Maurice Drake - The Mystery of the Mud Flats

‘THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB is a clearing house for the best detective and mystery stories chosen for you by a select committee of experts. Only the most ingenious crime stories will be published under the THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB imprint. A special distinguishing stamp appears on the wrapper and title page of every THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB book—the Man with the Gun. Always look for the Man with the Gun when buying a Crime book.’

Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1929

Now the Man with the Gun is back in this series of COLLINS CRIME CLUB reprints, and with him the chance to experience the classic books that influenced the Golden Age of crime fiction.

COLLINS CRIME CLUB

an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain as WO2 by Methuen & Co. 1913

Published as The Mystery of the Mud Flats by The Detective Story Club Ltd for W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1930

Introduction © Nigel Moss 2018

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1929, 2018

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008168926

Ebook Edition © January 2018 ISBN: 9780008137311

Version: 2017-11-17

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Copyright Copyright Introduction I. CONCERNING A FOOL AND HIS MONEY II. CONCERNING A STROKE OF GOOD LUCK AND AN ACT OF CHARITY III. CONCERNING A COMPANY OF MERCHANT ADVENTURERS IV. CONCERNING A CARGO OF POTATOES V. IN THE MATTER OF A DESERTING SEAMAN VI. OF A PRODIGAL’S RETURN VII. CONCERNING A PENALTY FOR CURIOSITY VIII. FURTHER RESULTS OF CURIOSITY IX. OF CURIOSITY REWARDED X. OF A PARTNERSHIP IN CRIME XI. OF A LADYLIKE YOUNG PERSON XII. CONCERNING THE ETHICS OF PARTNERSHIP XIII. SHOWING A FOWLER IN HIS SNARE XIV. OF A DIRECTORS’ MEETING XV. CONCERNING MODERN MAIDENHOOD XVI. OF A CONVIVIAL GATHERING XVII. VOOGDT DESERTS AGAIN XVIII. OF A NONDESCRIPT CREW XIX. WHICH TELLS OF A WILD-GOOSE CHASE XX. OF A DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP XXI. OF COLLISIONS AT SEA The Detective Story Club About the Publisher COLLINS CRIME CLUB an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain as WO2 by Methuen & Co. 1913 Published as The Mystery of the Mud Flats by The Detective Story Club Ltd for W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1930 Introduction © Nigel Moss 2018 Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1929, 2018 A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780008168926 Ebook Edition © January 2018 ISBN: 9780008137311 Version: 2017-11-17

Introduction

I. CONCERNING A FOOL AND HIS MONEY

II. CONCERNING A STROKE OF GOOD LUCK AND AN ACT OF CHARITY

III. CONCERNING A COMPANY OF MERCHANT ADVENTURERS

IV. CONCERNING A CARGO OF POTATOES

V. IN THE MATTER OF A DESERTING SEAMAN

VI. OF A PRODIGAL’S RETURN

VII. CONCERNING A PENALTY FOR CURIOSITY

VIII. FURTHER RESULTS OF CURIOSITY

IX. OF CURIOSITY REWARDED

X. OF A PARTNERSHIP IN CRIME

XI. OF A LADYLIKE YOUNG PERSON

XII. CONCERNING THE ETHICS OF PARTNERSHIP

XIII. SHOWING A FOWLER IN HIS SNARE

XIV. OF A DIRECTORS’ MEETING

XV. CONCERNING MODERN MAIDENHOOD

XVI. OF A CONVIVIAL GATHERING

XVII. VOOGDT DESERTS AGAIN

XVIII. OF A NONDESCRIPT CREW

XIX. WHICH TELLS OF A WILD-GOOSE CHASE

XX. OF A DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP

XXI. OF COLLISIONS AT SEA

The Detective Story Club

About the Publisher

MAURICE DRAKE’s more enduring legacy to date has been as a leading artist in glass painting and eminent authority on medieval stained glass, working in the early twentieth century. By contrast, his fictional writings and reputation as an author of seven popular novels, originally published between 1906 and 1924, have been largely neglected. This new release of the Collins Detective Story Club edition of The Mystery of the Mud Flats (1930), the first in 88 years, provides an opportunity to appraise Drake’s most successful novel, alongside his other works; also, to reflect on his place within the Edwardian high adventure story genre, and to look more broadly at his influence on later authors of nautically themed mystery and espionage thrillers.

Born in 1875 in Newton Abbot, Devon, Frederick Morris Drake—better known by his pseudonym Maurice Drake—was educated at Teignmouth Grammar School. Along with his brother Wilfred, Maurice Drake represented the fourth generation of a famous glass painting family in Exeter, originally established by his great-uncle. He married Alice Wilson in 1897.The family home and glass painting studio were close to Exeter Cathedral, and he was an advisor to the Cathedral authorities on stained glass—a role to which his daughter succeeded him following his death. Maurice’s best known art publications, which have become leading works in their field, are A History of English Glass-painting (1912) and Saints and their Emblems (1916), both co-authored with Wilfred. He was retained by leading museums and became a renowned lecturer and expert advisor on old stained glass, travelling widely in the UK, Continental Europe and USA.