The Great Mistake

New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1940. First Printing. Hardcover. Very good. 8vo, bound in full red leather gilt, very good, light rubbing and dryness to joints. With sticker on rear pastedown from Preservation Technologies stating this was deacidified with their patented process. We purchased a large number of similarly bound Rinehart books from a local institution that was deaccessioning duplicates and were told that these were Rinehart family copies, but have no proof of this. Here's a fairly succinct Goodreads review of the book: "THE GREAT MISTAKE by Mary Roberts Rinehart originally was released in 1940. It's a classic mystery story told from the perspective of Pat, a young woman who finds herself in the middle of deception and murder. I don't do spoilers in my reviews, so I will just reveal that there are three human murders, multiple deceptions of people hiding who they really are, and many lies about who knows what. The mystery weaves together several characters, and it's how they are truly connected that causes the chaos. Like many classic mysteries written in the 1930s and 1940s, THE GREAT MISTAKE features a sprawling manor house, a wealthy widow, her secretary (Pat), a hateful wife, doting son, a house full of servants, and an entire roster of characters that live in town but who play integral roles. Overall, I enjoyed the mystery. It provided a nice diversion and the final wrap-up of the murders (the who & the why) satisfied me as a reader.