Mysterious March

March 2nd is National Reading Day in the US. A perfect excuse – as if we needed any – to present 10 old and new gems from our mysterious catalog.

Let’s start by celebrating World Math’s Day on the first Wednesday in March. Henri Poincaré explains logic and mathematics in his book Science and Hypothesis quite plainly and without seven seals.

Sealed, however, is the room in which Miss Stangerson is found, heavily injured. Detective Rouletabille tries to solve the Mystery of the Yellow Room: How did the attacker leave – after locking the room from the inside? This novel by Gaston Leroux is also available in French.

Let’s change colors: The world is clad in green on March 17, and maybe there is some quiet time in the parades to listen to the Collected Works of Saint Patrick. After all, he’s the reason for the party!

One more celebration to have a round number: 175 years of Colt revolvers! That’s a great occasion to read 32 Caliber by Donald McGibney, where a lawyer turns detective when an accident first becomes suspicious and finally turns out to be murder.

Parties, cenotaphs, quiet streets,… all of them can be found in The Farmer’s Bride, poems that run the spectrum from loss and sorrow to love tinged with urgency by Charlotte Mew. It is very sad that she chose to end her talented life on March 24, 1928.

Death is the boundary we can only cross once, so the Return of Sherlock Holmes causes quite some unrest – mainly among criminals, of course. Read 13 stories about the master sleuth by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – the master of mysteries.

The mystery that demands a solution in The Crevice by William J. Burns and Isabel Ostrander is where all the money of Pennington Lawton disappeared with his death. And, of course, finding out whether it was really a heart attack or cold blooded murder.

No such doubts exist regarding the end of Julius Caesar in the Ides of March 44 BC. The deed was first considered a public service and the murderers heroes. Find out what turned the public opinion around in our production of Shakespeare’s classic drama.

Equally clear is the culprit when an old man is found dead at his desk: it must have been one of the daughters. Both assure their innocence, but why then do they refuse to help solving The Leavenworth Case in any way? Follow the twists of Anna Katharine Green’s excellent murder-mystery to the final solution.

Not solved any time soon will be the one mystery that has puzzled and fascinated mankind for generations: “Are we alone in the universe?” Edward J. Ruppelt, Air Force officer, puts together the facts of 4 years in The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. Find out for yourself in which direction the evidence points – and whether it’s convincing…

Enjoy – and sharpen your logic skills!