The Case of the Registered Letter

by Auguste Groner

Joseph Muller, Secret Service detective of the Imperial Austrian police, is one of the great experts in his profession. In personality he differs greatly from other famous detectives. He has neither the impressive authority of Sherlock Holmes, nor the keen brilliancy of Monsieur Lecoq. Muller is a small, slight, plain-looking man, of indefinite age, and of much humbleness of mien. A naturally retiring, modest disposition, and two external causes are the reasons for Muller's humbleness of manner, which is his chief characteristic. One cause is the fact that in early youth a miscarriage of justice gave him several years in prison, an experience which cast a stigma on his name and which made it impossible for him, for many years after, to obtain honest employment. But the world is richer, and safer, by Muller's early misfortune. For it was this experience which threw him back on his own peculiar talents for a livelihood, and drove him into the police force. Had he been able to enter any other profession, his genius might have been stunted to a mere pastime, instead of being, as now, utilised for the public good. Reprint of the detective novel starring Joseph Muller, Secret Service detective of the Imperial Austrian police.

Genres: Mystery, Classics

68 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1902

About the author

Auguste Groner (née Kopallik ) was an Austrian writer from Vienna. In english-speaking countries she often is known as Augusta Groner. She sometimes wrote under the masculine pseudonym August Groner, and also published under the pseudonyms Olaf Björnson, A. of the Paura, Renorga and Metis.

Reviews

[Julie]

This was a free kindle book I have had for awhile. It's a short mystery, about 65 pages long. It is written well for it's time. The details were thought out well, but impossible to actually carry out the crime the way the author described it. Having read many detective and mystery novels, I figured out the scheme quickly, and most of you will too, but this is an interesting little story . It won't take much time to read and will remind you of the stye of many detective stories from that era of time.
A man has been accused of murder. He was the last person seen with the victim and his revolver was found at the scene. His aunt is positive of his innocence and enlist help in proving it. Details emerge that sheds light on the situation and we find a terrible plot has been hatched to exact revenge.
There is a moral to the story that is obvious, but pertains to every age . So, even though this is a very old book, the technical details impossible with what we now know about forensics etc, the basic principle of the story makes it worth checking out.

[Laura]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

[Kim]

youtube

[Gita Sturtevant]

Very interesting

This book reminds me of Sherlock Holmes and the style is similar yet different. In all still well written a stands strong in the character development and not ignored

[Deborah]

A good story.

[Vintagebooklvr]

Similar to other stories of the era in its style of writing. The characters are developed so they are not just flat 2-dimensional. It is fairly easy to figure out what is going on but it is an interesting read, particularly to read an early woman writer of detective fiction from another country.

[Cindy B.]

Enjoyed this Joseph Muller mystery and the series - short and always interesting and, in this case, well narrated (and free) at Librivox,.org
Recommended.

[William]

I purchased this as part of a promotion by Amazon 18 months ago. I am at this time attempting to clean up the books, box sets, and megapacks on my Kindle Fire.

I listened to this as part of The Second Victorian Mystery Megapack. It was a quick entertanting listen.

This is a very good British Victorian novella quick read 2023

[Mark Rabideau]

Skip the preface it seems the same in each book. This story is interesting and entertaining even if it is brief.

[for-much-deliberation ...]

Another detective Muller mystery. This tale was rather a short one though, I think even the reader, upon Muller's explanation of the facts, could've solved the case...

[Tasha]

I have a feeling I fell asleep while listening to this because I don't really remember the conclusion. Not that it was terribly gripping to begin with.

[Sanjeev]

Not exactly a detective one, as the author and detective agrees. Short, gripping, and wonderful revenge