Showing results by author "J. Fletcher" in All Categories

A fast-paced and varied collection of captivating short stories ranging from action thrillers to poignant tear-jerkers to the downright weird, including: "Jerry Bundler" by W. W. Jacobs, "The Umbrella Mender" by Beatrice Harraden, "Green Ink" by J. S. Fletcher, "Why Herbert Killed His Mother" by Winifred Holtby, "The Red Mark" by Israel Zangwill, "The White Kid Glove" by J. S. Fletcher, "Sophy Mason Comes Back" by E. M. Delafield, plus many more.

A delightful collection of light-hearted classic stories from some of the greatest Victorian and Edwardian-era writers.

Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863-1935) was a British journalist and author. He wrote more than 230 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and nonfiction. He was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the Victorian golden age of the short story. This collection brings together some of the finest and most diverse examples of Fletcher's genius.

Skinflint is a bittersweet tale of an embittered middle-aged woman who has never recovered from being jilted as a young woman. Since that sorry episode she has thrown herself into the micro-management of her grocery and drapery business. Then one day she learns that her former lover is on the brink of ruin...and the memories of her youth come surging back....

The Secret of the Barbican is the story of a small-town solicitor who on a chance visit to a local museum in a distant town discovers a set of rare siege coins. He instantly recognizes them as the set of coins which had been stolen from his own town corporation many years previously. He immediately sets out to investigate...and the thief's trail takes him to some quite extraordinary places....

'Room 53' tells the story of Beatrice, a bookaholic hotel chambermaid. When a guest at the hotel wakes late one morning to discover he has been robbed of his collection of valuable diamonds, Beatrice discovers a clue to the whereabouts of the suspected thief. She sets off to London to track the mysterious stranger down....

A gripping collection of 30 minute stories by some of the greatest storytellers in the English language....

'The Permanent Tenant' is the story of a loyal dog, Boris, whose master disappeared suddenly under mysterious circumstances three years earlier. The faithful hound sits day after day in the garden of a cottage, looking out at the sea. Every evening Boris wanders down to the seaside cove where his master vanished in search of him. Clearly the dog is convinced that his master will one day return. And then one day something astounding happens....

'The Man in the Fur Coat' is a fast-paced adventure in which a young journalist on the verge of destitution is picked out of the crowd by a well-dressed stranger in a fur coat. The wealthy man has a very strange proposition for the young writer. But first he must perform a bizarre treasure hunt through London collecting clues from mysterious strangers. Eventually he finds the meaning of the whole weird tale...and it is stranger than he could ever have imagined.

'The Malachite Jar' is a detective story. An eminent magistrate, an antiquarian book and antique collector, has been found dead. The post mortem indicates that he was poisoned. But who could possibly have a motive for the murder? Various members of the community come forward with information, each of which points to a different solution to the puzzle...but which is correct?

'Mr. Leggatt Leaves His Card' tells the story of a robbery. The famous and invaluable Hislip Chalice is stolen from the safe of the parish church at Meddersley, and the Reverend Francis Leggatt, Vicar of Meddersley, sets quickly out to solve the mystery before the ecclesiastical authorities get wind of it.

Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863-1935) was a British journalist and author. He wrote more than 230 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and nonfiction. He was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the Victorian golden age of the short story. In 'The Secret of the Strong Room', three young men of unimpeachable character are planning to commit the perfect heist on the safe of the Illysium Theatre. But they have planned without the greater cunning of the theatre's owner, Markenstein.

A brilliant anthology of weird and fantastic stories about islands and sea monsters. 'The Sea-Raiders' by H. G. Wells. 'Alone on a Wide Wide Sea' by J. S. Fletcher. 'Dagon' by H. P. Lovecraft. 'A Tropical Horror' by William Hope Hodgson. 'No Ships Pass' by Eleanor Smith. 'Aepyornis Island' by H. G. Wells. 'The Vengeance of La Maraye' by J. S. Fletcher. 'Absolute Evil' by Julian Hawthorne. 'The Shadows' by Henry S. Whitehead. 'The Lighthouse on Shivering Sand' by J. S. Fletcher. 'Over the Border' by Morgan Robertson. 'Treasure Trove' by Neil Munro.

Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863 - 1935) was a British journalist and author. He wrote more than 230 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and nonfiction. He was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the Victorian "Golden Age" of the short story. 'The Vengeance of La Maraye' is the terrible tale of a cruel feudal lord, the Sieur de Brieux, who behaves like a tyrant towards his serfs on the island of La Maraye. This is the story of how the islanders finally get their awful revenge.

Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863-1935) was a British journalist and author. He wrote more than 230 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and nonfiction. He was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the Victorian 'golden age' of the short story. 'Against Time' is the adventure of a young clerk, Ledbitter, who realises, to his horror, that he has forgotten to post an important letter from his employer to a prospective client containing a valuable tender.

Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863-1935) was a British journalist and author. He wrote more than 230 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and nonfiction. He was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the Victorian golden age of the short story. The eminent Doctor Clement Holford has a strange artifact in his study. A glass-fronted wall cabinet containing many rare books about poisons and a hermetically sealed glass box in which is a single white kid glove. The story behind these objects is an uncanny one.

Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863 - 1935) was a British journalist and author. He wrote more than 230 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and nonfiction. He was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the Victorian 'Golden Age' of the short story. Brown Rat's Docks is a fast-paced detective story involving murder, double crossing and skullduggery, all set in the heart of the London docklands.

'Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea' is the tale of two enemies abandoned on a deserted island. Pierre Rochelle, a convict escaped from a French penal colony, has been living alone on a remote Pacific island for the past three years, with no means of escape. Then one day he finds a man asleep on the beach on the far side of the island. The new arrival has just been marooned by his mutineering shipmates. Even as he still sleeps, Rochelle recognizes him as Gaston Charette - his own mortal enemy, the man whose false testimony had sent him to the penal colony in the first place.

'The Influence Fails' is a mystery story involving a dastardly plot. A young man finds himself suddenly and unexpectedly in a strange dining room in a house he has never been to before, with no memory of how he came to be there. A moment later, the owner of the house enters the room...and is naturally suspicious about the man's motives. But how did he get there? Why did he come? What can it all mean?

'Green Ink' is a classic Victorian detective story. Carsdale the solicitor receives a mysterious visit from Mr. Flapp, an old Wrychester resident who has just returned from years of travel overseas. The purpose of the visit remains mysterious, although Grice, the clerk, believes that Mr. Flapp left something with Carsdale. When next day Mr. Flapp is found drowned in the canal, Carsdale is surprisingly silent on the subject of his business with Flapp.