Joseph Smith Fletcher - Dead Mens Money (Illustrated) (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

By Patto TOP 500 REVIEWER on December 10, 2012 Format: Paperback Verified Purchase I discovered this accomplished vintage writer through Amazon recommendations. Although he's little-known today, J. S. Fletcher wrote over 100 detective novels. The immense popularity of his work encouraged him to be prolific. Fletcher weaves a dark and complex mystery, and gives us a smart, courageous, warm-hearted hero who experiences various adventures and horrors. The hero of this tale is Hugh Moneylaws, nineteen-year-old clerk to the clever and fatherly lawyer Mr. Lindsey. Hugh finds a dead body while performing a mysterious errand for a mysterious stranger in a lonely spot late at night. This is just the beginning of a sinister train of events. The very gripping plot encompasses all sorts of puzzling behavior on the part of many people, from the local baronet to the local marine store dealer. There are mysterious appearances and disappearances, carefully planned frauds and spontaneous murders, and dramatic confrontations with thoroughly bad people. Hugh escapes death more than once. The action centers in a little English town on the border of Scotland. There are lots of great characters. Some have stereotypical Scottish traits. The lawyer is shrewd and observant and keeps his own counsel while getting to the bottom of the crimes. Hugh's widow mother can be sharp-tongued and hates to see money spent. And there's an element of romance. Hugh's devotion to his spunky sweetheart is quite touching. People have wonderful names, like Moneylaws, Gilverthwaite, Portlethorp and Elphinstone. Although there are motorcars around and lots of riding of bicycles, the story is redolent with the atmosphere of old England. I loved Dead Men's Money and expect to be reading more by this obscure British novelist. This Forgotten Books edition is pretty good for a digital reprint. There are some cut-off letters initially, but you can still easily make out the words.