What's Inside
This collection gathers high-stakes detective work and supernatural encounters from the edges of the British Empire. The volume moves from the sweltering dâk-bungalows of India, where ghosts rattle dry palm bones, to the foggy streets of London and isolated English estates. It features a mix of psychological terror and procedural puzzles, involving everything from a Duchess kidnapped outside a Piccadilly shop to a man whose birthday is cursed by a recurring nightmare. The narratives are structured as first-hand accounts, trial statements, and recovered letters, focusing on the moment logic fails or a crime disrupts a gentleman's leisure.
Works & figures
- Rudyard Kipling
Author of supernatural tales including a story about an Indian ghost. (in “My Own True Ghost Story”)
- Percy Fairbank
An English gentleman of leisure who records the facts of a mystery. (in “The First Narrative”)
- Francis Raven
A groom haunted by a prophetic vision of a murderous woman. (in “The Hostler's Story”)
- Joseph Rigobert
A man tried and acquitted for the murder of Francis Raven. (in “Statement of Joseph Rigobert”)
- Duke of Datchet
A nobleman pressured to pay a ransom at the Burlington Arcade. (in “The Lost Duchess”)
- Northmour
A man whose aggressive behavior is observed from a secret ambush. (in “part, with high enjoyment and approval”)
What it's really about
- Prophetic Dreams
- Visions of future violence that inevitably manifest in reality.
- Colonial Anxiety
- The unsettling presence of the supernatural in occupied territories.
Why it's memorable
- A man realizing the terrifying smell of hot metal and burning oil in his dark tent.
- A kidnapper's threat to mail home a Duchess's little finger before a royal dinner.
Where to start
Start with The Hostler's Story for a tight, chilling account of a dream that refuses to stay in the mind.
For your book club
- Is the 'Dream Woman' a supernatural entity or a product of psychological breakdown?
- How does the Duke's social status influence his casual reaction to a high-stakes kidnapping?