J. S. Fletcher

When an elderly seller of antique books discovers the will of the late industrialist John Mallathorpe hidden in a copy of The History of Barford it sets in motion a sequence of singular events in the Yorkshire city of Barford involving fraud, blackmail, and ultimately murder. Bartle Collingwood, a young barrister, finds himself drawn into the circle of intrigue surrounding these events which he must unravel to lift the cloud that hangs over the woman with whom he has fallen in love.

"He came home," repeated Kitteridge. "Look here, sir." He led the way into the study and pointed to a small table set by the side of Herapath's big business desk. "You see that tray, Mr. Selwood? That's always left out, there, on that table, for Mr. Herapath every night. A small decanter of whiskey, a syphon, a few sandwiches, a dry biscuit or two. Well, there you are, sir-he's had a drink out of that glass, he's had a mouthful or so of sandwiches. Oh, yes, he came home, but he's not at home now Charlesworth-the valet, you know, sir-always goes into Mr. Herapath's room at a quarter past seven every morning; when he went in just now he found that Mr. Herapath wasn't there, and the bed hadn't been slept in. So-that's where things stand." Selwood looked round the room. The curtains had not yet been drawn aside, and the electric light cast a cold glare on the various well-known objects and fittings. He glanced at the evidences of the supper tray; then at the blotting-pad on Herapath's desk; there he might have left a note for his butler or his secretary. But there was no note to be seen. "Still, I don't see that there's anything to be alarmed about, Kitteridge," he said.

R sum A complicated tale of murder, hidden identities, and buried secrets in London's fashionable neighborhood of Bayswater. Bayswater is a quiet neighborhood whose residents are successful lawyers or medical men, people of independent means, or wealthy colonials returned to their homeland. It is hardly the place to expect a brutal murder and robbery, yet that is exactly what Richard Viner finds himself caught up in when he discovers the body of a neighbor on his nightly stroll, after having spent an evening reading a detective story to his aunt. He protests to his aunt that the events in detective stories never occur in real life. She counters with several mysteries from her own experience. He is still doubtful, but finds she is right when he finds himself in? The Middle of Things.

INTRODUCTION Everyone who has had the pleasure of Mr. Poskitt's acquaintance knows that that estimable Yorkshireman is not only the cheeriest of hosts, but the best of companions. Those of us who have known the Poskitt High Tea (a much more enjoyable meal than a late dinner) know what follows the consumption of Mrs. Poskitt's tender chickens and her home-fed hams. The parlour fire is stirred into a blaze; the hearth is swept clean; the curtains are drawn; the decanters, the cigars, and the quaint old leaden tobacco-box appear beneath the shaded lamp, and Mr. Poskitt bids his guests to cheer up, to help themselves, and to feel heartily welcome. And when those guests have their glasses at their elbows, their cigars and pipes between their lips, and their legs stretched in comfort, Mr. Poskitt has his story to tell. Few men know the countryside and its people, with their joys, their sorrows, their humours better than he; few people there can surely be who would not enjoy hearing him tell of the big and little dramas of life which he has watched, with a shrewd and sympathetic eye, during his seventy years of work and play, of cloud and sunshine. In some of these Nightcap stories (so termed by their hearers because Mr. Poskitt insists on telling them as preparatory to his own early retirement, which is never later than ten o'clock) he is sometimes humorous and sometimes tragic. I trust the re-telling of them may give some pleasure to folk who must imagine for themselves the cheery glow of Mr. Poskitt's hearth. J. S. FLETCHER. London, May 1910.

THE MAYOR'S PARLOUR Hathelsborough market-place lies in the middle of the town-a long, somewhat narrow parallelogram, enclosed on its longer side by old gabled houses; shut in on its western end by the massive bulk of the great parish church of St. Hathelswide, Virgin and Martyr, and at its eastern by the ancient walls and high roofs of its medi val Moot Hall. The inner surface of this space is paved with cobble-stones, worn smooth by centuries of usage: it is only of late years that the conservative spirit of the old borough has so far accommodated itself to modern requirements as to provide foot-paths in front of the shops and houses. But there that same spirit has stopped; the utilitarian of to-day would sweep away, as being serious hindrances to wheeled traffic, the two picturesque fifteenth-century erections which stand in this market-place; these, High Cross and Low Cross, one at the east end, in front of the Moot Hall, the other at the west, facing the chancel of the church, remain, to the delight of the arch ologist, as instances of the fashion in which our forefathers built gathering places in the very midst of narrow thoroughfares. Joseph Smith Fletcher (Halifax, Yorkshire de l'Ouest, 7 f vrier 1863 - Dorking, Surrey, 30 janvier 1935), mieux connu sous le signature J. S. Fletcher, est un journaliste, un po te et un crivain britannique de roman policier. Fils d'un eccl siastique, il fr quente une cole de Wakefield avant de se rendre Londres o il se destine l' tude du Droit. D s l' ge de 18 ans, il embrasse la double carri re d' crivain et de journaliste. Pour des magazines londoniens, il r dige une s rie d'articles sous le pseudonyme de Son of the Soil, concernant l'histoire et les coutumes de r gions rurales d'Angleterre, notamment de son Yorkshire natal. Il aborde la litt rature par la po sie, s'int resse ensuite la publication d'essais, d'ouvrages religieux et surtout de romans historiques, dont plusieurs monographies romanc es de grands personnages, avant de publier un premier roman, Frank Carisbroke's Stratagem; or, Lost and Won, en 1888. Avec Andrewlina, il signe en 1889 son premier roman policier, un genre auquel il r serve presque exclusivement sa plume partir de 1914, produisant plus d'une centaine de romans et de recueils de nouvelles jusqu'en 1935. Ses r cits policiers h sitent d'abord entre le roman d'aventures, le thriller anglais et le roman d' nigme, o l'enqu te est parfois men e par l'inspecteur Skarratt de Scotland Yard ou par le sergent Charlesworth, d tective de la police anglaise. la fin de sa carri re, Fletcher penche r solument en faveur du roman d' nigme dans plusieurs textes o appara t son h ros r current le plus cons quent, le d tective priv Ronald Camberwell.

