Fergus Hume

Miss Mephistopheles Fergus Hume

Kitty Marchurst returns rechristened as Caprice, a popular Melbourne burlesque dancer and actress. Raising her daughter Meg alone has not been easy but when a hansom cab comes within feet of crushing poor Meg but is saved by the poor struggling actor Keith Stewart she offers him anything he wants. Keith writes a play based on Faust's Mephistopheles with Caprice as the star. However, they have a falling out the night Caprice's diamonds are stolen. Enter the cast of suspects; Keith the poor writer, Fenton the rich American soon to be ex-lover, Malton the current lover who is in deep for embezzlement, Ezra the pawn broker's son, and even Caprice herself! Soon a murder intrudes and Detective Naball has to figure out which of these perverse characters is the thief and murderer, if they're even linked to begin with!! Originally published in 1890 with a new foreword by Matt Lubbers-Moore, author of Murder and Mayhem: An Annotated Bibliography of Gay and Queer Males in Mystery, 1909-2018.