The Big Bow Mystery
By I. Zangwill
Chicago and New York
Rand, McNally & Company
Copyright, 1895, by Rand, McNally & Co.
"My God!" he cried.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.
NOTE.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XII.
The Antique Library of Standard and Popular 12mos.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Denzil Cantercot stood smoking a cigarette.
Crowl sat meekly eating his supper of bread and cheese.
He fell at the Home Secretary's feet, stone dead.
INTRODUCTION.
OF MURDERS AND MYSTERIES.
As this little book was written some four years ago, I feel able toreview it without prejudice. A new book just hot from the brain isnaturally apt to appear faulty to its begetter, but an old book has gotinto the proper perspective and may be praised by him without fear orfavor. "The Big Bow Mystery" seems to me an excellent murder story, asmurder stories go, for, while as sensational as the most of them, itcontains more humor and character creation than the best. Indeed, thehumor is too abundant. Mysteries should be sedate and sober. Thereshould be a pervasive atmosphere of horror and awe such as Poe managesto create. Humor is out of tone; it would be more artistic to preserve asomber note throughout. But I was a realist in those days, and in reallife mysteries occur to real persons with their individual humors, andmysterious circumstances are apt to be complicated by comic. Theindispensable condition of a good mystery is that it should be able andunable to be solved by the reader, and that the writer's solution shouldsatisfy. Many a mystery runs on breathlessly enough till the dénouementis reached, only to leave the reader with the sense of having beenrobbed of his breath under false pretenses. And not only must thesolution be adequate, but all its data must be given in the body of thestory. The author must not suddenly spring a new person or a newcircumstance upon his reader at the end. Thus, if a friend were to askme to guess who dined with him yesterday, it would be fatuous if he hadin mind somebody of whom he knew I had never heard. The only person whohas ever solved "The Big Bow Mystery" is myself. This is not paradox butplain fact. For long before the book was written, I said to myself onenight that no mystery-monger had ever murdered a man in a room to whichthere was no possible access. The