Who Killed Zebedee? - Couverture souple

Collins, Wilkie

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1843910195 ISBN 13 : 9781843910190

Editeur : Hesperus Press Ltd, 2002

Synopsis

Who Killed Zebedee? and John Jago's Ghost

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur :

William Wilkie Collins, author of the first detective novels in English, was born in 1824. The son of a respected landscape painter, he was named after his painter godfather, David Wilkie. Educated in London, Collins studied to become a barrister, although it was never his intention to practise, and by 1848 he had turned to writing, a number of short works appearing in Charles Dickens' periodicals, Household Words and later, All the Year Round. A first novel, Iolani, set in ancient Tahiti and involving sorcery and sacrifice, though perhaps written as early as 1844, was later rejected by publishers (and only rediscovered and published for the first time in 1999). His second novel, Antonina (1850), set in fifth-century Rome, was a popular success, before Collins' first venture into crime fiction with Basil (1852), a Gothic tale of doppelgangers, bigamy, and hidden family secrets. Developing at once detective fiction and the novel of sensation, Collins' exotic and gripping stories - often involving strong heroines, sinister locales, charlatans, and physical or psychological afflictions - became hugely popular with the reading public. His great novels appeared in the 1860s, when, at the height of his powers, Collins wrote The Woman in White (1860), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866), and The Moonstone (1868). Unafraid to question Victorian social mores, Collins never married but maintained two families. He lived both with Caroline Graves (whom he met in a midnight encounter such as is described in The Woman in White), and with Martha Rudd. In later life, Collins became addicted to opium, and from 1870 to his death in 1889, his novels became concerned with social issues, and are considered inferior to his earlier output. However, in recent years, Collins' oeuvre has received renewed critical attention, a recent biography hailing him as the king of inventors.

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Undisputed master of 'sensation fiction' Wilkie Collins was also a remarkable chronicler of the dark underside to Victorian London. Chilling in the extreme, these short stories of murder and suspense are perfect examples of his craft. Settling himself in front of the station fire, a young policeman is little prepared for the account of bloody murder that will be relayed that night. For it seems that Mrs Crosscapel's lodging-house is a place of dark secrets and buried passions - emotions that will soon cloud even his own judgement. As with the other short stories included, 'Who Killed Zebedee?' is a brilliant and highly original tale of horror and the macabre.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Hesperus Press Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1843910195
• ISBN 13: 9781843910190
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 112