"As the door was thrust open, I heard, as in a dream, the voice of Neal Larrard—calm and cool as ever—dictating to me; mechanically, my fingers touched the keys, and I began to type. While I did so, I felt that fearful dead thing pressing against my knees, and felt also the muzzle of the revolver hard against my side."

First published in 1903, The Girl Behind the Keys is a delightful example of early detective fiction in which Bella Thorn, a savvy young typist, foils the nefarious plans of her employer, a confidence man who exploits the hopes and fears infusing the popular imagination. As Arlene Young's critical introduction demonstrates, the story unites many of the cultural and literary motifs marking the dawn of the twentieth century, when the Victorian era was giving way to modernity.

Arlene Young is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Manitoba. She is the author of Culture, Class and Gender in the Victorian Novel: Gentlemen, Gents and Working Women (Macmillan, 1999) and the editor of the Broadview edition of George Gissing's The Odd Women (1998).

Academics please note that this is a title classified as having a restricted allocation of complimentary copies. While the availability of bound complimentary copies is restricted to desk copies only, electronic complimentary copies are readily available for those professors wishing to consider this title for possible course adoption. Should you choose to adopt the book after viewing an electronic copy we will be happy to provide a bound desk copy.

Table of Contents: [Back to Top]

Acknowledgments 

Introduction 

Works Cited and Suggestions for Further Reading 

A Note on the Text

The Girl Behind the Keys

The Kidnapping of President Penaluna
The Diamonds of the Danseuse
The Spirit of Sarah Keech
The Saving of Curly-Head
The Haunted Yacht
The Swingley Green Tragedy
The Mummy
The Return of Mr. Maggs