Ashton-Kirk, Investigator

A wealthy young man with a restless mind and a gift for deduction is the draw in this early American detective novel. Ashton-Kirk lives for problems that baffle others, so when Edyth Vale comes to him worried that her fiance Allan Morris has fallen into some dark trouble, he takes the case at once. What begins as a delicate private matter turns toward blackmail, secret codes, and murder, and Ashton-Kirk works through the tangle with the sharp observation readers of Sherlock Holmes will recognise. McIntyre keeps the pace brisk and the clues in plain sight. First published in 1910, it launched a short series. Free to read here as a PDF and EPUB.