Cover of The Chestermarke Instinct by Joseph Smith Fletcher Ebook The Chestermarke Instinct
Ebook · Sovereign

The Chestermarke Instinct

Author
Joseph Smith Fletcher
Language
English
Length
203 pages
ISBN
9781836104759
Published
24 July 2026
Imprint
Sovereign
  • mystery
  • detective fiction
  • missing person
  • bank clerk
  • financial crime
  • small town
  • suspense
  • hidden secrets
  • amateur sleuth
  • classic crime fiction

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Description

Wallington Neale, a bank clerk in the quiet town of Scarnham, finds his routine life upended when bank manager John Horbury vanishes without explanation. As rumours of missing securities, theft, and possible foul play spread, Neale is drawn into an increasingly complex investigation. With hidden motives, unexpected twists, and mounting suspense, Joseph Smith Fletcher crafts a classic mystery where every clue brings new questions.

Author

J. S. Fletcher (1863–1935) treated the detective story as a trade, and honoured it. He produced at a Victorian-Edwardian pace that later Golden Age writers would recognise: wills, country houses, city chambers, and the long English suspicion that respectability is a costume. Fletcher is not flashy. He is reliable — which, in crime fiction, is a kind of style.

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