The Ear in the Wall

Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective #7

by Arthur B. Reeve

The book, The Ear in the Wall, has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1916

About the author

Arthur Benjamin Reeve (October 15, 1880 - August 9, 1936) was an American mystery writer. He is best known for creating the series character Professor Craig Kennedy, sometimes called "The American Sherlock Holmes", and Kennedy's Dr. Watson-like sidekick Walter Jameson, a newspaper reporter, in 18 detective novels. The bulk of Reeve's fame is based on the 82 Craig Kennedy stories, published in Cosmopolitan magazine between 1910 and 1918. These were collected in book form; with the third collection, the short stories were stitched together into pseudo-novels. The 12-volume Craig Kennedy Stories were released in 1918; it reissued Reeve's books-to-date as a matched set.

Reviews

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my last Scientific Detective book for a while, and it was a disappointment even compared to my lackluster experience with previous entries in the series. This was pretty obviously an attempt to move from short stories to novel format, via the expedient of simply taking several earlier short stories and shoving them into a single plotline virtually unchanged. Not recommended.

[Mark Rabideau · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is quite slow and only moderately interesting, so say I. I really can't say it is worth more than a mediocre score.

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun short chapters , great inventions...loved it

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

The “sciences “ were a nice addition to an old mystery. But the mystery and racism of the time really clunk.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kennedy (PI) and Jameson (newspaper reporter) are Reeve's Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. In this book they help Carton,the District Attorney, unravel a tangled web of corruption and criminal activity in their fair city. Carton is running for elections and is trying to clean up the corruption that has ruled the city, especially a few major criminals that have bonded together to keep things lucrative for themselves. One of them is running in the election. These 3 guys along with a woman PI find out the truth and slowly uncover and convict the criminals one by one.

You have to remember this was written in early 1900s without all our sophisticated listening devices and other tools that make searching for criminals less difficult. In comes Kennedy with his lab where he tests things, figures out photos are fake, compares voice vibrations and puts together some devices for listening in other rooms or taking pictures in ingenious ways. It sounds more advanced than I thought it would be.

Some things were surprisingly up-to-date--especially the spa and beauty place with plastic surgery. Also--it brings to light the problem of drug use and corruption among the police and courts. Well written. I didn't want to put it down.

[CATHERINE · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the interesting title -it isn't what you think - it turned out to be very Sherlock Holmes like. Set when women's rights was just starting. Interesting perspectives of the time, regarding gender relationships, the media, drugs, crime, policing methods etc. Alright read, nothing that exciting, but you could do worse.