Joseph Smith Fletcher
Though he is today best remembered for the mysteries he began writing later in his literary career, English author J. S. Fletcher got his start in fiction as a writer of historical tales. In the Days of Drake immerses readers in the heady era of sixteenth-century British sea exploration in a rip-roaring yarn told from the perspective of a salty old sea dog who has retired and is looking back over his life.
Excerpt:
"Every Monday morning, when the clock of the old parish church in Scarnham Market-Place struck eight, Wallington Neale asked himself why on earth he had chosen to be a bank clerk. On all the other mornings of the week this question never occurred to him: on Sunday he never allowed a thought of the bank to cross his mind: from Sunday to Saturday he was firmly settled in the usual rut, and never dreamed of tearing himself out of it.
Excerpt: "This was the third week of Selwood’s secretaryship to Jacob Herapath. Herapath was a well-known man in London. He was a Member of Parliament, the owner of a sort of model estate of up-to-date flats, and something of a crank about such matters as ventilation, sanitation, and lighting. He himself, a bachelor, lived in one of the best houses in Portman Square; when he engaged Selwood as his secretary he made him take a convenient set of
...Excerpt: "That's just what I was going to suggest, he said. "There's no good to be done hanging about here. Let's get on to the scene of operations. If Miss Lennard's maid has stolen her jewels, she's probably had some hand in the theft from my cousin. We must find her. Now, then, let me come in. I'll look up the train, settle up with these hotel folk, and we'll be off. You give your attention to your packing, Miss Lennard, and leave the rest to
...Nesta, left alone, gave herself up to deep thought, and to a careful reckoning of her position. She was longing to confide in some trustworthy person or persons, for Pratt's revelations had plunged her into a maze of perplexity. But her difficulties were many. First of all, she would have to tell all about the terrible charge brought by Pratt against her mother. Then about the second which he professed to--or probably did--hold. What sort of a
...16) The safety pin
An elderly man called Deane is murdered in an English town. Inspector Mellapont thinks it's a simple robbery, but others disagree, and Deane's business partner, an attractive young girl named Miss Pretty, offers a reward for information. No fewer than three rogues decide to improve their own prospects by investigating — the two Hackdale brothers, John and Simmons, working independently, and the town drunk James Bartlett, who sobers up rapidly
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