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Find the Clock
"'John Chinaman: Take this message at once to Miss Rita Thorne, The Broadbury, somewhere on Independence Boulevard, Chicago. You have letter from London. Secure immediately old alarm clock owned by uncle described in letter. Remember there were two similar clocks, one formerly used by servant. Pay anything to get the right one of the two. Lock it fast in downtown safety vault. Then notify Catherwood you have clock and hold all cards.'
"This, written on a handkerchief, caused a search for surely the most elusive clocks in the world!"
"This, written on a handkerchief, caused a search for surely the most elusive clocks in the world!"
- GenresMystery
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1925
1 person is currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Harry Stephen Keeler
170 books55 followersBorn in Chicago in 1890, Keeler spent his childhood exclusively in this city, which was so beloved by the author that a large number of his works took place in and around it. In many of his novels, Keeler refers to Chicago as "the London of the west." The expression is explained in the opening of Thieves' Nights (1929):
"Here ... were seemingly the same hawkers ... selling the same goods ... here too was the confusion, the babble of tongues of many lands, the restless, shoving throng containing faces and features of a thousand racial castes, and last but not least, here on Halsted and Maxwell streets, Chicago, were the same dirt, flying bits of torn paper, and confusion that graced the junction of Middlesex and Whitechapel High streets far across the globe."
Other locales for Keeler novels include New Orleans and New York. In his later works, Keeler's settings are often more generic settings such as Big River, or a city in which all buildings and streets are either nameless or fictional. Keeler is known to have visited London at least once, but his occasional depictions of British characters are consistently implausible.
"Here ... were seemingly the same hawkers ... selling the same goods ... here too was the confusion, the babble of tongues of many lands, the restless, shoving throng containing faces and features of a thousand racial castes, and last but not least, here on Halsted and Maxwell streets, Chicago, were the same dirt, flying bits of torn paper, and confusion that graced the junction of Middlesex and Whitechapel High streets far across the globe."
Other locales for Keeler novels include New Orleans and New York. In his later works, Keeler's settings are often more generic settings such as Big River, or a city in which all buildings and streets are either nameless or fictional. Keeler is known to have visited London at least once, but his occasional depictions of British characters are consistently implausible.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 27, 2025
Super pulpy and super fun. Took a bit to really get started but once you're in the second half it really becomes a fun adventure to follow. Having a journalist as a protag is also a nice perspective for a mystery novel.
August 13, 2014
Las novelas de Keeler son un género en sí mismas. Mediante su técnica narrativa, llamada Webwork Plot o argumento en forma de telaraña, imagina un misterio irresoluble, un crimen o un delito. A partir de este hecho, Keeler teje en todas direcciones una trama en la que se entrecruzan situaciones y personajes. De esta manera, el lector puede esperar de todo.
‘Hallad el reloj’ (Find the Clock, 1925), comienza de un modo intrigante, con el doctor Landrau haciendo una extraña propuesta a la joven Lily, que ha de adoptar el ficticio nombre de Diana St. John durante un mes para acercarse a cierto hombre. Por otra parte, tenemos al periodista del Call de Chicago, Jeff Darrell, que ante la entrada de un nuevo reportero estrella, Marvin Feldock, le imponen la obligación de que cualquier información que redacte, será firmada por Feldock, que tiene más renombre, al menos hasta que este se adapte al nuevo territorio. Y por otra parte, está Napoleón Foy, un lavandero del barrio chino, que descubre un extraño mensaje escrito en un pañuelo que venía en un hato de ropa sucia. A partir de estos sencillos elementos, la trama se va complicando de manera creciente, hasta una resolución sorprendente.
Sin duda, Keeler ofrece lo que promete, que es un buen rato de diversión con misterios, crímenes y giros inesperados.
