The appearance of Sherlock Holmes in The Strand Magazine in 1891 began a stampede of writers who wanted to emulate, build upon or even satirize Arthur Conan Doyle's work. This book explores the development of detective fiction during the critical period between Conan Doyle's creation of Holmes and the advent of the Golden Age of the detective story during World War I. Both British and American detective writers of the period are surveyed--as well as writers who turned to gentleman burglars and master criminals.

Sure, you can root for Sherlock Holmes or Charlie Chan or Hugh Drummond. But I'll take a good old-fashioned rogue over the lot of 'em any day. Boston Blackie, A.J. Raffles, the Lone Wolf, Thubway Tham, Mr. Clackworthy, Arsene Lupin -- they all hold a curious fascination, dabbling as they do in crime and punishment! So take a walk on the seamy side of the Victorian era. (And yes, we are cheating with the dates a little bit. But we wanted to include a few latter-day rogues whose adventures are in the spirit of their Victorian compatriots.) All told, it's more than 1,900 pages of great reading! Included are: The Adventures of Colonel Clay, by Grant Allen THE EPISODE OF THE MEXICAN SEER THE EPISODE OF THE DIAMOND LINKS THE EPISODE OF THE OLD MASTER THE EPISODE OF THE TYROLEAN CASTLE THE EPISODE OF THE DRAWN GAME THE EPISODE OF THE GERMAN PROFESSOR THE EPISODE OF THE ARREST OF THE COLONEL THE EPISODE OF THE SELDON GOLD-MINE THE EPISODE OF THE JAPANNED DISPATCH-BOX THE EPISODE OF THE GAME OF POKER THE EPISODE OF THE BERTILLON METHOD THE EPISODE OF THE OLD BAILEY THE COUNT'S CHAUFFEUR, by William Le Queux BOSTON BLACKIE, by Jack Boyle THE CHAIR OF PHILANTHROMATHEMATICS, by O. Henry THUBWAY THAM, by Johnston McCulley THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ARSÈNE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN-BURGLAR, by Maurice Leblanc THE LONE WOLF, by Louis Joseph Vance ALIAS THE LONE WOLF, by Louis Joseph Vance A ROGUE'S LIFE, by Wilkie Collins THE ADVENTURE OF THE SECOND SWAG, by Robert Barr JEFF PETERS AS A PERSONAL MAGNET, by O. Henry THE ASSASSINS' CLUB, by Gelett Burgess MR. CLACKWORTHY TELLS THE TRUTH, by Christopher B. Booth THE CLUE OF THE SILVER SPOONS, by Robert Barr JEM BINNEY AND THE SAFE AT LOCKWOOD HALL, by William Hope Hodgson A COSTUME PIECE, by E.W. Hornung CONSTANCE DUNLAP, by Arthur B. Reeve If you enjoy this book, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the 170+ entries in the MEGAPACKTM series, covering science fiction, fantasy, horror, mysteries, westerns, classics, adventure stories, and much, much more!

Reproduction of the original: A Prince of Swindlers by Guy Boothby