Mary Elizabeth Braddon: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction

An important figure in the development of crime fiction, Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835-1915) wrote more than 80 novels, numerous plays, poems, essays and short stories, and edited two magazines during her 55-year literary career. Her bestselling Lady Audley’s Secret secured her reputation as a leading ＂sensation novelist.＂ Though critics called her work immoral, Braddon’s novels influenced the detective fiction of the late Victorian period. With entries on all her published writing, characters, relationships and influences, and themes and contexts, as well as numerous illustrations, a career chronology, and a chronological and alphabetical listing of all of her works, this companion to Braddon’s mystery fiction is the definitive reference on this provocative but overlooked writer.

Anne-Marie Beller, a lecturer in English at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, has published articles on Wilkie Collins, Amelia B. Edwards, and Mrs. Henry Wood. She is on the editorial board of the Wilkie Collins Journal. Series Editor Elizabeth Foxwell, an Agatha Award winner, is managing editor of Clues: A Journal of Detection.