The trouble at Pinelands : A detective story by Ernest M. Poate
The Trouble at Pinelands by Ernest M. Poate is a detective story written in the early 20th century. Set in a quiet Southern town, it follows elderly bachelor George Uhlman as he watches over Fort House for the McGregor women, only to face eerie “poltergeist” disturbances and a sudden, suspicious death that throws blame on his nephew, young doctor C. Lewis Parker, who is engaged to Dorothy McGregor. The tale blends ghostly
mischief, family tensions, and small‑town rivalries with the beginnings of a murder investigation. The opening of the story finds George sleepless in the gloomy Fort House, unnerved by creaks, honeysuckle scent, and a midnight scream that the household calls the “Poltergeist.” By morning, the calm is broken by quarrelsome bobwhite quail and by Aunt Mary McGregor’s exquisitely patient yet manipulative invalid routine, which sparks a clash between the gentle Lewis and brusque Doctor Gaskell. In town, Lewis’s pride is stung when a patient shifts to Gaskell, while a mountain man, Lafe Rutledge, publicly threatens the older doctor; the McGregors’ nurse, Anne Christie, panics at hearing Rutledge’s name, hinting at a backwoods feud. At Dorothy’s request, a shotgun is set out so Lewis can rid the yard of the quail at dawn. At daybreak, Lewis stumbles as he raises the gun; moments later, Gaskell is found dead in the scrub oaks, shot at close range. A mob surges, shouting for a lynching, but High Sheriff Redden disperses them and takes charge, beginning the formal inquiry as suspicion settles uneasily on Lewis. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Poate, Ernest M., 1885?-1935 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Coughlin, John A. (John Albert), 1885-1943 |
| LoC No. | 22024686 |
| Title | The trouble at Pinelands : A detective story |
| Original Publication | New York: Chelsea House, 1922. |
| Credits | Tim Miller and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Distilling, Illicit -- Fiction |
| Subject | Detective and mystery stories |
| Subject | Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction |
| Subject | North Carolina -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 78103 |
| Release Date | Mar 4, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 5144 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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