INTRODUCTION. In the whole history of the English people there is no period so absolutely heroic, so full of enthralling interest, as that in which the might of England made itself apparent by land and sea-the period which saw good Queen Bess mistress of English hearts and Englishmen and sovereign of the great beginnings which have come to such a magnificent fruition under Victoria. That was indeed a golden time-an age of great venture and enterprise-a period wherein men's hearts were set on personal valor and bravery-the day of great deeds and of courage most marvelous. To write down a catalogue of all the names that then were glorious, to make a list of all the daring deeds that then were done-this were an impossible task for the most painstaking of statisticians, the most conscientious of historians and chroniclers. For there were men in those days who achieved world-wide fame, such as Drake, Frobisher, Hawkins, Raleigh, Grenville, and Gilbert-but there were also other men, the rough "sea-dogs" of that time, whose names have never been remembered, or even recorded, and who were yet heroes of a quality not inferior to their commanders and leaders. All men of that age whose calling led them to adventure and enterprise could scarcely fail to find opportunity for heroism, self-denial, and sacrifice, and thus the Elizabethan Englishman of whatever station stands out to us of these later days as a great figure-the type and emblem of the England that was to be. It is this fact that makes the Elizabethan period so fascinating and so full of romance and glamour. Whenever we call it up before our mind's eye it is surrounded for us with all those qualities which go toward making a great picture.

Fans of golden-era mysteries will relish the twists and turns of J. S. Fletcher's The Chestermarke Instinct. This cleverly crafted mystery begins with what seems like a common enough occurrence: a bank manager is late for work one morning. But what first appears to be simply a matter of a missed train soon is revealed to be a much more vexing problem. Has the manager committed the perfect crime -- or was he an innocent victim? Joseph Smith Fletcher (Halifax, Yorkshire de l'Ouest, 7 f vrier 1863 - Dorking, Surrey, 30 janvier 1935), mieux connu sous le signature J. S. Fletcher, est un journaliste, un po te et un crivain britannique de roman policier. Fils d'un eccl siastique, il fr quente une cole de Wakefield avant de se rendre Londres o il se destine l' tude du Droit. D s l' ge de 18 ans, il embrasse la double carri re d' crivain et de journaliste. Pour des magazines londoniens, il r dige une s rie d'articles sous le pseudonyme de Son of the Soil, concernant l'histoire et les coutumes de r gions rurales d'Angleterre, notamment de son Yorkshire natal. Il aborde la litt rature par la po sie, s'int resse ensuite la publication d'essais, d'ouvrages religieux et surtout de romans historiques, dont plusieurs monographies romanc es de grands personnages, avant de publier un premier roman, Frank Carisbroke's Stratagem; or, Lost and Won, en 1888. Avec Andrewlina, il signe en 1889 son premier roman policier, un genre auquel il r serve presque exclusivement sa plume partir de 1914, produisant plus d'une centaine de romans et de recueils de nouvelles jusqu'en 1935. Ses r cits policiers h sitent d'abord entre le roman d'aventures, le thriller anglais et le roman d' nigme, o l'enqu te est parfois men e par l'inspecteur Skarratt de Scotland Yard ou par le sergent Charlesworth, d tective de la police anglaise. la fin de sa carri re, Fletcher penche r solument en faveur du roman d' nigme dans plusieurs textes o appara t son h ros r current le plus cons quent, le d tective priv Ronald Camberwell.

Joseph Smith Fletcher was an English journalist and author. He wrote more than 230 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and non-fiction, and was one of the most prolific English writers of detective fiction.