‘Hallad el reloj’ (Find the Clock, 1925), comienza de un modo intrigante, con el doctor Landrau haciendo una extraña propuesta a la joven Lily, que ha de adoptar el ficticio nombre de Diana St. John durante un mes para acercarse a cierto hombre. Por otra parte, tenemos al periodista del Call de Chicago, Jeff Darrell, que ante la entrada de un nuevo reportero estrella, Marvin Feldock, le imponen la obligación de que cualquier información que redacte, será firmada por Feldock, que tiene más renombre, al menos hasta que este se adapte al nuevo territorio. Y por otra parte, está Napoleón Foy, un lavandero del barrio chino, que descubre un extraño mensaje escrito en un pañuelo que venía en un hato de ropa sucia. A partir de estos sencillos elementos, la trama se va complicando de manera creciente, hasta una resolución sorprendente.
Sin duda, Keeler ofrece lo que promete, que es un buen rato de diversión con misterios, crímenes y giros inesperados.
December 18, 2024
This entry felt a little more serious for a Keeler - not in his goofball period, one feels.
Yet the story is as colorful and complicated as you could wish for, from any old genie you like.
The tiny size RambleHouse edition is just perfect for a pocket, and this read zooms on by.
Don't go floundering for it on any website run by a ubiquitous monopoly. This is something you want to buy through a humble vendor!
Yet the story is as colorful and complicated as you could wish for, from any old genie you like.
The tiny size RambleHouse edition is just perfect for a pocket, and this read zooms on by.
Don't go floundering for it on any website run by a ubiquitous monopoly. This is something you want to buy through a humble vendor!
September 17, 2020
The frontispiece of my edition of Find the Clock describes it as "A Detective Mystery of Newspaper Life", and that is completely on point. It is the story of reporter Jeff Darrell, who works for the Morning Call in Chicago. These were the days (this book was published in 1927) where newspapers were the top source for news. Reporters did more than regurgitate press releases and paste copy from national press agencies; they went out and covered stories but also actively sought them.
And that's what Jeff Darrell does in this story. A contact hands him a strange message found in a Chinese laundry, and in pursuing this strange clue Darrell stumbles on two plots that intersect with deadly results. Darrell plays both reporter and sleuth in his quest to decipher the mystery of the message, hoping all the while to deliver one fantastic story to the readers of the Call. The reader follows along on the journey.
I was aware that Keeler's plots are complicated and involve many characters, so I took my time with this book. There are many characters and a couple of subplots, and Keeler structures the story in a manner that does not always make it apparent to the reader how - or if - they intersect. In this case they did, and quite cleverly. There are a few minor moments of very fortuitous coincidence, but they are not egregious and the secret of the titular object is very, very unique indeed. There is another shocking twist at the end - it dawned on me only in the last few chapters as things were being explained by Darrell (which Keeler does quite nicely for the reader) - and yes, all the clues were there and it served to explain other events in the story.
I am thrilled to have a new author to enjoy. More Keeler books are definitely on my wish list.
And that's what Jeff Darrell does in this story. A contact hands him a strange message found in a Chinese laundry, and in pursuing this strange clue Darrell stumbles on two plots that intersect with deadly results. Darrell plays both reporter and sleuth in his quest to decipher the mystery of the message, hoping all the while to deliver one fantastic story to the readers of the Call. The reader follows along on the journey.
I was aware that Keeler's plots are complicated and involve many characters, so I took my time with this book. There are many characters and a couple of subplots, and Keeler structures the story in a manner that does not always make it apparent to the reader how - or if - they intersect. In this case they did, and quite cleverly. There are a few minor moments of very fortuitous coincidence, but they are not egregious and the secret of the titular object is very, very unique indeed. There is another shocking twist at the end - it dawned on me only in the last few chapters as things were being explained by Darrell (which Keeler does quite nicely for the reader) - and yes, all the clues were there and it served to explain other events in the story.
I am thrilled to have a new author to enjoy. More Keeler books are definitely on my wish list.
Read
May 14, 2014Not actually finished - not rated.
Just abandoned due to the missing pages.
That's the problem with buying job lots of antique books by the same author from one shop - some are not in anywhere near as good condition as others.
Hopefully I can find another copy, or maybe get one printed to order for the sake of 5 pages, and continue because I was really enjoying it.
Just abandoned due to the missing pages.
That's the problem with buying job lots of antique books by the same author from one shop - some are not in anywhere near as good condition as others.
Hopefully I can find another copy, or maybe get one printed to order for the sake of 5 pages, and continue because I was really enjoying it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews