Fletcher, J(oseph) S(mith) 1863-1935

views updated

FLETCHER, J(oseph) S(mith) 1863-1935

PERSONAL:

Born February 7, 1863, in Halifax, Yorkshire, England; died January 30, 1935, in Dorking, Surrey, England; married Rosamond Langbridge; children: one son. Education: Silcoates School.

CAREER:

Novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, journalist and historian. Practical Teacher magazine, London, England, sub-editor, 1881-83; freelance journalist in London, 1883-90; Leeds Mercury, staff writer, Leeds, England, 1890-1900; newspaper columnist.

MEMBER:

Royal Historical Society (fellow).

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Frank Carisbroke's Stratagem; or, Lost and Won, Jarrolds (London, England), 1888.

Andrewlina, Kegan Paul (London, England), 1889.

Mr. Spivey's Clerk, Ward & Downey (London, England), 1890.

The Winding Way, Kegan Paul (London, England), 1890.

Through Storm and Stress, Being a History of the Remarkable Adventures of Richard Fletcher of York, Chambers (London, England), 1892.

Old Lattimer's Legacy, Jarrolds (London, England), 1892, Clode (New York, NY), 1929.

The Quarry Farm, Ward & Downey (London, England), 1893.

The Remarkable Adventure of Walter Trelawney, Chambers (London, England), 1894.

The Wonderful City, Nelson (New York, NY), 1894.

Where Highways Cross, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1895.

At the Gate of the Fold, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1896.

In the Days of Drake, Blackie (London, England), 1896; Rand McNally (Chicago, IL), 1897.

Life in Arcadia, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1896.

Mistress Spitfire, Dent (London, England), 1896.

The Builders, Methuen (London, England), 1897, Mansfield (New York, NY), 1898, published as The Furnace of Youth, Pearson (London, England), 1914.

The Making of Matthias, John Lane (New York, NY), 1898.

The Paths of the Prudent, Methuen (London, England), 1899.

The Harvesters, Long (London, England), 1900.

Morrison's Machine, Hutchinson (London, England), 1900.

The Golden Spur, Long (London, England), 1901, Dial (New York, NY), 1928.

The Three Days' Terror, Long (London, England), 1901, Clode (New York, NY), 1927.

The Arcadians, Long (London, England), 1902.

Bonds of Steel, Digby, Long (London, England), 1902.

The Investigators, Long (London, England), 1902, Clode (New York, NY), 1930.

Anthony Everton, Chambers (London, England), 1903.

Lucian the Dreamer, Methuen (London, England), 1903.

The Secret Way, Digby, Long (London, England), 1903, Small, Maynard (Boston, MA), 1925.

David March, Methuen (London, England), 1904.

The Pigeon's Cave, Partridge (London, England), 1904.

Grand Relations, Unwin (London, England), 1905.

The Threshing-Floor, Unwin (London, England), 1905.

Highcroft Farm, Cassell (London, England), 1906.

A Maid and Her Money, Digby, Long (London, England), 1906, Doubleday, Doran (Garden City, NY), 1929.

Daniel Quayne, a Morality, Murray (London, England), 1907, Doran (New York, NY), 1926.

Grand Relations, T. Fisher Unwin (London, England), 1907.

The Harringtons of Highcroft Farm, Dodge (New York, NY), 1907.

The Queen of a Day, Unwin (London, England), 1907, Doubleday, Doran (Garden City, NY), 1929.

The Harvest Moon, Nash (London, England), 1908; McBride (New York, NY), 1909.

Mothers in Israel, Moffat, Yard (New York, NY), 1908.

Paradise Court, Unwin (London, England), 1908, Doubleday, Doran (Garden City, NY), 1929.

The Mantle of Ishmael, Nash (London, England), 1909.

Marchester Royal, Everett (London, England), 1909, Doran (New York, NY), 1926.

Hardican's Hollow, Everett (London, England), 1910, Doran (New York, NY), 1927.

The Pinfold, Everett (London, England), 1911, Doubleday, Doran (Garden City, NY), 1928.

The Fine Air of Morning, Nash (London, England), 1912, Estes (Boston, MA), 1913.

The Golden Venture, Nash (London, England), 1912.

The Bartenstein Case, Long (London, England), 1913, published as The Bartenstein Mystery, Dial (New York, NY), 1927.

I'd Venture All for Thee!, Nash (London, England), 1913, Doubleday, Doran (Garden City, NY), 1928.

Perris of the Cherry-Trees, Nash (London, England), 1913, Doubleday, Doran (Garden City, NY), 1930.

