Who Watches the Watchers

 Another free ebook from the Gutenberg project and another Joseph Muller mystery is my subject.  The Case of the Pool of Blood in the Pastor's Study by Auguste Groner is a nice, short, and enjoyable mystery.  

The protagonist is a detective in the Austrian Imperial Police.  He's different than the other detectives.  Firstly, because he's an excon.  He understands the criminal mind.  He's very methodical and can visualize scenarios to place situations. He hardly eats nor sleeps, when in the middle of a case.  But solve the "who done it," he will.  

In this case, the village houses an insane asylum and the director will sometimes walk around the village with inmates.  The suspects include some of the inmates and maybe a villager or maybe one of the keepers.  Trust Detective Muller to see what others miss.

 

The Diary

The Case of the Pocket Diary Found in the Snow by Grace Isabel Colbron and Auguste Groner is a free book, offered by Gutenberg eBooks.   I thought I would try it.  It was very short--a plus!  More delightful than that, it was good.  I was attracted by Joseph Muller.  He is a convicted felon.  He has proven himself valuable in solving crimes.  So much so, that he is a secret service detective with the Imperial Austrian police.  

This particular mystery starts with Ludwig Amster being fired from his factory job.  Dejectedly, walking home in the snow, he finds a diary, with a note attached saying to bring the diary to the nearest police station.  He does as instructed and ends up not only helping Joseph Muller solving the mystery but also being offered a job with the Imperial Austrian police.

The diary explains that a lady is being held prisoner.  Muller and Amster follow clues and figure out where the lady was held.  Consequently, they figure out how she was taken by taxi.  The next step was to find the taxi driver and go to where he brought the lady and her abductor. The story ends in confrontation with the lady being rescued.

This little free Gutenberg eBook will not be my last.