Mr. Bazalgette's Agent (British Library Crime Classics)

About this book

Born Leonard Miller in Belsize Park London in 1864 to wealthy Jewish parents Leonard Merrick began his career as an actor before abandoning the stage in 1884 to try his luck as a novelist. His first novel Mr. Bazalgettes Agent was published in 1888 and features a determined and resourceful heroine in the figure of Miriam Lea who grapples with some very modern dilemmas of female virtue and vice. The novel begins when Lea having fallen on hard times answers an advertisement calling for private agents. Within weeks she finds herself in Mr. Bazalgettes employ as a private detective traveling on a train to Hamburg in pursuit of an audacious fraudster. What follows is a journey through some of the great cities of Europeand eventually to South Africaas Lea attempts to track down her man. In 1925 in response to a query about the books title Merrick quipped: Its a terrible book. Its the worst thing I ever wrote. I bought them all up and destroyed them. You cant find any. It seems Merrick was true to his overly self-critical word as copies of the book can now only be found in private collections and in a handful of university and national libraries throughout the world. This new edition republished by the British Library for their British Library Crime Classics series offers modern crime fiction fans the opportunity to rediscover an enticing and rare detective story.