The Secret Cargo, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1913.

Both of This Parish, Nash (London, England), 1914.

The Marriage Lines, Nash (London, England), 1914.

The Ransom for London, Long (London, England), 1914, Dial (New York, NY), 1929.

The Shadow of Ravenscliffe, Digby, Long (London, England), 1914, Clode (New York, NY), 1928.

The Wolves and the Lamb, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1914, Knopf (New York, NY), 1925.

The King versus Wargrave, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1915, Knopf (New York, NY), 1924.

The Annexation Society, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1916, Knopf (New York, NY), 1925.

Families Repaired, Allen & Unwin (London, England), 1916.

Lynne Court Spinney, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1916, published as The Mystery of Lynne Court, Norman, Remington (Baltimore, MD), 1923.

Malvery Hold, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1917, published as The Mystery of the Hushing Pool, Hillman-Curl (New York, NY), 1938.

The Perilous Crossways, Hillman-Curl (New York, NY), 1917.

The Rayner-Slade Amalgamation, Allen & Unwin (London, England), 1917, Knopf (New York, NY), 1922.

The Amaranth Club, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1918, Knopf (New York, NY), 1926.

The Chestermark Instinct, Allen & Unwin (London, England), 1918, Knopf (New York, NY), 1921.

Heronshawe Main, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1918.

The Borough Treasurer, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1919, Knopf (New York, NY), 1921.

Droonin' Watter: A Story of Berwick and the Scottish Coast, Allen & Unwin (London, England), 1919, published as Dead Men's Money, Knopf (New York, NY), 1920.

The Middle Temple Murder, Knopf (New York, NY), 1919.

The Seven Days' Secret, Jarrolds (London, England), 1919, Clode (New York, NY), 1930.

The Talleyrand Maxim, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1919, Knopf (New York, NY), 1920.

The Valley of Headstrong Men, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1919, Doran (New York, NY), 1924.

The Herapath Property, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1920, Knopf (New York, NY), 1921.

The Lost Mr. Linthwaite, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1920, Knopf (New York, NY), 1923.

The Orange-Yellow Diamond, Newnes (London, England), 1920, Knopf (New York, NY), 1921.

The Paradise Mystery, Knopf (New York, NY), 1920, published as Wrychester Paradise, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1921.

Scarhaven Keep, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1920, Knopf (New York, NY), 1922.

The Root of All Evil, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1921, Doran (New York, NY), 1924.

The Heaven-kissed Hill, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1922, Doran (New York, NY), 1924.

In the Mayor's Parlour, John Lane (London, England), 1922, published as Behind the Panel, Collins (London, England), 1931.

The Markenmore Mystery, Jenkins (London, England), 1922, Knopf (New York, NY), 1923.

The Middle of Things, Knopf (New York, NY), 1922.

Ravensdene Court, Knopf (New York, NY), 1922.

The Ambitious Lady, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1923.

The Charing Cross Mystery, Putnam's (New York, NY), 1923.

The Copper Box, Hodder & Stoughton (New York, NY), 1923.

The Mazaroff Murder, Jenkins (London, England), 1923, published as The Mazaroff Mystery, Knopf (New York, NY), 1924.

The Million-Dollar Diamond, Jenkins (London, England), 1923, published as The Black House in Harley Street, Doubleday, Doran (Garden City, NY), 1928.

The Cartwright Gardens Murder, Collins (London, England), 1924, Knopf (New York, NY), 1926.

False Scent, Jenkins (London, England), 1924, Knopf (New York, NY), 1925.

The Kang-He Vase, Collins (London, England), 1924, Knopf (New York, NY), 1926.

Rippling Ruby, Putnam's (New York, NY), 1923, published as The Mysterious Chinaman, Jenkins (London, England), 1924.

The Safety Pin, Jenkins (London, England), 1924.

The Time-worn Town, Knopf (New York, NY), 1924.

The Bedford Row Mystery, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1925, published as The Strange Case of Mr. Henry Marchmont, Knopf (New York, NY), 1927.

The Great Brighton Mystery, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1925, Knopf (New York, NY), 1926.

The Mill of Many Windows, Doran (New York, NY), 1925.

Sea Fog, Jenkins (London, England), 1925; Knopf (New York, NY), 1926.

The Mortover Grange Mystery, Jenkins (London, England), 1926, published as The Mortover Grange Affair, Knopf (New York, NY), 1927.

The Stolen Budget, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1926, published as The Missing Chancellor, Knopf (New York, NY), 1927.

