Mr. Fortune Objects

Reggie Fortune

by H.C. Bailey

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery

6 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1935

About the author

Henry Christopher Bailey (1878 – 1961) was an English author of detective fiction. Bailey wrote mainly short stories featuring a medically-qualified detective called Reggie Fortune. 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. Although Mr Fortune is seen at his best in short stories, he also appears in several novels.

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.

Reviews

[AC]

I am going to use this volume to list a small set of Reggie Fortune that have been recommended to me, though they’re drawn from different collections.

from H.C. Bailey, Mr Fortune, Please (1928)
”The Little House" (1926) [6-]. This is really a gem, and worth every effort to find it. It is included by Martin Edwards, in *Capital Crimes: London Mysteries*

from Mr Fortune Objects (1935)
“The Broken Toad" ( 1934) [4.5]. Stiff and unpleasant in the presentation, yet bizarrely dark in the plot.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Fortune is called by the police to investigate a variety of cases. As usual, his insistence on following the evidence leads him to results that seem contrary to a common-sense reading, but also as usual he does his best to defend the innocent and protect children.