The Lower Ten is a berth on a train, and its occupant has been savagely murdered. Attorney Lawrence Blakely was supposed to have taken that berth - was he the intended victim, and did the crime have something to do with his briefcase full of vital evidence? Written by "the American Agatha Christie," this was the first detective novel to crack national bestseller lists. AUTHOR: Known as the American Agatha Christie, Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876 1958) is reputed to have originated the expression, "the butler did it" (although she didn't). She is also credited with inventing the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing. Many of her books and plays have been adapted for movies, and her classic mystery, The Circular Staircase, is available from Dover.