The Green Rope, Knopf (New York, NY), 1927.

The Murder in the Pallant, Jenkins (London, England), 1927, Knopf (New York, NY), 1928.

The Passenger to Folkstone, Knopf (New York, NY), 1927.

Cobweb Castle, Knopf (New York, NY), 1928.

The Double Chance, Dodd, Mead (New York, NY), 1928.

The Wild Oat, Jarrolds (London, England), 1928, Doubleday, Doran (Garden City, NY), 1929.

The Wrist Mark, Knopf (New York, NY), 1928.

The Box Hill Murder, Knopf (New York, NY), 1929.

The House in Tuesday Market, Knopf (New York, NY), 1929.

The Secret of Secrets, Clode (New York, NY), 1929.

The Matheson Formula, Knopf (New York, NY), 1929.

The Borgia Cabinet, Knopf (New York, NY), 1930.

The Dressing-Room Murder, Jenkins (London, England), 1930, Knopf (New York, NY), 1931.

The South Foreland Murder, Knopf (New York, NY), 1930.

The Yorkshire Moorland Mystery, Jenkins (London, England), 1930, published as The Yorkshire Moorland Murder, Knopf (New York, NY), 1930.

The Guarded Room, Clode (New York, NY), 1931.

Murder at Wrides Park; Being Entry Number One in the Case-Book of Ronald Camberwell, Knopf (New York, NY), 1931.

Murder in Four Degrees; Being Entry Number Two in the Case-Book of Ronald Camberwell, Knopf (New York, NY), 1931.

The Burma Ruby, Benn (London, England), 1932, Dial (New York, NY), 1933.

Murder in the Squire's Pew; Being Entry Number Three in the Case-Book of Ronald Camberwell, Knopf (New York, NY), 1932.

Murder of the Ninth Baronet; Being Entry Number Four in the Case-Book of Ronald Camberwell, Knopf (New York, NY), 1932.

The Solution of a Mystery: Documents Relative to the Murder of Roger Maidment at Ullathwaite in the County of Yorkshire in October 1899, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1932.

The Grocer's Wife, Hutchinson (London, England), 1933.

Who Killed Alfred Snowe? Being Entry Number Five in the Case-Book of Ronald Camberwell, Harrap (London, England), 1933, published as Murder of the Lawyer's Clerk, Knopf (New York, NY), 1933.

Murder of the Only Witness; Being Entry Number Six in the Case-Book of Ronald Camberwell, Knopf (New York, NY), 1933.

Mystery of the London Banker; Being Entry Number Seven in the Case-Book of Ronald Camberwell, Harrap (London, England), 1933, published as Murder of a Banker, Knopf (New York, NY), 1933.

The Ebony Box; Being the First of the Further Adventures of Ronald Camberwell, Knopf (New York, NY), 1934.

Murder of the Secret Agent; Being Entry Number Eight in the Case-Book of Ronald Camberwell, Harrap (London, England), 1934; Knopf (New York, NY), 1934.

The Eleventh Hour; Being the Second of the Further Adventures of Ronald Camberwell, Knopf (New York, NY), 1935.

(With Edward Powys Mathers) Todmanhawe Grange, Butterworkth (London, England), 1937, published as The Mill House Murder; Being the Last of the Adventures of Ronald Camberwell, Knopf (New York, NY), 1937.

And Sudden Death, Hillman-Curl (New York, NY), 1938.

SHORT STORIES

One of His Little Ones, and Other Tales in Prose and Verse, Washbourne (London, England), 1888.

The Wonderful Wapentake, Lane (London, England), 1895.

God's Failures, John Lane (New York, NY), 1897.

At the Blue Bell Inn, Rand McNally (Chicago, IL), 1898.

Pasquinado, Ward, Lock (New York, NY), 1898.

The Death That Lurks Unseen, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1899.

From the Broad Acres, Richards (London, England), 1899.

The Air-Ship, and Other Stories, Digby, Long (London, England), 1903.

The Fear of the Night: A Cluster of Stories, Routledge (London, England), 1903.

The Diamonds, Digby, Long (London, England), 1904, published as Green Ink, and Other Stories, Jenkins (London, England), 1926.

For Those Were Stirring Times! And Other Stories, Everett (London, England), 1904.

The Ivory God, and Other Stories, Murray (London, England), 1907.

Mr. Poskitt, Nash (London, England), 1907, published as Mr. Poskitt's Nightcaps, Nash (London, England), 1910.

