The Dead Letter: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Dead Letter, credited to Metta Victoria Fuller Victor, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Dead Letter by Metta Victoria Fuller Victor. Read in English by J. M. Smallheer Published in 1866, "The Dead Letter: An American Romance" written by Metta Victoria Fuller Victor under the pseudonym, Seeley Regester, is credited by historians of popular literature to be the first full-length American crime fiction novel. The writing is melodramatic in places and includes opinions typical of the time period, but is an enjoyable, early example of the genre. The novel begins with Richard Redfield, a clerk in the "Dead Letter Office," opening an unclaimed letter. Upon reading the contents, he is convinced that the message relates to the events of a night two years prior when another young man was brutally murdered. (summary by J. M. Smallheer)

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Dead Letter
• Author credits: Metta Victoria Fuller Victor
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 27
• Listed recording duration: 8:39:13

Catalogue topics

• early crime fiction
• seeley regester

Opening tracks: first 24 of 27

1. 01 - Part I: The Letter — 3:59
2. 02 - Events of a Night — 19:34
3. 03 - The Figure Beneath the Trees — 19:56
4. 04 - Moreland Villa — 24:24
5. 05 - Mr. Burton, the Detective, part 1 — 21:34
6. 06 - Mr. Burton, the Detective, part 2 — 19:25
7. 07 - Two Links in the Chain — 23:43
8. 08 - Eleanor — 14:05
9. 09 - The Haunted Grave, part 1 — 19:51
10. 10 - The Haunted Grave, part 2 — 16:39
11. 11 - The Spider and the Fly — 30:46
12. 12 - The Anniversary, part 1 — 25:58
13. 13 - The Anniversary, part 2 — 12:33
14. 14 - The Little Guest and the Apparition, part 1 — 17:37
15. 15 - The Little Guest and the Apparition, part 2 — 22:42
16. 16 - The Night in Moreland Villa — 19:22
17. 17 - The Shadow Assumes Shape — 18:23
18. 18 - Part II: The Letter — 23:58
19. 19 - Our Visits — 27:51
20. 20 - The Confession — 26:10
21. 21 - Embarked for California — 15:20
22. 22 - On the Trail — 14:56
23. 23 - At Last -- At Last — 27:56
24. 24 - Now for Home Again — 7:51

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.