The Talleyrand Maxim has a detective story written by J. S. Fletcher. The plot revolves around Rich Yorkshire entrepreneur and landowner John Mallathorpe, who died in an accident, apparently without making a will. His wife and two children inherited his estate and lived a normal and comfortable life for some time. Then, a copy of Mallathorpe's will was discovered inside one of the old books that an old bookseller was clearing out from the Mallathorpe estate. Unfortunately for the family, the bookseller read that the will had a tiny endowment for the family and the whole estate to the city authorities, he thought about how he can get some profit from this will. The bookseller visits the neighborhood lawyer with the will to ask for guidance but tragically dies in the lawyer's office. But, the on-duty clerk sees a chance to gain something for himself by becoming aware of the will's existence. What will happen next? Who will get the will? Are the city authorities going to seal John's properties under their department? This mysterious novel has lots of twists and turns in between the stories, to read out the suspense, readers should go through the book!
J.S.Fletcher (1863-1935) was a British journalist and author, regarded to be a leading writers of the Golden Age of detective fiction. Fletcher was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1863, the son of a clergyman. His father was expired when he was only eight months old and he was brought up by his grandmother in Yorkshire. When he was eighteen, Fletcher went to London to study Law and this understanding of crime was of great use to him in his career as a writer of mystery and adventure. He was educated at Silcoates School in Wakefield. He was fellow of the Royal Historical Society who had studied law before turning to journalism. His literary career covered approximately 200 books on a wide variety of subjects including fiction, non fiction, histories, historical fiction, and mysteries. His first published novel was a historical novel, When Charles the First was King (1892). The Middle Temple Murder is a famous novel of Fletcher. In 1914, Fletcher wrote his first detective novel and move on to write over a hundred more, many featuring the private investigator Ronald Camberwell. Fletcher married the novelist and playwright Rosamund Langbridge. Fletcher expired in Surrey in 1935.