H. C. Bailey - Mr. Fortune's Practice: (1/2) The Ascot Case
Channel: Books: Volume Two
Date: 27/03/2024

MR. FORTUNE'S PRACTICE.....
Mr. Fortune is a physician crime solver, using early forensic science techniques. This second volume brings seven more cases for him to solve for the police.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY.....
Henry Christopher Bailey (February 1, 1878 – March 24, 1961) was an English author of detective fiction. Bailey was born in London. He studied Classics at Oxford University, earning a B.A. in 1901. Bailey began working as a journalist for The Daily Telegraph, writing war journalism, drama reviews, and editorials for the newspaper. In 1908, Bailey married Lydia Haden Janet Guest (d. 1971). They had two daughters, Betty Lydia Bennett (nee Bailey; d. 1972) and Mary Dorothy Bailey.

Bailey wrote mainly short stories featuring a medically qualified detective called Reggie Fortune (a surgeon, hence he is known as 'Mr 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, Joshua 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.

Bailey also wrote historical fiction. His first historical novel, My Lady of Orange (1901) revolves around William the Silent, and his involvement in the Dutch Revolt. Bailey's works were published in a number of magazines, primarily The Windsor Magazine and Adventure and reprinted in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Bailey retired from writing in 1950, and spent the last years of his life living in North Wales. He died aged eighty three, in Llanfairfechan. His estate was valued at £14991 seven shillings and seven pence. and his widow was the sole heir.

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