This famous collection, reprinted in its entirety, chronicles the exploits of Uncle Abner, a powerful mind and moral figure in the wilderness and frontier territories of the Appalachians. Set in the 1840s and 1850s in what is now West Virginia, these 18 stories profile the detective as seen through the eyes of his young nephew. With a combination of shrewd deductive skill, uncanny intuition, and keen powers of perception, Uncle Abner deftly exposes evil and evildoers.
Abner has many opportunities to exercise his skills in this wild, brutal frontier. How could a murderer come through a closed window, without disturbing the cobwebs? How can a dead man and his horse be made to vanish? How could thieves creep through an ordinary keyhole to steal a hoard of gold? Author Melville Davisson Post was a lawyer before he turned to fiction, and the Uncle Abner stories reflect his expertise, abounding in subtle nuances of evidence, criminal investigation, and points of law. Loaded with historical, political, and religious observations, these tales offer fine entertainment for lovers of classic detective fiction.