J. S Fletcher

The Charing Cross Mystery follows a young lawyer, Hetherwick, who happens to be on a train alongside a former police inspector who dies suddenly in front of him. The other man in the carriage runs off at the next stop and vanishes. Hetherwick takes it upon himself to investigate what turns out to be a murder.

J. S. Fletcher originally wrote the story in 1922

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A lonely countryside under heavy white drifts of snow, and a even lonelier young artist lost in it - then suddenly, blacker than the night, a queer turreted old house appears before his eyes, a door opens and the prettiest girl the artist has ever seen asks him to come in for the night... This is merely the fist chapter of the COPPER BOX with Parnlewe, the brilliantly sardonic guardian of the girl, and the copper box of the title, and all the adventure...

Excerpt: "Half-way along the one straggling street of Savilestowe a narrow lane suddenly opened out between the cottages and turned abruptly towards the uplands which rose on the northern edge of the village. Its first course lay between high grey walls, overhung with ivy and snapdragon. When it emerged from their cool shadowing's the church came in view on one hand and the school on the other, each set on its own green knoll and standing high above...

When John Linthwaite goes missing from the Mitre Hotel, the landlord informs the missing man's uncle, Richard Brixey. As a journalist, Brixey is no stranger to unearthing clues and sniffing out scandal. So, when he goes to discover what has become of the missing man, he is certain that his Fleet Street experiences will stand him in good stead. But, in the face of increasing opposition from potential witnesses, and in the complete absence of any sign...