*** Original and Unabridged Content. Made available by GOLDEN CLASSIC PRESS***
Synopsis:
The disappearance of a German spy and the gathering storm that foretells the prelude to World War I is what greets you in this riveting book. The further you read the more mysteries unfold like secret submarine plans with some pages missing found in the hands of a corpse. There's also family insanity in Cornwall, a dead Spaniard and mafia hiding in an empty London flat.His Last Bow was published in the Strand Magazine circa 1908 and included several other short stories as well. Even during Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's own lifetime, Holmes had acquired cult status. His deductive methods, brilliant powers of observation, eccentric habits, occasional dabbling in drugs, strange and exotic clients and his connections among the high and mighty across many countries and continents went on to attain legendary fame.William Wilkie Collins was an aspiring law student when he first met the great Charles Dickens. Encouraged by the famous author, Collins began to contribute short stories and longer novels to Dickens' magazines. The two became good friends and often coauthored many pieces in these magazines, read, discussed and traveled together and shared a great literary and personal friendship. However, by the time The Moonstone was written, Collins was suffering from serious ill-health and became addicted to opium, which he began taking to get relief from excruciating pain. The Moonstone was actually a break from the kind of stories Collins had written to that point. The Victorian "sensation" novel genre was all the rage in England at the time, but with The Moonstone, the focus began to shift to mystery, crime and detection. The effects of colonization, looting of local treasures and oppression of the natives are all underlying themes in The Moonstone.