwork are pretty charming as is the presence of Blakely's controlling housekeeper.

This is my first reading of Mary Roberts Rinehart, who is sometimes referred to as the American Agatha Christie and who is credited with the phrase "the butler did it". While her writing is quite readable and often humourous, this mystery felt overly busy with many people taking trips here and there and my brain didn't stick completely where perhaps it should have in order to keep me totally on par with the unraveling of clues. Perhaps she hadn't quite come into her own, this being her first novel. I am interested in reading more of her better known works, such as The Circular Staircase.

Known as the American Agatha Christie, Rinehart is also famously known as writing the original quote ' the butler did it' in another of her novels 'The Door'.
Here the author gives us the attractive and inquisitive lead character Lawrence Blakely, attorney-in-law setting off by train to deliver valuable documents in a criminal case. Written in 1909 American cross country transport of choice was often the train, many journeys needing overnight berths and this is the link to 'Lower Ten' as this is the booked berth Blakely had booked. But in a change of circumstances he has to go elsewhere on the train and this is lucky as his substitute in Lower Ten is murdered.
I did wonder if Agatha Christie was familiar with this novel as we see Blakely then stalking the Pullman cars to keep ahead of the police and solve the murder especially when he himself comes under suspicion. During the journey there is also romance, treachery and even a train crash. Over a hundred years after its original publication does this book stand the test of time? I think we are in a time of nostalgia and crime/thrillers are so often pitched in past historic settings.
The cover invokes a time of style, elegance and mystery and this is a revival in many past authors (I am a huge fan of Josephine Tey from Scotland who's also worth a read!)
My only criticism is that the print in an e-book seems not to want to be enlarged and is difficult to read. However in print form these classic re-issues such as this and others from Rinehard can form attractive collections on any bookshelf.

One of the classic mystery writers. A must have for fans of the era.