James-A-Day: The Tractate Middoth

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I really like this one a lot.  I did think it was a little slow with the clerk at times during the detecting bits, but overall I think this is a great story.  What did you think of it?

An elderly man comes into a scholarly library and asks for a certain Hebrew commentary, but the assistant cannot get to the book and experiences some disturbing things.  The book appears to be haunted...

Mr. Garrett is the hero of this story and the first to be haunted, but there's a bit of a difference here from many MRJ stories; he is not the focus of the attack at all, and in fact his terrifying experience protects an innocent person.  The ghost is not a nice one at all, but it is protecting someone.  Perhaps it's trying to atone for sins committed in life?  Maybe it's a Marley-esque ghost, or it can't rest until it gets rid of the villain.

The Tractate Middoth is a real book of Hebrew commentary.  It's the sort of thing only a very serious scholar would consult, I think.

Postcard!
Look!  A bookmark! That looks like the book's spine!  And a postcard.  These and other joys can be seen and ordered here.   I've been very happy to discover that for quite a long time there has been an MRJ newsletter: Ghosts and Scholars.  It's still being produced, or was last year at any rate, and features reviews and articles and so on.  In former years it published fiction as well.  You can access much of the content at the website, so go take a look!








 Finally, in case you were wondering what Piccadilly weepers could be, here is a lovely photo for you.  They're the sideburns worn long (sometimes very long, from some of the photos I saw!), and the mustache is optional.  This style is also known as the Dundreary.  Both names seem to me to be on the melancholy side, don't you think?

A man with Piccadilly weepers

Comments

  1. Nancy LeekOctober 11, 2012 at 10:08 PM

    Cobwebs----ack! That was a great touch. Creepiest thing in the story.

    ReplyDelete

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