Description
In The Dead Letter, Henry Moreland is killed by a single stab to the back. Against a background of post-Civil War politics, Richard Redfield, a young attorney, helps Burton, a legendary New York City detective, unravel the crime. In The Figure Eight, Joe Meredith undertakes a series of adventures and assumes a number of disguises to solve the mystery of the murder of his uncle and regain the lost fortune of his angelic cousin.
These nineteenth-century novels represent the beginning of the middle-class detective novel genre and the first full-length detective novels in the United States; Nickerson's Introduction will introduce these out-of-print works to mystery fans and academi
About the Author
Metta Fuller Victor (1831-1885) was a publisher, editor, author, and moral reformer. She is perhaps best known for her abolitionist dime novel Maum Guinea and Her Plantation "Children" (1861). Matching different pseudonyms to different genres, she published popular works for children and adults-including mysteries, Westerns, romances, temperance novels, and rags-to-riches tales. She wrote numerous pieces against slavery, alcohol, and Mormon polygamy.
Catherine Ross Nickerson is Associate Professor of English at Emory University. She is the author of The Web of Iniquity: Early Detective Fiction by American Women, also published by Duke University Press.
Reviews
"From the very beginning women writers have been of fundamental importance to the mystery genre and these highly entertaining works by two of the founding 'mothers' of the American mystery novel demonstrate why. Times may have changed since these books were first published, but good reading never goes out of fashion."-Dean James, coauthor of By a Woman's Hand: A Guide to Mystery Fiction by Women and manager of Murder by the Book (Houston, Texas)
"Sinister governesses sleepwalk, wronged young men vow revenge, and mysterious deathbed messages appear in two rediscovered Gothic gems from Metta Fuller Victor. Fans of Louisa May Alcott's thrillers will devour these inventive tales from a pioneer in American detective fiction."-Elizabeth Foxwell, mystery writer and contributing editor, Mystery Scene magazine
Book Information
ISBN 9780822331650
Author Metta Fuller Victor
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint Duke University Press
Publisher Duke University Press
Weight(grams) 544g