The Adventures of Archer Dawe (Sleuth-Hound), Digby, Long (London, England), 1909, published as The Contents of the Coffin, London Book Company (London, England), 1928.

The Wheatstack, and Other Stories, Nash (London, England), 1909.

Paul Campenhaye, Specialist in Criminology, Ward, Lock (London, England), 1918, published as The Clue of the Artificial Eye, Hillman-Curl (New York, NY), 1939.

Exterior to the Evidence, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1920, Knopf (New York, NY), 1923.

Many Engagements, Long (London, England), 1923.

The Secret of the Barbican, and Other Stories, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1924, Doran (New York, NY), 1925.

The Massingham Butterfly, and Other Stories, Small, Maynard (Boston, MA), 1926.

Safe Number Sixty-nine, and Other Stories, International Pocket Library (Boston, MA), 1926.

Behind the Monocle, and Other Stories, Jarrolds (London, England), 1928, Doubleday, Doran (Garden City, NY), 1930.

The Ravenswood Mystery, and Other Stories, Collins (London, England), 1929, published as The Canterbury Mystery, Collins (Glasgow, Scotland), 1933.

The Heaven-sent Witness, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1930.

The Malachite Jar, and Other Stories, Collins (London, England), 1930, published as The Flamstock Mystery, Collins (London, England), 1932, abridged as The Manor House Mystery, Collins (London, England), 1933.

The Marrendon Mystery, and Other Stories of Crime and Detection, Collins (London, England), 1930.

The Man in No. Three, and Other Stories of Crime, Love, and Mystery, Collins (London, England), 1931.

The Man in the Fur Coat, and Other Stories, Collins (London, England), 1932.

The Murder in Medora Mansions, Collins (London, England), 1933.

Find the Woman, Collins (London, England), 1933.

The Carrismore Ruby, and Other Stories, Jarrolds (London, England), 1935.

POETRY

The Bride of Venice, Poole/Dartford (London, England), 1879.

The Juvenile Poems of Joseph S. Fletcher, Snowden (Dartford, England), 1879.

Songs after Sunset, Poole/Dartford (London, England), 1881.

Early Poems, Poole (London, England), 1882.

Anima Christi, Washbourne (London, England), 1887.

Deus Homo, Washbourne (London, England), 1887.

Poems, Chiefly against Pessimism, Ward & Downey (London, England), 1893.

Ballads of Revolt, John Lane (New York, NY), 1897.

Leet Livvy: A Verse-Story in the Dialect of Osgood-cross, Simpkin, Marshall (London, England), 1915.

Verses Written in Early Youth, privately printed, 1931.

Collected Verse, 1881-1931, Harrap (London, England), 1931.

OTHER

Jesus Calls Thee! Thoughts for One in Indecision, Washbourne (London, England), 1887.

Our Lady's Month: A Manual of Devotion for the Month of May, Washbourne (London, England), 1887.

A Short Life of Cardinal Newman, Ward & Downey (London, England), 1890.

When Charles the First Was King, 3 volumes, Bentley (London, England), 1892, published in one volume, McClurg (Chicago), 1895.

Where Shall We Go for a Holiday?, Waddington (York, England), 1894.

A Picturesque History of Yorkshire, 3 volumes, Dent (London, England), 1899-1901.

Roberts of Pretoria, Methuen (London, England), 1900.

Baden-Powell of Mafeking, Methuen (London, England), 1900.

The History of the St. Leger Stakes, 1776-1901, Hutchinson (London, England), 1902, revised as The History of the St. Leger Stakes, 1776-1926, Hutchinson (London, England), 1927.

Owd Poskitt: His Opinions on Mr. Chamberlain in Particular and on English Trade in General, Harper (New York, NY), 1903.

A Book about Yorkshire, Methuen (London, England), 1908.

The Enchanting North, Nash (London, England), 1908.

Recollections of a Yorkshire Village, Digby, Long (London, England), 1910.

Nooks and Corners of Yorkshire, Nash (London, England), 1911.

Memories of a Spectator, Nash (London, England), 1912.

The Adventures of Turco Bullworthy, His Dog Shrimp, and His Friend Dick Wynyard, Washbourne (London, England), 1912.

The Town of Crooked Ways, Estes (Boston, MA), 1912.

Memorials of a Yorkshire Parish: A Historical Sketch of the Parish of Darrington, John Lane (New York, NY), 1917.

The Making of Modern Yorkshire 1750-1914, Allen & Unwin (London, England), 1918.

The Cistercians in Yorkshire, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1919.

