Author: FLETCHER, Henry.
Title: The North Shore Mystery.
Description: Melbourne, George Robertson 1899. Octavo publisher's colour illustrated boards. Binding rubbed and scraped with some paper gone from the spine; paper browned. Not a bad copy. ¶ First edition of this rare Sydney thriller, a locked room mystery for anyone who believes in the innocence of the victim's wife supposedly sleeping next to him when he was stabbed. Despite damning it for modern readers as "almost as fascinating as Mystery of a Hansom Cab", the Adelaide Advertiser does "strongly recommend" it. The Melbourne Herald is more enthusiastic than the Sydney Morning Herald which stops just short of sneering. In Launceston (The Federalist) it is thought that those who like sensational tales of the seamy side of life will be fascinated while back in Adelaide (The Register), most worthy of remark is that the constable/detective of the novel who has a London University BA misquotes Shakespeare and has poor grammar. Returning to Sydney, the Sydney Mail first teases us with, "a strong flavouring of barmaids, bookmakers and murder" before dismissing it as "on the ordinary level of the sensational yellow-back."
Keywords: literature fiction thrillers detective murder Sydney Australia c19th yellowbacks
Title: The North Shore Mystery.
Description: Melbourne, George Robertson 1899. Octavo publisher's colour illustrated boards. Binding rubbed and scraped with some paper gone from the spine; paper browned. Not a bad copy. ¶ First edition of this rare Sydney thriller, a locked room mystery for anyone who believes in the innocence of the victim's wife supposedly sleeping next to him when he was stabbed. Despite damning it for modern readers as "almost as fascinating as Mystery of a Hansom Cab", the Adelaide Advertiser does "strongly recommend" it. The Melbourne Herald is more enthusiastic than the Sydney Morning Herald which stops just short of sneering. In Launceston (The Federalist) it is thought that those who like sensational tales of the seamy side of life will be fascinated while back in Adelaide (The Register), most worthy of remark is that the constable/detective of the novel who has a London University BA misquotes Shakespeare and has poor grammar. Returning to Sydney, the Sydney Mail first teases us with, "a strong flavouring of barmaids, bookmakers and murder" before dismissing it as "on the ordinary level of the sensational yellow-back."
Keywords: literature fiction thrillers detective murder Sydney Australia c19th yellowbacks
Price: AUD 750.00 = appr. US$ 518.90 Seller: Richard Neylon, Bookseller
- Book number: 11013
- Book number: 11013