[There may be some spoilers ahead with this review. Be wary.]
This book is about a lot of things all at once, but it is a solid story that keeps you interested all the way to the end. The main premise has to do with a black slave, a mother, who switches her child with her master's son. Since she is only 10% black, this actually works. The problem, however, is that her son ends up being a terrible person and is also the main antagonist of the book.
The titular character known as Pudd'nhead Wilson is actually a down-on-his-luck lawyer who is obsessed with finger-printing. It is like a hobby of his, and everyone thinks he is silly for it. The book mainly has to do with him being somewhat ridiculed for his silly ideas, but he was actually really smart, probably the smartest man in town.
This story is complicated and spends most of its time inside the mind of the antagonist, that being Tom the would-be slave as he lives a privileged life in a white family. This was an interesting way to do it. Columbo was good at showing the inner-workings of a villain well too.
What is pretty spectacular about this story is how forensics and fingerprints are used in order to win a murder case. This was extremely new for when the book was published, and that is very cool.
This book was written during Mark Twain's "dark period." It deals with some synical topics and features some of the worst the human race can offer. That said, I do recommend it. It was a great story with a fun and satisfying ending. In many ways, this was similar to his book "The Prince and the Pauper," but with a new and much darker premise. Good stuff.
This blog was written on December 3, 2025.
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A murder mystery with forensic detective work... before such a thing was a thing! Very interesting. It reminds me of the 1999 movie SLEEPY HOLLOW. The Twain cynicism is more modern than it should be... but he was tired of being let down.
ReplyDeleteDespite this being in his more moody period, it was still wildly entertaining.
DeleteIt is interesting that the book is named after the lawyer. He seems to have been ahead of his time concerning the use of fingerprinting. Without it, detective work would be much harder.
ReplyDelete