Sheffield, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1919.

Leeds, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1919.

Pontefract, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1920.

Harrogate and Knaresborough, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1920.

Yorkshiremen of the Restoration, Allen & Unwin (London, England), 1921.

Halifax, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1923.

The Life and Work of St. Wilfrid of Ripon, Apostle of Sussex, Thompson (Chichester, England), 1925.

The Reformation in Northern England, Allen & Unwin (London, England), 1925.

Hearthstone Corner, (play), produced in Leeds, England, 1926.

SIDELIGHTS:

A prolific writer of well over 100 books, J. S. Fletcher is best remembered for his detective novels, which were popular both in North America and in Great Britain. Born February 7, 1863, in Yorkshire, England, Fletcher reached his creative and productive peak during the 1920s and early 1930s. In the five-year period between 1920 and 1925 he published seventeen detective novels, a feat that drew the praise of a New York Times critic. "Each one is an ingenious, cleverly constructed tale, distinctive in plot and incidents and written with as much zest and freshness as if it were his first," the critic wrote. "The type of mental equipment that can produce each year three or more complicated plots, each dressed out with multitudinous thrilling incidents, will always be a marvel to those who do not possess it."

Fletcher tasted his first success early in his career in Great Britain, rivaling Edgar Wallace, another popular detective writer, by 1920. He remained relatively unknown in the United States, however, until President Woodrow Wilson, who was a compulsive reader of detective fiction, praised Fletcher's The Middle Temple Murder, which is widely considered his best work. With Wilson's endorsement, many of Fletcher's previous works were subsequently published in America, where they received a large audience and sold many copies. Despite this popularity, Fletcher's work is relatively unknown to modern readers, a fate decried by some literary critics. According to Melvyn Barnes in the St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers, Fletcher deserves far more credit than he has received, and described him as "a writer …influential in popularizing detective fiction throughout two continents and possessing the innate craftsmanship of a real storyteller." Still, Barnes acknowledged that Fletcher's "best books were submerged in a torrent of mediocre work." Many commentators consider Fletcher's best novels to be The Middle Temple Murder and The Charing Cross Mystery. His short-story collections The Adventures of Archer Dawe, Sleuth-Hound, and Paul Campenhaye, Specialist in Criminology are also considered among his best work. In an essay for the Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction, Gerald H. Strauss discussed Fletcher's career, noting that "while he worked within the bounds of traditional English detective fiction, Fletcher's books are written in a distinctive style, feature young sleuths who are engagingly different from the typical eccentrics of his contemporaries, [and] accurately present aspects of Great Britain's landscape, both rural and urban."

Fletcher, who was orphaned in early childhood, began his career as a journalist, and was once the sub-editor for a London magazine called Practical Teacher (1881-1883), as well as a staff writer and columnist for the Leeds Mercury newspaper. By 1898, Fletcher had quit journalism so he could devote all of his time to writing books. Soon after, he published his three-volume A Picturesque History of Yorkshire, the first of a number of historical works that led him to become a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1918. As for his fiction, Fletcher had already penned a few romance novels during the 1890s. However, a keen interest in criminology led him to concentrate on creating detective and mystery novels. "I believe I got my interest in criminology right from the fact that a famous case of fraud was heard at the Quarter Sessions at a town where I was at school," Fletcher explained later in his life. "Then, when I left school, I meant to be a barrister and I read criminal law and attended a great many queer trials for some time. But turning to journalism instead, I knew of a great many queer cases and mysteries, and now and then did 'special commissions' for various big papers on famous murder trials."

While Fletcher developed a number of different sleuths during his long career writing detective fiction, many critics consider two of his most important to be Frank Spargo and Ronald Camberwell. Spargo, in particular, appeared in many of Fletcher's most successful novels, including The Middle Temple Murder. According to Strauss, the book is Fletcher's "major achievement and the one that has endured." Strauss noted in the Dictionary of Literary Biography that Spargo was one of the first characters in the mold of the journalist-detective, which later became so popular among both American and British detective writers. Spargo also appears in The Charing Cross Mystery, which was originally published as a magazine serial titled "Black Money." Fletcher wrote the "Ronald Camberwell" series in the 1930s. It is about a private inquiry agent in London who is in partnership with a former inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department. The two men work in cooperation with Scotland Yard to solve crimes. Fletcher was married to Rosamond Lang-bridge, also an author, who penned The White Moth (1932). The two had a son and lived for many years in Dorking, Surrey. Fletcher died there on January 30, 1935.