The Safety Pin

An elderly man called Deane is murdered in an English town. Inspector Mellapont thinks it's a simple robbery, but others disagree, and Deane's business partner, an attractive young girl named Miss Pretty, offers a reward for information. No fewer than three rogues decide to improve their own prospects by investigating - the two Hackdale brothers, John and Simmons, working independently, and the town drunk James Bartlett, who sobers up rapidly when blackmail and extortion are in prospect. Attention centers on the mayor, Mrs. Champernowne; but when thieves fall out information gets into the hands of the police and a local solicitor, Francis Shelmore, and the plot unravels rapidly. 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.