Hidden Identities: Two Novels of Mystery and Concealment

by Mary Rinehart (Author), Colin Heston (Introduction) Format: Kindle Edition

Before there was the modern psychological thriller, there was Mary Roberts Rinehart, one of the pioneers of American mystery fiction. This carefully edited new edition brings together two of her finest novels—works that explore not only murder and suspense, but the fragile nature of identity itself.

In The Man in Lower Ten, attorney Lawrence Blakeley boards an overnight train carrying vital legal documents, only to awaken in the wrong berth, wearing another man's clothes, with his own luggage missing—and a murdered passenger lying nearby. Every clue points toward Blakeley himself. As the evidence mounts against him, he must untangle a web of mistaken identities, stolen papers, and hidden motives before he becomes the chief suspect in a crime he did not commit. Long regarded as one of the earliest American detective bestsellers, this classic combines ingenious plotting with the irresistible atmosphere of the golden age of railway mysteries.

In The Breaking Point, Rinehart turns from external deception to the mysteries of memory and the human mind. Dr. Dick Livingstone has lived for years as a respected physician, yet an unexplained gap in his past refuses to remain buried. As fragments of forgotten memories begin to surface, he is forced to confront the possibility that the life he believes to be his own may rest upon a hidden and dangerous truth. Blending suspense with psychological insight, this novel anticipated many of the themes that would later define modern crime fiction.

Although separated by more than a decade, these novels reveal the remarkable breadth of Rinehart's imagination. One explores identity stolen by circumstance; the other examines identity concealed within the self. Together they demonstrate why Rinehart became one of the most influential mystery writers of the twentieth century, inspiring generations of detective fiction that followed.

This new Read-Me.Org edition has been carefully edited for today's readers and includes a substantial new introduction by Colin Heston, placing both novels in their literary and historical context while exploring their enduring themes of deception, memory, justice, and the search for truth.

Perfect for readers of classic detective fiction, psychological suspense, vintage crime novels, and the Golden Age of Mystery, Hidden Identities is an engaging reminder that the greatest my

Read-Me.Org Inc. New York-Philadelphia-Australia. 2026. 400p.