About the author: Jacques Heath Futrelle (1875 – 1912) was an American journalist and mystery writer. He is best known for writing short detective stories featuring Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, also known as "The Thinking Machine" for his use of logic. Returning from Europe aboard the RMS Titanic, Futrelle, a first-class passenger, refused to board a lifeboat, insisting his wife Lily do so instead, to the point of forcing her in. She remembered the last she saw of him: he was smoking a cigarette on deck with John Jacob Astor IV. He perished in the Atlantic and his body was never found. (wikipedia)
Series character: Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, The Thinking Machine; and sidekick newspaper reporter Hutchinson Hatch.
The Problem of Cell 13: The Thinking Machine claims he can escape from a prison cell in one week's time, and his friends put him up to it. He is locked in Cell 13 of death row and treated just as any other prisoner, and proceeds to "think" his way out.
The Crystal Gazer: Howard Varick is interested in the occult, and especially his friend, Adhem Singh. Singh spends his time in a dark closet, gazing into his crystal ball. One day he sees a vision of Varick being murdered, and shows the vision to a terrified Varick. Varick consults The Thinking Machine to see if there is a way his murder can be prevented.
The Scarlet Thread: Weldon Henley has an apartment in Boston's Back Bay. He likes the old-fashioned gas lighting, but lately his night light has been going out while he is asleep, allowing unburned gas to permeate the apartment, a definite health risk. He is worried someone is trying to kill him this way, when another tenant dies from the same cause.
The Flaming Phantom: Ernest Weston starts to rehab the old family mansion, but he and others are scared away by an appartition of a "flaming phantom" that appears at night. Hutchinson Hatch and The Thinking Machine investigate.
The Problem of the Stolen Rubens: Art Collector Matthew Kale allows his friend Jules de Lesseps to paint a copy of his Whistler. In the process, Kale's priceless Rubens painting disappears. The authorities locate it, but cannot explain how it was done. The Thinking Machine provides the explanation.
The Missing Necklace: A known thief has made off with a precious necklace, but an exhaustive search cannot locate it. The Thinking Machine reasons how it was done, and where it went.
The Phantom Motor: A speeding car enters a stretch of road observed by a policeman at either end, yet never emerges.
(Mar 11 2023 - reading now, please check back)
Mini-review:
The good: Cell 13 is always a good read. I thought I figured how the Stolen Rubens switcheroo was done, but I was wrong. The solution was surprising, although it requires some specialized knowledge about art. The Phantom Motor is a fun episode and a quick read.
The not-so-good: The Scarlet Thread was lacking both in motive and execution. The Flaming Phantom was an obvious setup from the start, the description of the home's interior gave it away.
See also this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block.
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