The Woman with One Hand, and Mr. Ely's Engagement

"The Woman with One Hand, and Mr. Ely's Engagement" by Richard Marsh is a novel written in the late 19th century. This gripping tale follows the fortunes of James Southam, who is pulled into a web of intrigue involving a mysterious advertisement, a murder, and the enigmatic figures of Mrs. Barnes and Mrs. Lascelles-Trevor. As Southam seeks to uncover the truth behind these events, he finds himself navigating a landscape fraught with danger and deception. At the start of the novel, we are introduced to James Southam, who, after a string of misfortunes, stumbles upon an advertisement in a newspaper that promises something to his advantage. Driven by desperation, he visits a dubious law firm and soon finds himself embroiled in a mystery surrounding his identity and a murder that has just taken place in the hotel where he is staying. The narrative quickly ramps up with the arrival of Mrs. Barnes, who is embroiled in her own troubles related to her missing husband and a strange connection to the victim, Duncan Rothwell. As Southam navigates his uncertain circumstances, dark secrets begin to surface, hinting at a deeper plot that intertwines the lives of the characters in unexpected ways. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Richard Marsh was the pseudonym of the English author born Richard Bernard Heldmann. A best-selling and prolific author of the late 19th century and the Edwardian period, Marsh is best known now for his supernatural thriller novel The Beetle, which was published the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), and was initially even more popular, outselling Dracula six times over. The Beetle remained in print until 1960. Marsh produced nearly 80 volumes of fiction and numerous short stories, in genres including horror, crime, romance and humour. Many of these have been republished recently, beginning with The Beetle in 2004. Marsh's grandson Robert Aickman was a notable writer of short "strange stories".