Created in 1888, the character of Dick Donovan proved so popular with mystery readers that its author, British journalist and novelist James Edward Preston Muddock, adopted the name as his pseudonym. More than 300 tales appeared under the Dick Donovan byline, and the Dick Donovan's tales rivaled those of Sherlock Holmes in popularity. They appeared in The Strand magazine in issues where no new Holmes tales were available.
In A Gilded Serpent, a budding romance between a young woman and a man beneath her station leads to a dark murder plot. A classic Edwardian mystery!