Halifax man J S Fletcher (1863-1935) was a pioneer of mystery fiction, prolific and extremely popular in his day.
Like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle he also wrote historical fiction and non-fiction but is remembered chiefly (if at all) for his detective stories.
His admirers say he is unjustly overlooked, his detractors say that he simply wasn`t very good.
Who`s right ? I`ve read a few of his short stories lately.These would have originally been serialised in the magazines of the time. Naturally they seem old-fashioned now, but overall, they stand up well.
The Silhouette - a naive young man dreams of embarking on a real-life adventure like the ones in the lurid novels he reads. When he actually walks headlong into just such a case, the outcome isn`t what he expects.
Blind Gap Moor - A bank manager makes his own enquiries when his assistant is found murdered on the Moors. Some of the financial transactions that lead to the unmasking of the killer are incomprehensible now but presumably made sense to the readers of the time.
Extra-Judicial - A Judge becomes convinced of the innocence of a convicted man and makes his own investigation. Some very effective writing.
The Second Capsule - An embezzler thinks he`s committed the perfect crime - but real life gets in the way of his plans.
The Way to Jericho - An amusing tale of an impoverished inventor who commits a crime, and his more worldly brother who seeks to exploit him.
Patent Number 33 - A second-hand book dealer makes a find that will change his life, and the lives of those around him.
The Selchester Missal - A solicitor makes his own enquiries when an ancient illuminated manuscript goes missing. Could have done with being developed more fully - would guess he was asked for a three-part story and cut it down a bit to meet an editors` requirements.
The Murder in the Mayors` Parlour - Effectively a locked-room mystery.
It`s interesting that only one of these has a detective as it`s main character. In two the criminal is the central character, in the rest the central character has some other line of work and just happens to get drawn into a case. As far as I know, that`s quite unusual for the time.
These are just a few thoughts that may be useful to anyone considering giving Fletcher a try.
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