{"product_id":"2940013090248","title":"THE MIDDLE OF THINGS","description":"CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      I FACED WITH REALITY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     II NUMBER SEVEN IN THE SQUARE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    III WHO WAS ASHTON?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     IV THE RING AND THE KNIFE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      V LOOK FOR THAT MAN!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     VI SPECULATIONS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    VII WHAT WAS THE SECRET?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   VIII NEWS FROM ARCADIA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     IX LOOKING BACKWARD\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      X THE PARISH REGISTER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     XI WHAT HAPPENED IN PARIS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XII THE GREY MARE INN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XIII THE JAPANESE CABINET\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XIV THE ELLINGHAM MOTTO\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     XV THE PRESENT HOLDER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XVI THE OUTHOUSE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XVII THE CLAIMANT\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  XVIII LET HIM APPEAR!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XIX UNDER EXAMINATION\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     XX SURPRISING READINESS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XXI THE MARSEILLES MEETING\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XXII ON REMAND\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  XXIII IS THIS MAN RIGHT?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XXIV THE BROKEN LETTER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XXV THROUGH THE TELEPHONE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XXVI THE DISMAL STREET\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  XXVII THE BACK WAY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e XXVIII THE TRUTH\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XXIX WHO IS TO TELL HER?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFACED WITH REALITY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn that particular November evening, Viner, a young gentleman of means\u003cbr\u003eand leisure, who lived in a comfortable old house in Markendale Square,\u003cbr\u003eBayswater, in company with his maiden aunt Miss Bethia Penkridge, had\u003cbr\u003espent his after-dinner hours in a fashion which had become a habit. Miss\u003cbr\u003ePenkridge, a model housekeeper and an essentially worthy woman, whose\u003cbr\u003ewhole day was given to supervising somebody or something, had an\u003cbr\u003einsatiable appetite for fiction, and loved nothing so much as that her\u003cbr\u003enephew should read a novel to her after the two glasses of port which she\u003cbr\u003eallowed herself every night had been thoughtfully consumed and he and she\u003cbr\u003ehad adjourned from the dining-room to the hearthrug in the library. Her\u003cbr\u003etastes, however, in Viner's opinion were somewhat, if not decidedly,\u003cbr\u003elimited. Brought up in her youth on Miss Braddon, Wilkie Collins and Mrs.\u003cbr\u003eHenry Wood, Miss Penkridge had become a confirmed slave to the\u003cbr\u003esensational. She had no taste for the psychological, and nothing but\u003cbr\u003escorn for the erotic. What she loved was a story which began with crime\u003cbr\u003eand ended with a detection--a story which kept you wondering who did it,\u003cbr\u003ehow it was done, and when the doing was going to be laid bare to the\u003cbr\u003elight of day. Nothing pleased her better than to go to bed with a brain\u003cbr\u003etitivated with the mysteries of the last three chapters; nothing gave her\u003cbr\u003esuch infinite delight as to find, when the final pages were turned, that\u003cbr\u003eall her own theories were wrong, and that the real criminal was somebody\u003cbr\u003equite other than the person she had fancied. For a novelist who was so\u003cbr\u003elittle master of his trade as to let you see when and how things were\u003cbr\u003egoing, Miss Penkridge had little but good-natured pity; for one who led\u003cbr\u003eyou by all sorts of devious tracks to a startling and surprising\u003cbr\u003esensation she cherished a whole-souled love; but for the creator of a\u003cbr\u003eplot who could keep his secret alive and burning to his last few\u003cbr\u003esentences she felt the deepest thing that she could give to any human\u003cbr\u003ebeing--respect. Such a master was entered permanently on her mental\u003cbr\u003elibrary list.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47082208133360,"sku":"2940013090248","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013090248_p0.jpg?v=1763576822","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013090248","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}