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Last edited by bitnapper
September 10, 2023 | History
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H. C. Bailey

H. C. Bailey (full name Henry Christopher Bailey) was an English author of mysteries. He took to writing early, publishing My Lady of Orange (1901) during his senior year at Oxford, and spent many years as a journalist and author of romantic fiction before he began writing detective novels. Call Mr. Fortune (1920) introduced the world to Reggie Fortune, a brilliant investigator with a knack for solving chilling murder mysteries, who would become one of the most popular sleuths of the English golden age of detective fiction. Fortune's mannerisms and speech put him into the same class as Lord Peter Wimsey but the stories are much darker, and often involve murderous obsession, police corruption, financial skulduggery, child abuse and miscarriages of justice.
Fortune appeared in nine novels, yet it was in a series of 84 short stories that were published from 1920 to 1940 where he truly shone, combining elements of several popular archetypes—the eccentric logician, the forensic investigator, the hard-boiled interrogator, the psychological profiler, the defender of justice. Bailey’s classics are distinguished by well-clued puzzles, brilliant sleuthing, vivid description and social critique, with Fortune evoking images of Don Quixote and the Arthurian Knights in his pursuit of truth and justice in an uncaring world. (McFarland Books)

A second series character, Josiah Clunk, is a sanctimonious lawyer who exposes corruption and blackmail in local politics, and who manages to profit from the crimes. He appears in eleven novels published between 1930 and 1950, including The Sullen Sky Mystery (1935), widely regarded as Bailey's magnum opus.

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English writer (1878–1961)

Born 1878
Died 1961

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  • Cover of: Mr. Fortune, please.

    First published in 1928 3 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: This is Mr.Fortune.

    First published in 1938 3 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Slippery Ann.

    First published in 1944 3 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Springtime

    First published in 1999 3 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: The bishop's crime

    First published in 1940 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: The gamesters.

    First published in 1917 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Plot

    First published in 1922 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Call Mr. Fortune: Large Print

    First published in 2021 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Mr. Fortune's Practice: Faith Is a Higher Faculty Than Reason

    First published in 2019 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Barry Leroy

    First published in 1919 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Knight at arms

    First published in 1924 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: The man in the cape

    First published in 1933 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Mr.Fortune's trials.

    First published in 1926 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: The sullen sky mystery.

    First published in 1935 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Save a rope.

    First published in 1948 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: The lonely Queen

    First published in 1911 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: Dead man's effects.

    First published in 1940 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: THe Master of Gray

    First published in 1903 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: The sea captain

    First published in 1913 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: The merchant prince.

    First published in 1927 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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Photo of H. C. Bailey

English writer (1878–1961)

Born 1878
Died 1961
Subjects
Fiction, Forensic scientists, English Detective and mystery stories, Fiction, historical, general, History, Anthology, Reggie Fortune (fictitious character), Short stories, Court and courtiers, Courts and courtiers, Detective and mystery stories, England, fiction, Fairy tales, Fantasy fiction, Fiction, science fiction, general, Folklore, Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871, Histoire, Joshua Clunk (fictitious character), Mystery and detective stories, Queens, Reggie Fortune (Fictitious character), Romans, nouvelles
Places
Great Britain, Netherlands
Time
1920s, Wars of Independence, 1556-1648, Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485

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  • Henry Christopher Bailey

History

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September 10, 2023 Edited by bitnapper Edited without comment.
September 10, 2023 Edited by bitnapper merge authors
October 14, 2022 Edited by mheiman merge authors
September 11, 2022 Edited by Martha Carson Wade Edited without comment.
March 31, 2017 Edited by MARC Bot add VIAF and wikidata ID