Madeline Payne, the Detective’s Daughter

When a young woman flees a wicked stepfather and a web of crime, she is drawn into a world of disguise, detection, and danger as long-buried secrets come to light. Lawrence L. Lynch—pen name of a former private detective—delivers the twisting plots, plucky heroines, and suspenseful intrigue that made her a favorite of nineteenth-century readers. Full of melodrama and clever detection, the novel offers the page-turning pleasures of classic Victorian sensation fiction. An entertaining early example of American detective writing, Madeline Payne, the Detective’s Daughter combines mystery, romance, and adventure in the tradition of the popular crime novels of its era.