The Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason: Stories of Mystery and Crime

by Melville Davisson Post

To-day a bitter critic calls down to the story teller, bidding him turn out with the hewers of wood and the drawers of water, for the reason that there is no new thing, and the pieces with which he seeks to build are ancient and well worn.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1896

About the author

Melville Davisson Post (April 19, 1869–June 23, 1930) is an American author, born in Harrison County, West Virginia. He earned a law degree from West Virginia University in 1892, and was married in 1903 to Ann Bloomfield Gamble Schofield. Their only child, a son, died at eighteen months old and Mrs. Post died of pneumonia in 1919.

After the death of their son, he left law practice and went on an European tour with his wife. Upon return from Europe, he began writing short stories and became America's highest paid short story writer. He was an avid horseman, and died on June 23, 1930, after a fall from his horse, and was buried in Harrison County. His boyhood home, "Templemoor", is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as of 1982.

Although Post's name is not immediately familiar to many in this era, his stories are available through Gutenberg and many collections of detective fiction include works by Post. There is a case to be made for these stories to be among the finest of detective fiction in America. No less than Ellery Queen and Howard Haycraft both praised Post's writing as among the finest of American detective writing.

Post's best-known character is the mystery-solving, justice dispensing Virginian backwoodsman, Uncle Abner. Post also created two other recurring characters, Sir Henry Marquis and Randolph Mason. He also wrote two non-crime novels. His total output was approximately 230 titles.

Reviews

[Pablo Davis]

A word about the quality of Melville Davisson Post's writing (which a reviewer here refers to as "mediocre at times"). While I cannot appraise the prose style of the Randoph Mason stories, having not yet read them, I know the Uncle Abner tales well. And based on them, I can say with confidence that as a literary stylist Post is nothing short of superb, and often wondrous.
Hewn out of the rock of the "western Virginia hills" (the stories' temporal setting preceded the creation of West Virginia), dipped in the wellsprings of the King James Bible, and rendered with sure-handed rhythm in a decidedly elevated literary style that is, yet, also marked by simplicity and directness--his prose is a masterwork.
A small sample (opening of "The House of the Dead Man"):
"We were on our way to the Smallwood place--Abner and I. It was early in the morning and I thought we were the first on the road; but at the Three Forks, where the Lost Creek turnpike trails down from the mountains, a horse had turned in before us.
"It was a morning out of Paradise, crisp and bright. The spider-webs glistened on the fence rails. The timber cracked. The ragweed was dusted with silver. The Sun was moving upward from behind the world. I could have whistled out of sheer joy in being alive on this October morning and the horse under me danced; but Abner rode looking down his nose. He was always silent when he had this trip to make. And he had a reason for it."
Jewels like this are to be found on almost every page.
(I leave to another time consideration of Post's sense of history, of the play of political power, of the hierarchies and tensions of the rural society he depicts, all deftly conveyed in the stories; and the often brilliant plotting, magisterial use of suspense; and other virtues.)

[Denise Spicer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ten page introduction describes the characters and setting of the seven short stories originally published in 1894 to 1896. Some are slightly odd or quirky but this book, though a bit outdated, is well worth reading. The stories, especially the first one, “Corpus Delicti”, hold up well for modern readers. The stories all follow the rather unappealing main character, a somewhat mysterious legal genius Randolph Mason, along with his office assistant, Parks.
Other characters are interesting, odd, and in need of Mason’s advice – how to legally commit and get away with their crimes. This detective story author definitely deserves to be rediscovered.

[Robin Richmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like legal short stories, this a classic.Read it many years ago. The book caused a storm when it came out

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

The corpus delicti --2
Two plungers of Manhattan --
Woodford's partner --
The error of William Van Broom --
*The men of the Jimmy --
*The sheriff of Gullmore --
The animus furandi --

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sort of an Inverse Perry Mason--Randolph uses his knowledge of the law to help his clients get away with (in one case quite literally) murder. Interesting as a period piece, but that's about it.

[Janet Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a different type of story. Randolph Mason is a lawyer who schemes with others about how to get away with certain types of crime and not be found guilty. An interesting read.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Mason was a corrupt lawyer who did everything he could, inside and outside the law, to get his clients off.