Guest Post by Henesis Veras, Library Data Analyst in the Data Management and Visualization unit
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
I will spoil the plot and mystery of this dime novel during my review, but if you would like to check out this issue of the Brave and the Bold before reading the review, here is the link: “Bob, the shadow, or, Solving a Double Mystery”
The USF Libraries’ Special Collections is home to thousands of dime novels, inexpensive short stories which were popular in the United States between 1860 and 1915. [1] Before coming to work at the USF Libraries, I had never heard of dime novels. Reading is my favorite hobby and lately I have been very interested in comics, graphic novels, and other short stories, so I was very excited to dive into the Brave and the Bold dime novel series. As I explored the collection, I was intrigued by the cover art and catchy titles. I am definitely guilty of judging a book by its cover and the cover of “Bob, the shadow, or, Solving a double mystery” immediately caught my interest. The cover includes a man tied by a rope, what looks to be a police station in the background, another man with a gun holding a hostage, and suspicious shadows on the floor. The words ‘shadow’ and ‘mystery’ in the title gave me spooky vibes, so I thought it might be the perfect read for Halloween. Hopefully, the content will live up to the spooky season!
This novel, “Bob, the shadow, or, Solving a double mystery,” follows Bob Lightfoot who, at the beginning of the novel, is interviewing to be a detective in the police force. Within the first couple paragraphs, I discovered the shadows on the cover which caught my attention were actually a reference to Bob. Part of the reason he gets the detective job is because, according to his friends, he can move as quick and silent as a shadow. So, sadly, no phantoms or ghosts here. It was not exactly the spooky vibes I was looking for but still interesting enough to keep me reading.
Bob has quite an interesting first day on the job and is put on not one but two different cases with his new partner, Decker. These cases have even the seasoned detectives and the chief of police stumped. Bob is tasked with solving a robbery and a murder, which just so happen to be connected. The story has so many plot twists, changes of scenery, and changing points of view that the story became very hard to follow. After all, Bob went undercover, spied on a gang, got kidnapped, and got into a car crash…all within 30 pages. I found myself having to reread several parts just to understand how I, and Bob, got to this situation.
The story doesn’t stop there. Bob solves one case only to be thrust into another one! I’m still not sure if any time actually passed between cases or if Bob just had the busiest first day ever. This case involved another murder and a theft on a boat, which really made me think of the murder mystery game, “Clue,” where everyone is a suspect. So many new characters were introduced at every turn that I think I suspected everyone at least once. In both instances, the crimes were a case of love gone wrong. Two different couples aimed to steal money and jewels only for an unplanned murder to happen both times.
After taking another glance at the story, specifically the part where Bob is being assigned to these cases and is given the facts, I don’t think the author, Richard Hackstaff, tried very hard to keep the element of mystery. Bob and Decker practically give away the criminal at the beginning, yet as the story continues at least three or four more suspects connected to the crime come out of nowhere. Maybe I wasn’t so far off in suspecting every character that was introduced after all…Overall, this dime novel does not scream ‘Halloween’ but what better time to read a murder mystery than during the Halloween season?
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References
[1] University of Minnesota. (2023, June 1). What are Dime Novels and Story Papers? Dime Novels, Story Papers, Series Books, and Pulps – Research Guides at University of Minnesota Minneapolis. https://libguides.umn.edu/dime-novels-story-papers