Better known for their tales of an Irish R. M. (resident magistrate), which were adapted into a successful TV series starring Peter Bowles, Somerville and Ross outraged their respective families – who referred to them ‘the Shockers’ – by combining travel writing with the fight for Women’s Suffrage. The contrast between the emancipated pair and the largely unreconstructed characters they encounter on their travels only serves to heighten the charm of an already indelibly charming book. ABOU...

A masterpiece of Irish literature of the Victorian Age, The Real Charlotte draws characters from the worlds of Anglo-Irish aristocracy and the native Irish peasantry. “Delightful.”-The Guardian.

This novel, according to Somerville, "concerns the history of one of those minor dynasties that, in Ireland, have risen, and rules, and rioted, and crashed in ruins." "Somerville and Ross know their world as well as Jane Austen knew hers."-John Bayley.

The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure. Among them are Somerville & Ross - the writing pseudonym for Edith Somerville & Violet Florence Martin Sidney Benson Thorp.

The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure. Among them are Somerville & Ross - the writing pseudonym for Edith Somerville & Violet Florence Martin Sidney Benson Thorp.

BBC productions of the best-known works of Somerville and Ross, plus a docudrama about their remarkable literary partnershipEdith Œnone Somerville and 'Martin Ross' (the pen name of Violet Florence Martin) were cousins, born into the Irish landed gentry in the mid-19th century. They began writing books together as a joke, but quickly developed into serious artists, producing several works now recognised as classics such as The Real Charlotte and Some E...

'The Best British Detective Books: 270+ Murder Mysteries, Crime Stories & Suspense Thrillers' stands as a monumental anthology that encapsulates the golden age of British detective fiction. This collection boasts a vast array of literary styles, from the intricate puzzles showcased by Arthur Conan Doyle to the atmospheric suspense created by Edgar Wallace. The anthology serves not only as a historical cross-section but also as a showcase of the evolving narratives and diverse techniques em...

George Euart has fallen on hard times since returning from the War. So when he is unexpectedly named co-heir to the fortune of Jonas Quorndon, it seems like a miracle. Yet this is only the first of several incredible happenings, not all of which are welcome. First Euart is attacked and robbed while journeying north to take up residence at the remote Cathra House. Next, a fishing trip turns up a very grisly discovery in the aptly named Hell Pool. Soon, Euart and his fellow heir, Joan, toget...

This expansive collection gathers E. W. Hornung's nineteen novels, more than forty short stories, and his war poems and memoirs, revealing the full range of a writer too often remembered only for A. J. Raffles. Its contents move from late-Victorian crime and gentlemanly decadence to colonial adventure, social comedy, romance, and the moral disillusionments of war. Hornung's prose is elegant, ironic, and briskly plotted, situated between the detective tradition of Conan Doyle and the fin-de...

'Excellent, entertaining and ingenious ... from Oscar Wilde to Arthur Conan Doyle, this fine anthology celebrates one of the richest moments in Britain's literary history' Sunday TimesThe quarter century between 1890 and the outbreak of the First World War saw an extraordinary boom in the popularity and quality of short stories in Britain, fuelled by a large, eager new magazine readership. The great writers of the age produced some of their finest work, an...

Detectives White & Furneaux' Cases gathers Louis Tracy's Scotland Yard mysteries centered on the contrasting investigators James White and Charles Furneaux. Combining brisk plotting with urbane wit, the stories belong to the Golden Age's immediate prehistory, when sensation fiction, newspaper realism, and deductive puzzle-making were converging. Tracy's style favors lucid exposition, sharp social observation, and a theatrical management of clues, while the detectives' differing temperament...