The Red Seal

by Natalie Sumner Lincoln

A twisty, complicated who-dunnit.Natalie Sumner Lincoln's books are great escapist experiences and keep you guessing right up to the end. Enjoy.

Genres: Mystery Thriller

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1920

About the author

Natalie Sumner Lincoln (4 october 1881 - 31 august 1935) was an American writer. She was born in Washington and spent her whole career in this town. She was editor of the D.A.R. Magazine (Daughters of American R) from to .

She wrote 10 crime mystery novels with Inspector Mitchell from the Washington Police Department (1916-1927), and 2 novels with Detective Ferguson in the same town (1920-1921).

In 1922, The Washington Times mentioned her as The Conan Doyle of Washington.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mystery that starts off with a burglary done as a prank. No one’s laughing when the culprit dies in the witness box at the arraignment. I found this premise to be very unique and my attention was maintained quite easily through the story.

I listened on LibriVox and quite liked the narrator.

[Janette · Rating 3 out of 5]

The least likely person did it, but at least it wasn't the butler!

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Listened to Librivox audiobook)

[Rene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the book was pleasant to read, I found the plot a bit too (unnecessarily) complicated. I Spy, the former book I read that was written by Natalie Sumner Lincoln, had a less complicated plot, and nevertheless was better. Still three stars, however.

[Yibbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that was a shocking opening. I didn’t see any of that coming. It was a strong enough opening to carry the story through some wild twists and turns and really confusing back-and-forths.
It’s not a bad mystery, but a little unremarkable in the middle of the story. I did really enjoy the way the author handles each character’s motivations. For most of the book, I thought they were being just the normal overly concerned with appearances and conveniently reticent. Then at the end, Lincoln brought out all the hidden motives and made me like them all a little bit better. It was a very satisfying conclusion.
It was a clean story and I would recommend it.

[Alyssa Bohon · Rating 3 out of 5]

As literature, mediocre; as a whodunit that truly keeps you guessing all the way to the end, quite impressive. The atmosphere of gowns, walking sticks, parlors, dining clubs chauffeurs, and butlers doesn't hurt either.

I enjoy many of the obscure early 20th century pieces of fiction read on Librivox by J.M. Smallheer. She has a unique reading voice that conveys the mood of being told a story, and has been a means of discovering fun stories that I didn't know existed.

[Daria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following Jannette's review, indeed it wasn't the butler, but after suggesting several suspects, some more likely than others, the end of the mystery is strange. Some of the early suspects are portrayed in such a bad light that one would expect an explanation - but none came. So up to the very last chapter I'd give it 4 stars, but the end spoiled it.

[Cindy B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange viewpoint but well plotted and worth listening to JMS...(Librivox narrator).

[Julie Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio from Librivox. If you're craving late 1800s-early 1900s detective novels, the way I was when I picked this up, this is a good mystery and a fun story.

[Mark Rabideau · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good mystery although it is a bit slow paced.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Identical twins? No clues til the end like an episode of Banacek.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very interesting read. It turns out that all the suspects suspect someone else and are hiding information to protect them. The real culprit was totally unsuspected.