Author: Kate Temple?
Title: The Fair Mystery. By the author of "Strangely Parted," &c., &c.
Description: London, Edwin J. Brett [188-?]. Largish octavo publisher's colour illustrated boards (spine quite chipped and apparently sometime repaired); two colour wood engraved plates, full page wood engraved illustrations. A very decent copy. ¶ The book edition of a work first issued in parts. Hubin attributes this to Charlotte M. Braeme or Brame while the British Library attributes 'Strangely Parted' to Kate Temple and dates it 1885. I think we can discount the Brame (aka Bertha M. Clay) attribution which is based on perhaps a confusion with her novel 'A Fair Mystery' - a different book altogether. Kate Temple also becomes suspect when we find no other title under that name. A fabulously ripe sensation thriller, it's hard to choose a representative passage. There are so many on almost every page. Copac and OCLC find two copies of The Fair Mystery: in the BL, apparently in parts, and in Canberra at the ANU, apparently this book issue.

Keywords: literature fiction thrillers c19th England penny dreadfuls mystery