Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 583

Museum Catalog Note This Beadle and Adams dime novel from 1887 features "Wrestling Rex; or, Five Points Phil and the Birds of Prey" by Jo Pierce of the New York Detective Force. The narrative follows Rex Peters, a sixteen-year-old orphan and amateur wrestler living in a Sixth Ward tenement, and his encounter with mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of his neighbor Mrs. Austin. When an impostor posing as a policeman gains access to the deceased woman's room and steals papers from her trunk—potentially containing information about her orphaned daughter Ella's relatives—Rex seeks help from his friend Phil, the quick-witted "Five Points Phil," known for detective work. Together they investigate the case, discovering clues suggesting the thief may have accessed the room via rooftops. The narrative combines street-level New York detail with mystery and action elements typical of the period.