The mystery lies in our perception of things around us rather than in the things themselves. That is a subjective way to approach mystery, but the author Bram Stoker before beginning with his spiritual search for mystery tried to dwindle around some mysterious visions on the sea shore. The vision was not entirely his, because another strange lady of considerable mystery around her also saw the same thing on the sea shore. The novel began with this dilemma of two similar visions enticed with two different individual perceptions. The vision about carrying of a coffin by two elderly persons was ephemeral and hallucinatory in character that ultimately led the subsequent interest by our protagonist. The novel, 
The Mystery of the Sea by Bram Stoker, revolved around the supernatural reality perceived by some of the characters, including our protagonist and subsequent revelation of the underlying mystery. In that sense, this novel deals with a philosophical theme of the supernatural underlying the so called reality around us.
Bram Stoker in his narrative could enliven the inherent tension pertaining to the search for the truth behind the mystery throughout and that alone gave the novel an undisputed excellence. Unlike other great novels that in trying to deal with a vague, mysterious vision and subsequent revelation gets caught in the traps of falsified imageries and cliché narrative explanations, this one could make it sound exceptionally precise and devoid of any common clichés. As readers, we can really enjoy some breathtaking moments between the pages and there has hardly been a moment when the storyline failed to stick to our attention. For a novel, this alone is a great achievement and it is even more because of the complexity of the theme and storyline in this novel.
What the revelation is all about? Does it have any philosophical vision? Is it at all relevant to the reader apart from the context of the story? These questions are sublime in judging for the merit of the novel. To be honest, besides the good and fairly engaging narrative that never missed its ground under the feet, the novel in dealing with the supernatural aspects and revelation could not add any valuable philosophical statement. The vision it constantly talks of is very relative and esoteric in nature and the author seemed to be fairly inept in addressing this esotericism in all its importance and relevance. In spite of the characters playing convincing roles and constantly shredding lights on the mysterious things that are taking place on the sea shore, the light could never enlighten the bottom of their very existence and their search. In that respect we can only say that the novel remained philosophical only on the surface level.
It reminds me a little bit of Graham Greene (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Greene) in some aspects of the novel, particularly in the typical laid back lifestyle and grave tone of the protagonist. Yes to confront unexpected visions and get drenched in them one needs to be well composed and develop a kind of passivity about the life around. That relaxed and passive way of looking at things alone helps uncover many aspects of life otherwise unknown or unattended. Even though the novelist gave every situation its required clarity along with the composed, laid back pace of looking at things at length, sometimes we could not help but feeling the utter monotony of revolving around the same cacophony of signs relating to the mystery. All we feel at such times is that the author could be a little creative in incorporating a variety of settings rather than just sticking to the series of events on the same ladder of developments.
Finally, judging the tonality, expressions, engaging storytelling and narrative of the novel, it can well be recommended for the readers who have an uncanny knack for themes related to existential mysteries. But then, the reader should expect only an ephemeral perception of the mystery rather than a strongly grounded enquiry in deciphering the mysterious signs in life and things as we often find in Becket’s novels and other short writings. The present enquiry itself is dramatically entertaining and praiseworthy for engaging the reader until the last lines. But, since the novelist has been successful in building expectation with his gritty narrative, we naturally fancy the limits he could have broken through.
