Review: Interesting 1800s Writing Style
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 6, 2014
The Uncle Abner stories take place in what is now Western Virginia prior to the  War Between the States and before the author was born.  Abner saw himself as the tool of God's justice and  was an austere, deeply religious men with unfailing faith in an ultimate justice.  There is quoting of the Bible in the stories but that is only to enhance Abner's belief that what he is doing is right and justice will prevail.  Abner exposes evil doing and evil doers with a combination of shrewd deductive skill and a powerful personality.The stories are an amusing insight into the way that stories were written around the turn of the previous century.  Certainly there is some classical flowery language ("One would think that this swamp land a garden of the Hesperides...") but the plots and solutions are rather simple.  The reader will not have much chance to try to figure out who a murderer was as the stories simply move along until Abner reveals the solution and then gives the clues which he found that led him to the conclusion.  Perhaps people had a different concept of justice one hundred years ago.  In a few stories Abner reveals who a murderer is and then allows him to go  unaccused.  Seeing that  money and land is returned to the rightful heirs is enough for Abner.The stories do tend to get a bit tedious with no real depth of plot in most of them. Not taken all at once, they are good for a  quick read  for relaxation in bed before turning out the lights and succumbing to the arms of Morpheus.