The Notting Hill Mystery, Compiled by C. Felix, From the Papers of the Late R.H. Esq.

Published as part of the British Library's historical collection; originally published in Once a Week, 1865.

This is a thriller detective novel in the form of letters, statements, a crime scene map, and journal extracts. They've been compiled by an insurance investigator to examine claims made by Baron R** following the mysterious death of his wife, Madame R**—a death closely linked to two others.

Madame R** drank poison while sleepwalking—but Baron R** is a well-known mesmerist. So did she die of her own will or of his? The narrator refuses to decide, so has laid out all the evidence for his readers to make a final judgment.

When, by page 29, I had already encountered mesmerism, sleepwalking, and a child stolen by gypsies, I figured I was in for a thumping good read in the manner of Wilkie Collins's thrillers. The Notting Hill Mystery actually predates 1868's The Moonstone, also an epistolary novel, and both books have been called "the first detective novel" in English. However, while I enjoyed the novel, it's clear why Collins is remembered and Felix is not.

With Collins, you have believable, varied characters with psychological complexity and a mystery that unravels as the novel goes on. Felix's characters are thin, just coat hangers for the few attributes to keep the story moving, like "jealous of family pride" or "weak constitution." Also, and worse, the heart of the mystery is laid out so early there's no real suspense. Every fresh document just adds weight to what we already have been told must be the solution--if you can accept the reality of mesmeric control. Otherwise you must accept some amazing coincidences. Either way, it's unsatisfying.

"Charles Felix" is a pseudonym, some think for Charles Warren Adams. He was a lawyer whose firm published another book by "Charles Felix" called Velvet Lawn.