Dark Days and Much Darker Days: A Detective Story Club Christmas Annual. David Brawn

      

       Copyright

      Published by COLLINS CRIME CLUB

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      Dark Days first published in J.W. Arrowsmith’s Christmas Annual 1884

      Published by The Detective Story Club for Wm Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1930

      Much Darker Days first published by Longmans, Green & Co. 1884

      Introduction © David Brawn 2016

      Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1930, 2016

      A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780008137748

      Ebook Edition © October 2016 ISBN: 9780008137755

      Version: 2016-08-25

      Table of Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Introduction

       Dark Days

       Dedication

       Editor’s Preface

       Chapter I: A Prayer and a Vow

       Chapter II: A Villain’s Blow

       Chapter III: ‘the Wages of Sin’

       Chapter IV: At All Cost, Sleep!

      

       Chapter V: A White Tomb

      

       Chapter VI: The Secret Kept

      

       Chapter VII: The Melting of the Snow

      

       Chapter VIII: Flight

      

       Chapter IX: Safe—and Loved!

      

       Chapter X: The Sword Falls

      

       Chapter XI: Special Pleading

      

       Chapter XII: Tempted to Dishonour

      

       Chapter XIII: The Last Hope

      

       Chapter XIV: The Criminal Court

      

       Chapter XV: The Black Cap

      

       Chapter XVI: ‘Where Are the Snows That Fell Last Year?’

      

       Chapter XVII: Clear Skies

      

       Much Darker Days

      

       Preface

      

       Preface (Revised Edition)

      

       Chapter I: The Curse (Registered)

      

       Chapter II: A Villain’s by-Blow

      

       Chapter III: Mes Gages! Mes Gages!

      

       Chapter IV: As a Hatter!

      

       Chapter V: The White Groom

      

       Chapter VI: Hard as Nails

      

       Chapter VII: Rescue and Retire!

      

       Chapter