Daughter of witches, #01/11 (1898~99) by Joanna E Wood (1867-1927)
♦ Wood was Canada's best paid author at the turn of the previous century.

Diana Marburg, #01/03: The dead hand (1902) by L T Meade (1844–1914) & "Robert Eustace" [Eustace Robert Barton, 1854–1943]
♦ Full title: The sensational experiences of Diana Marburg, the oracle of Maddox Street
♦ Meade would solicit plots from "Clifford Halifax" or "Robert Eustace" for her wild crime stories.
- Considered a rival of Sherlock Holmes, Marburg was an unerring palmist.

Silver Star; or, The mystery of Fontelle Hall, #01/13 (1861) by "Cousin May Carleton" [May Agnes Fleming, 1840-1880]
♦ from Fleming's very productive first year as an author

Azim Khan's captive: a tale of the Indian Mutiny, #01/05 (1894) by "an Australian writer"
♦ Search for an officer's fiancée, coveted by the natives because she's white! Zero contemplation about WHY the Indian population would be restless under British rule, earning a stink+25%.

The golden flood, #01/03 (1905) by Edwin Lefèvre (1871–1943)
♦ Contemporary review: The Sketch: "The problem to be answered is: Where does the gold come from? The richest man in the world and the President of the greatest New York bank are in despair."

The general manager's story, #01/04: The life of the railroad man (1898) by Herbert E Hamblen (1849-1908)
♦ Experiences and adventures as a brakeman in the yard and on the road

From baseball to Boches, #01/11 (1918) by H C Witwer (1890–1929)
♦ part of the "aw shucks", just-plain-folks narrating that was a trend in humour, c.1920

In the secret service, #01/13: Outwitting a diplomatic thief (1901) by Robert J Buckley (?-?)
♦ ostensibly about master-spy, Anthony Hallam, the episodes are amusing when his cross-dressing assistant Henry shows up.
♦ Contemporary review: The Academy and Literature: "A series of short detective stories after the manner of Sherlock Holmes."
♦ Contemporary review: Athenæum: "One of those preternaturally clever secret-service agents of whose adventures we have had more than enough from story-writers during the past few years."
— read the whole review here.

Great cases of the world's greatest detectives, #01/12: Inspector Byrnes and the Hanier murder (1907) by George Barton (1866-1940)
♦ Byrnes was infamous for the toughness of his tactics, as he rose from patrolman to the Chief of NYPD.

Modern Free Lance, #01/03: How we stole the battleship (1906) by M H de Hora (?-?)
♦ Mr de Hora was a mining engineer who admits to participating in several 19th C scandals.

Haunted ancestral homes, #01/13: The demon drummer of Cortachy Castle (1892) by Henry Frith (1840-1917)
♦ To the manor born (and died!)

"The Hardgate mystery : A tale of a haunted house" (1891) by Robert Bridcut (1857-1905)
♦ Bridcut was a political fixer in Wales. He rented a house, complete with Mr Binns, the resident ghost.

"Shaving the ponies' tails" (1868) by Mrs Henry Wood [aka, Ellen Price, 1814-1887]
♦ Mrs. Wood republished her almost 100 Johnny Ludlow stories, but suppressed this one, the first of the series.

"The stage handkerchief" (1888) by William Davenport Adams (1851-1904)

"The automaton ear" (1873) by Florence McLandburgh (1850-1934)
♦ sounds are never lost; this machine might capture them

Underground London, #01/05 (1861) by John Hollingshead (1827–1904).
♦ a disciple of Dickens, Hollingshead wrote this series about London's sewers for Household Words.

"Some strange fables" (1895) by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894).
♦ "Bits of [unpublished] intellections wherein the author shows a strange philosophy."

"Marriage and misery, some sanctified debauchery" (1898 ed) by William Cowper Brann (1855-1898).
♦ Brann could be excrutiatingly articulate, but his personal flaws were as great as those of any one whom he ridiculed in his vicious satires. His personal prejudices automatically earn this piece a stink+10%.

Trivia: Question: William Cowper Brann, the vicious and startling editorialist, revived his "Iconoclast" newspaper when he moved to Waco, Texas in 1894. This time it was a big success, leading to national sales and speaking tours. His first version of "Iconoclast" had failed quickly in Austin, Texas in 1891. What destined-to-be-famous author bought the Austin press, only to have his own newspaper fail as well?
Answer next week.

OCTOBER NOVEL: My strange wife (1887) by Percy Russell (1847-?) [complete]
♦ Contemporary review: Bookseller: "Extravagant sensationalism."
♦ Contemporary review: Saturday review: "a certain quality of energy which the author has strangely misused."
- read the whole review here.

GREAT LITERATURE IN PILL FORM: Condensed Classic Series: David Copperfield (1849~50; 1919 ed) by Charles Dickens.