Dead Men’s Money by J. S. Fletcher
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Dead Men’s Money begins in a manner reminiscent of Stevenson’s Treasure Island. There is a young man, whose father is long dead. A mother who rents a room to a stranger. A stranger with secrets. And a secret trunk. The mysterious stranger becomes ill and needs to send the young man, Hugh Moneylaws, to a secret meeting in the middle of the night.
…a meeting that never occurs on account of the murder of one principal and the death of the other.
Hugh quietly notices a stranger traveling the country streets that night but doesn’t pay much attention. Later when he finds the corpse, who was supposed to be alive and conversing with him, Hugh is propelled into a tangled web of intrigue that crosses three continents and leads to other nefarious murders.
Hugh an apprentice/head clerk to the town solicitor, a Mr. Lindsey, rapidly becomes embroiled in mystery death and intrigue. Mr. Lindsey and Hugh track this strange killing over the next several weeks. On several occasions Hugh comes within a hands breadth of death and once even closer. There’s plenty of intrigue with more than one twist throughout.
The good? The book is engrossing and brings out plenty of morals. The author emphasizes personal discernment, responsibility, importance of justice and a good character and so on. Intriguingly, the father of Hugh’s fiancee, prohibits them from being married for several more years. He wants to see Hugh better established and the lovers accept that judgment. I can’t see THAT being very popular anymore.
Overall, I had no complaints with the story. There were no objectionable elements that should discourage anyone from reading the book. If I had any complaints they would revolve around the writing style or plot structure, and to be honest, nothing stands out as worth mentioning. I wouldn’t say to drop everything to read this story, but you could do much worse. If you need some light reading, then by all means grab this and enjoy.