Eleven Possible Cases

Wheeler, A. C. (Andrew Carpenter), 1835-1903Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 325K words
Chapters: 33

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Eleven Possible Cases by Edgar Fawcett et al.Author: Wheeler, A. C. (Andrew Carpenter), 1835-1903,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Apr 24, 2010

Editor's review

Eleven Possible Cases is a collection of English short detective stories from Project Gutenberg, co-written by Edgar Fawcett and other authors, with A. C. Wheeler also credited. The book revolves around eleven “possible cases,” each presenting an independent puzzle and solution, carrying the typical appeal of late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century popular detective fiction: ingenious puzzles, short length, and strong reasoning, making it a good introductory sample for understanding the early Anglo-American short detective story tradition. The electronic edition is freely provided by Project Gutenberg, easy to browse on a phone, tablet, or computer at any time, and convenient for jumping between stories. There is no need to read it in one sitting; it works better as a bedside or commute read, “one case per break.” For readers of the English original, the short length and manageable vocabulary density also make it good material for practicing English detective reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy short detective fiction and want to solve puzzles in fragmented time
Literature lovers who want to understand early Anglo-American detective fiction
Intermediate English learners who want to practice reading English through short original texts
Commuters or bedtime readers who need to read by individual stories and put the book down at any time

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer long continuous narratives and deep character development
Detective fans expecting modern hardcore crime or forensic detail
Beginners unfamiliar with early twentieth-century English sentence patterns and vocabulary

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and pick the most intriguing titles; read each story independently, not necessarily in order.
After each story, try to work out the answer yourself before checking the ending to test your reasoning against the clues.
Mark and skip unfamiliar words first, then look them up together after finishing the story to keep the rhythm.
Choose one story to compare with a contemporary Sherlock Holmes short story and feel how different authors design their puzzles.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a short story collection?

It is a short story collection made up of eleven independent case stories, each with a complete puzzle and solution; they do not depend on continuous plot, so it is suitable for reading by individual stories.

Is the English original difficult to read?

Overall it is popular short fiction with fairly simple sentences, but since it was published early, you may encounter old-fashioned words and expressions. Intermediate readers can finish it smoothly with a dictionary; beginners are advised to start with shorter pieces.

Why do the author credits and the names mentioned in the description not match?

The book is a multi-author short story collection; the credits involve authors such as Edgar Fawcett, and A. C. Wheeler also appears in the author list. The description mainly introduces Project Gutenberg and is not a summary of the work’s content.

Is it suitable for learning to write English detective fiction?

Yes. Each story is short with a clear structure, allowing you to see the complete process of “setting the puzzle—planting clues—giving the solution,” making it a good sample for analyzing short detective story structure.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Wheeler, A. C. (Andrew Carpenter), 1835-1903 Author · American · 1835–1903

Andrew Carpenter Wheeler (1835–1903) was an American journalist and drama critic, known by the pen name "Nim Crinkle." He wrote a history of Milwaukee, recording the city's historical development. The library holds one of his works, Eleven Possible Cases, which, judging by its title, appears to be a narrative built around several possible scenarios and may carry speculative or suspenseful elements; however, publicly available information is limited, and its specific plot and genre remain to be verified. Wheeler spent his life mainly in journalism and drama criticism, and his pen name carries a humorous tone; his writings tend to stay close to everyday life and local observations. He attended to urban figures and public topics, and his style is plain and direct. Few of his works and local-history writings survive today, and readers' knowledge of the man and his writings remains rather limited.