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WVU Press publishes fifth volume in its West Virginia Classics series

Posted by Monte Maxwell.
March 30th, 2015

melville cover

By Abby Freeland, WVU Press

West Virginia University Press has published Uncle Abner: Master of Mysteries by Melville Davisson Post, the fifth volume in its West Virginia Classic Series.

First published in 1918, Uncle Abner: Master of Mysteries is an anthology of detective stories written by Melville Davisson Post. The popular stories within this collection were serialized in national magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post in the early twentieth century.

Uncle Abner is an amateur detective in present-day Harrison County, West Virginia. Throughout his journeys around this antebellum wilderness, long before the nation had a proper police system, the honest Uncle Abner is confronted by murders and mysteries that cannot be ignored. With uncanny intuition, impressive logic, and keen observation of human actions, Uncle Abner is Melville Davisson Post’s most celebrated literary creation and is considered to be one of the most important texts in American detective and crime fiction.

This new edition contains an introduction by Craig Johnson, the New York Times bestselling author of the Walt Longmire novels, which are the basis for Longmire, the hit Netflix original drama.

Melville Davisson Post (1869–1930) was a native of Harrison County, West Virginia. He is the author of The Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason, the Randolph Mason series, the Uncle Abner: Master of Mysteries series, the Monsieur Jonquelle series, and the Walker of the Secret Service series, as well as many articles, essays, and treatises.

The West Virginia Classics series republishes editions of treasured literary and historical works in collaboration with the West Virginia Humanities Council. This rediscovery of classic texts reveals the culture and diversity of West Virginia while speaking to a new generation of readers who desire to explore the story of the Mountain State. The highly designed editions of West Virginia Classics clear a delightful path to the past, helping citizens of all ages discover and rediscover the history, culture, and diversity of West Virginia.

To order this book or learn more about the West Virginia Classics series, visit wvupress.com, phone (800) 621-2736, or visit a local bookstore.

 

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