Books by Melville Davisson Post

Melville Davisson Post (April 19, 1869 - June 23, 1930) was an American author, born in Harrison County, West Virginia. Although his name is not immediately familiar to those outside of specialist circles, many of his collections are still in print, and many collections of detective fiction include works by him. Post's best-known character is the mystery solving, justice dispensing West Virginian backwoodsman, Uncle Abner. The 22 Uncle Abner tales, written between 1911 and 1928, have been called some of "the finest mysteries ever written". Post's other recurring characters include the lawyers Randolph Mason and Colonel Braxton, and the detectives Sir Henry Marquis and Monsieur Jonquelle. His total output was approximately 230 titles, including several non-crime novels.

Melville Davisson Post (1869-1930) was an American author, born in West Virginia. He wrote novels about the life in mountains and lives of man who, like him, have spent many years of their lives among them. These novels are intertwined with philosophy, and Biblical allegories. Although his name is not immediately familiar to those outside of specialist circles many collections of detective fiction include works by him. Post''s best-known character is the mystery solving, justice dispensing West Virginian backwoodsman, Uncle Abner. Post also wrote number of stories about Randolph Mason, a brusque New York lawyer who is highly skilled at turning legal loopholes and technicalities to his clients'' advantage. Post''s other recurring characters include Sir Henry Marquis of Scotland Yard, the French policeman Monsieur Jonquelle and the Virginia lawyer Colonel Braxton. Table of Contents: ΓÇó Dwellers in the Hills ΓÇó The Gilded Chair ΓÇó The Mountain School-Teacher

Randolph Mason is a brusque New York lawyer who is highly skilled at turning legal loopholes and technicalities to his clients'' advantage. He is depicted as an utterly amoral character who advises criminals how to commit wrongdoings without breaking the letter of the law. The best-known of these stories is "The Corpus Delicti", in which Mason''s client murders a blackmailing lover and dissolves her dismembered corpse in acid. Despite circumstantial evidence, Mason secures his client''s acquittal on the grounds that nobody has been found and there are no eyewitnesses to the woman''s death, as required by New York law at the time. Post deflected criticism of such sensational stories by affirming that he was publicly exposing weaknesses in the law that needed to be rectified. Melville Davisson Post (1869-1930) was an American author, born in West Virginia. Table of Contents: ΓÇó The Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason ΓÇó The Corpus Delicti ΓÇó Two Plungers of Manhattan ΓÇó Woodford''s Partner ΓÇó The Error of William Van Broom ΓÇó The Men of the Jimmy ΓÇó The Sheriff of Gullmore ΓÇó The Animus Furandi ΓÇó The Man of Last Resort (The Clients of Randolph Mason) ΓÇó The Governor''s Machine ΓÇó Mrs. Van Barton ΓÇó Once in Jeopardy ΓÇó The Grazier ΓÇó The Rule Against Carper

The book is a collection of 16 mysterious stories.

This work usually appears on lists of the ten most important books of detective stories published in the United States. The tales of Uncle Abner take place in what is now West Virginia, in the 1840's or 1850's.Melville Davisson Post (1869-1930) was a lawyer, political insider, and candidate for President of the United States (Democrat, 1924). He was one of the really great writers of the detective short story and is ranked in the same class as Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Melville Davisson Post created his famous character, Randolph Mason, in 1894. Mason was a highly skilled and unscrupulous lawyer who used the law to defeat the ends of justice. Generally in the stories in this book he shows the villain how to circumvent the law.Melville Davisson Post (1869-1930) was a lawyer, political insider, and candidate for President of the United States (Democrat, 1924). He was one of the really great writers of the detective short story and is ranked in the same class as Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.