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OPINIONS OF THE
PRESS
(Reprinted from Tracked and Taken, 1890)
LONDON~ CHATTO &
WINDUS, PICCADILLY.
DICK DONOVAN’S BOOKS.
THE MAN-HUNTER.
Post 8vo, illustrated boards, 2s.; cloth, 2s.6d.
JAMES PAYN, in the Illustrated News for October
13th, 1889, says
“ ‘The Man-Hunter’ is a story-book which should in these days, when we are all
man- (or monster-) hunting, have a phenomenal circulation. . . . A good. book of
its kind.” GLASGOW HERALD.—“ This detective is a second Lecoq; indeed, be has
adopted the wonderful Frenchman as his model, and prizes as his most cherished
possession a false beard which once belonged to Gaboriau’s hero.”
SCOTSMAN.—” The stories are not the less
enthralling in their interest because they are the record of actual experience,
and not, like so many of the detective stories of the moment, the creation of
ingenuity and. imagination working in fiction. . . . The stories are narrated
with a forcible simplicity which makes them more effective than would any
subtleties of style.”
MANCHESTER EXAMINER. — “Well written and
entertaining stories. They deal with a variety of crimes and strange
adventures”
DERBYSHIRE COURIER.—” Without doubt one of the
best collections of detective stories ever produced.” DERBY GAZETTE—” Messrs.
Chatto and Windus have just brought out a capital volume of detective stories by
Dick Donovan, and it will doubtless enjoy a wide popularity-”
LITERARY WORLD. — “ ‘The Man-Hunter,’ by Dick
Donovan, is a collection of detective stories told in an off-hand, direct,
circumstantial way, in keeping with the statement in the sub-title, to the
effect that they are leaves from the note-book of a member of the force.”
THE ECHO.—” A capital book for railway reading,”
PERTHSHIRE ADVERTISER.—” Thrilling stories, told
with a literary skill and force of imagination well calculated to elicit the
interest of the most careless reader.”
WHITEHALL REVIEW.—” The adventures of a
successful thief-catcher, well told by himself, have a bizarre fascination of
their own, and certainly Dick Donovan’s exploits lose none of their glory in his
deft handling.”
MANCHESTER GUARDIAN.—” The tales are well told,
and the book is distinctly worth reading’”
BIRMINGHAM DAILY POST.—” For such a book as
this, popularity is certain. The tales are very cleverly told, and the
situations are thrilling and exciting, and the ingenuity and patience with which
the slender threads of evidence are followed up is remarkable.”
CAUGHT AT LAST!
Post 8vo, illustrated boards, 2s.; cloth, 2s. 6d.
WHITEHALL REVIEW. — “This fascinating volume
contains fifteen excellent stories. . . . Some of them refer to causes
célèbres of our own day; others again deal with matters that are quite fresh
to us. The author in his capacity of detective puts Lecoq to the blush, and the
manner in which he discovers some of the crimes which are entrusted to his
powers of elucidation is as original as it is successful. ‘The Story of’ a
Copperplate’ lets us into some of the secrets connected with the manufacture of
Bank of England Notes, which are matters of great interest; and ‘A Tragedy in
London’ recalls very vividly the day when we stood with a gaping crowd outside
the house in Park Lane where, the day before, poor murdered Madame Riel had been
found in a cupboard. . . . ‘Caught at Last’ is even a better collection of
stories than the volume which first brought Mr. Donovan’s name before the
public, and which he called ‘The Man-Hunter.’ Readers who remember that will
rush eagerly for this one; nor will they find themselves disappointed, but
rather the reverse.”
SCOTSMAN.—” Mr. Donovan’s stories are true. They
are genuine leaves from the note-book of a detective. . . . The book shows a
clever detective at his work, and it throws much real light on the ways of.
criminals and the lives they lead in the haunts of vice.”
MANCHESTER GUARDIAN.—” The fascination which
Prince Bismarck is known to find in tales of this kind is shared by innumerable
readers in every part of the world; nor is there any difficulty in discovering
the secret of this attraction. . . . ‘The Haunted House’ is an amusing account
of ghost-laying, and ‘The Pearl Button’ and ‘The Robbery of the London Mail’ are
well-told and interesting stories.”
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