The Borough Treasurer Joseph Smith Fletcher 9781542555845 Books
Download As PDF : The Borough Treasurer Joseph Smith Fletcher 9781542555845 Books
Blackmail, murder and the secret of an ancient quarry go to make a very exciting yarn. Joseph Smith Fletcher (7 February 1863 - 30 January 1935) was a British journalist and writer. He wrote about 200 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and non-fiction. He was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the "Golden Age". Fletcher was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, son of a clergyman. He was educated at Silcoates School in Wakefield. After some study of law, he became a journalist. His first books published were poetry, and he then moved on to write numerous works of both historical fiction and history, many dealing with Yorkshire. He was made a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. In 1914 he wrote his first detective novel and went on to write over a hundred, latterly featuring private investigator, Ronald Camberwell. Source Wikipedia
The Borough Treasurer Joseph Smith Fletcher 9781542555845 Books
J.S. Fletcher had a knack for spinning off engaging who-dunnits with a minimum of fuss. They are all set in England and usually involve some kind of financial scam, whether it be stealing an inheritance, defrauding a bank, recovering stolen gems, etc. This one, involving two esteemed businessmen trying to cover up their criminal pasts, is no exception. The plot creaks a bit with too many coincidences but, what the heck, it is a racy yarn with plenty of well-sketched characters.Product details
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Tags : The Borough Treasurer [Joseph Smith Fletcher] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Blackmail, murder and the secret of an ancient quarry go to make a very exciting yarn. Joseph Smith Fletcher (7 February 1863 - 30 January 1935) was a British journalist and writer. He wrote about 200 books on a wide variety of subjects,Joseph Smith Fletcher,The Borough Treasurer,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1542555841,Mystery & Detective - General,FICTION Mystery & Detective General,Fiction,MysterySuspense
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The Borough Treasurer Joseph Smith Fletcher 9781542555845 Books Reviews
This novel tales place in an obscure small town by the Yorkshire moors - an ideal spot for two ex-cons to start life over. Which is precisely what Mr. Mallelieu and Mr. Cotherstone have done. After serving time for fraud thirty years earlier, Mallelieu is now mayor of Haymarket. Cotherstone is the borough treasurer. Both have served the town well, and together they've built up a successful contracting company through honest hard work.
Then a blackmailer arrives in town to trade his knowledge of their background for hush money. When the blackmailer, who has passed for a harmless antiquarian, is found murdered, the plot takes off in earnest.
Events follow hard and fast upon each other a mistaken arrest, a piling up of circumstantial evidence, lively court scenes, and finally a second murder. Two cases of young love quietly emerge along with the murder mysteries.
J. S. Fletcher has a genius for character delineation. The personalities of the mayor and treasurer are forceful and fascinating. The housekeeper of the murdered antiquarian is a creepy, scrawny creature who sleeps "like a dog with one ear and an eye open." The young women in the story are admirably self-possessed. And there's more than one clever lawyer to give good advice. Venerable old solicitors often appear in Fletcher's novels, reflecting his time studying law.
The detective work is done by a variety of interested parties - friends, family, private investigators, lawyers and policemen. Fletcher's complex plots are always enlivened by tidbits of critical information flowing in from surprising quarters.
Fletcher is one of my favorite vintage mystery writers. The Borough Treasurer, set in his native Yorkshire, was published in 1921. It's typical Fletcher - and a delightful read. The Resurrected Press edition is nicely formatted, well edited and includes a charming little introduction.
Easy read
Good story. Unexpected ending.
The firm of Mallalieu & Cotherton, Builders and Contractors, is the most successful and important business in the Yorkshire town of Highmarket. Mr. Mallalieu and Mr. Cotherton are pillars of the community, one the mayor, the other borough treasurer. For thirty years they have inhabited their substantial stone houses and built similar ones for others, and no one in Highmarket is more respected. But they have a past about which nobody in Highmarket knows. Long ago, in the South, under different names, they were sent to prison for embezzling the funds of a building society.
Now, by chance, a newcomer, Mr. Kitely, has recognized them and expects to be paid for what he knows. Not only does he know about their trial and imprisonment. He also knows their most dangerous secret of all their ill-gotten gains were not gambled away, as everyone believed then, but carefully safeguarded and used to purchase the Highmarket business. Kitely approaches Cotherton late one afternoon; that night the would-be blackmailer is found strangled to death in the woods behind Cotherton's house.
Since Mr. Kitely was carrying money and a valuable watch, now missing, it seems the motive was robbery. The police quickly suspect -- and arrest -- Mr. Harborogh, a local jack-of-all-trades and -- local gossip has it -- poacher. Harborough is one of Fletcher's mystery men he lives simply, though apparently without money problems, and his speech and manners seem to identify him as a member of the gentry. True to his mysterious character, he won't say where he was at the time of the murder. But if he has money of his own, why would he kill for 30 pounds? Mallalieu, having been told by Cotherton about the attempted blackmail, secretly (another secret!) suspects Cotherton, but would never say so. Cotherton wonders if Mallalieu did it. Popular opinion tends toward blaming the victim's strange housekeeper, Miss Pett, who doesn't deny she expected to receive an inheritance.
This mystery features two significant father-daughter relationships. Mr. Cotherton's daughter Lettie is engaged to rich young manufacturer Windle Bent, with Parliamentary ambitions. Mr. Harborough's daughter Avice, excellently and expensively educated, is employed as a governess by a local family. Both young women have minds of their own. The hero is young London barrister Mr. Brereton, Bent's school friend and house guest, who finds himself so emotionally and intellectually involved in the case that he stays on in Highmarket and risks his career on its outcome.
This is one of the best of the Fletcher novels I've read. He wrote so many, over 100; some are less inspired than others. Even at his worst he still provided interesting local color and enough twists and turns to be entertaining. But his best efforts, like this one, have better developed characters with more psychological depth, and a unified and well focused plot that is suspenseful and involving. Readers who enjoy Anthony Trollope, who also incorporated mysteries into many of his plots, will probably especially like Fletcher's mysteries. This one's romantic, but also sad.
Solid mystery tale when one is in the mood for that. I think most folks could expect any of Fletcher's to be about a "4".
Some fairly real people interact with strong caricatures, and the main plot is complicated by two other unwinding mysteries in this well written tale of multiple murder.
I enjoyed reading this book. Just when you think you know "who did it", more details come out. Then when you are sure, the end surprises you.
J.S. Fletcher had a knack for spinning off engaging who-dunnits with a minimum of fuss. They are all set in England and usually involve some kind of financial scam, whether it be stealing an inheritance, defrauding a bank, recovering stolen gems, etc. This one, involving two esteemed businessmen trying to cover up their criminal pasts, is no exception. The plot creaks a bit with too many coincidences but, what the heck, it is a racy yarn with plenty of well-sketched characters.
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