The Lonely House is a 1920 mystery detective novel by the British author Marie Belloc Lowndes.[1] It features the French police detective Hercules Popeau, a near exact contemporary creation as Agatha Christie's Belgian private detective Hercule Poirot. It initiated a dispute between the two authors with Lowndes claiming that Christie had effectively stolen her character and complained to the Society of Authors.[2] In 1924 Lowndes adapted it for the stage, and it premiered in Eastbourne.[3] Hercules Popeau appeared in several short stories and another novel One of Those Ways, but never enjoyed the same levels of popularity as Poirot.
 American first edition | |
| Author | Marie Belloc Lowndes |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Hercules Popeau |
| Genre | Mystery detective |
| Publisher | Hutchinson Doran (US) |
Publication date | 1920 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
Synopsis
editLily Fairfied, an heiress, goes to stay with her aunt at a house in Monte Carlo. She finds the family impoverished and when a body is discovered nearby, she turns to Hercules Popeau for assistance.
References
editBibliography
edit- Edwards, Martin. The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and their Creators. HarperCollins UK, 2022.
- Nicoll, Allardyce. English Drama, 1900-1930: The Beginnings of the Modern Period, Volume 2. Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2009.
- Reilly, John M. Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers. Springer, 2015.
- Warkentin, Elyssa (ed.) The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015.
- Vinson, James. Twentieth-Century Romance and Gothic Writers. Macmillan, 1982.
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