Uncle Abner

Melville Davisson Post (April 19, 1869 - June 23, 1930) was an American author, born in Harrison County, West Virginia. Although his name is not immediately familiar to those outside of specialist circles, many of his collections are still in print, and many collections of detective fiction include works by him. Post's best-known character is the mystery solving, justice dispensing West Virginian backwoodsman, Uncle Abner. The 22 Uncle Abner tales, written between 1911 and 1928, have been called some of "the finest mysteries ever written This work usually appears on lists of the ten most important books of detective stories published in the United States. The tales of Uncle Abner take place in what is now West Virginia, in the 1840's or 1850's. Melville Davisson Post (1869-1930) was a lawyer, political insider, and candidate for President of the United States (Democrat, 1924). He was one of the really great writers of the detective short story and is ranked in the same class as Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.