The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1900-11-16
The Circular Study.

a''HN "'Ns iA'h-. ~AHdlui
Webb" I" Cloth. II mo, .,l.2J.
Mcclure, Pnillif & Co, New York.
The kind Of a book that the ma
jority, that are busy with their brain
all day for six days out Of the week,
and fifty-two weeks ont Of the year,
want is something light enough that
two hours perusal will leave he
n ind rested and refreshed, instead
OF more wearied. and yet, which j.
not 20 simple that you can read the
first chapter and then uncrfingly
fill out the plot Of the story Just $
il finally ends IN the book.
The lawyer who has been vcxcd
all day with the problems Of an in-
tiicate lawsuit, the doctor who since
early dawn has been healing the
ills Of mankind, the teacher who
hes been in the school room all da !,
the editor who has been trying a |
day how not to offend hi reade
with a strong editorial, the buSines
man, the farmer, and the laborer
are all too tired when night comes,
no matter what their tastes may be,
to tackle Shakespeare, Milton, Spen-
Ger or Dante. Ii they read book,
they want it 10 be one that will not
require the exertion Of much mental
power, and yet interesting enough
10 hold the attention.
Such one are all the books If
Anna katherine Greene CIR hlis),
and her latest, "The Circular
Study" is no exception. The peo-
rle who say they don't like de ec-
tive stories will change their minds
after they have read this book; for
if all detective stories were like
those Of Mrs. Rohlfs, they would
never have formed this opinion.
The majority of these so-caIed de
tective stories are so simple that the
wayfareing man, though fool, may
read the first few pages and know
the rest Of the book without again
glancing inside its covers.
The author has truly elevated this
class Of fiction to higher plane
than any contemporary writer.
The story takes its name from the
shape of the library Of New York
house about which the action moves.
In this room a New York man OF
means and stu liovs
habits is found dead, a dagger
thrust into his heart and cruciiix
lying on his breast His manner Of
life, alone with a deaf and dumb
servant, the peculiar electrical de-
vices with which he has equipped
his study, a circalar shaped 70 m
from which escape would be well
nigh impossible, once the steel door
is shut, the manifest impossibiity
Of suicide, and the evidence of the
servants innocence-all combine to
make detection of the murderer DIFF
ficult. With scarcely a clue, Gryce
and Sweetwater, detectives with
whom most readers are air, ady ia
miliar, discover various relatives of
the dead man, unearth family
fsud Of long standing and unrav'l
the causes which led up to the mur-l
der. Finally, the details cf the
tragedy itself are discovered. BY
the time the end of the story Isl
reached, the reader is in full sym
pathy with the hand that struck the
blow. The course Of the story isl
out Of the ordinary. The mystery
is solved in the first half, but the
explanation of the motives and the
recital Of the events which led up to
the tragedy possess Il a. compelling
interest which keeps one rcadingl
until the end Of the story is. reached
The book has style that is full
Df vitality, crisp and pointed, and
the story is not carried beyond the
point where its interest ceases.
RICHARD NJ MTLBuRN.