If you enjoy trying to solve the mystery as you read, I recommend you forget about this one. Even the characters don't know who is who. Twists and coincidences are used liberally to keep the plot moving. The dialog has an overly melodramatic soap opera quality throughout. The romantic interests intrude on the story and soon become extremely annoying. The worst Hume book I have read, very disappointing.

Another excellent Fletcher mystery. If you are a fan of British crime / mystery and have never read Fletcher, you owe it to yourself to give him a try.

The heiress of a mysterious and missing father is relentlessly pursued by an international criminal organization. She is protected by her father's faithful and capable butler, and a local newspaper reporter (the romantic interest). The book reads like old-time serialized cliffhanger pulp spliced together to make a novel - but in a good way. I found the book entertaining and good pulpy fun - and yes, someone does actually get tied to the railroad tracks.

This is a well written blend of sci-fi and crime genres. I found the book entertaining - good plot, interesting characters, and plenty of action.

This is truly beautiful writing interspersed with meaningful moments of insight. One of the best books I have found on this site - thank you manybooks.net!

This is a great SF novella. Written at the dawn of the space age, authors like Piper, Asimov, and others gave us fascinating forward looks into possible future interstellar civilizations. Unfortunately the harsh realities of economics, politics, and the laws of physics have - so far - proven difficult obstacles to overcome. Anyway, enjoy this look back to what was, at one time, considered possible.

Crimes from long ago and far away - are past events related to murder and blackmail in a remote English town? This is a very good mystery yarn and Fletcher's characters are interesting and strongly written.

Based on the other high reviews and two "major Science Fiction awards" I guess some people consider this a very good book, but I was so bored that I couldn't finish it. Maybe this is another case of a great short story hiding within a bloated novel?

On a future earth, a hero arises to lead a rebellion of enslaved miners against human nobles and technologically advanced aliens. What a hero he is - tirelessly fighting endless streams of noble and alien enemies while absorbing injuries that would stop a batallion. His lady is beautiful; unlike our hero, she is never seriously wounded, but instead suffers from frequent shredding or loss of clothing. A wild and fast paced sf read which you may enjoy or hate depending on your preferences. The cover art is good in that it is true to the descriptions in the book.

An evil alien takes posession of an undertaker and uses mind control on local citizens. Recommended only as a cure for insomnia.