Robert Barr
Personal Information
Description
A Canadian/British writer of novels and short stories (Wikipedia). Born in Scotland, he went with his parents to Canada when he was four, taught and did some writing in Canada until he emigrated to England in 1881 where he did most of his writing and was associated with, inter alia, Jerome K. Jerome and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Books
Revenge
Over the years, Jonah McKee acquired vast wealth, power, and an unsavory reputation. Though his fatal car crash is ruled accidental, his widow is convinced otherwise and begs her children to find the truth. Eldest son Max knew his late father could be manipulative, but a letter found among Jonah's possessions shows just how many lives were subject to his meddling. That list includes Max's brother, Jenner, rodeo rider and rebel, who is confronted by a confession that changes his life. But even while the siblings reel from new revelations, stubborn, beautiful Casey McKee is kidnapped by an enemy who hates the family enough to destroy them.
Lord Stranleigh Abroad
Describes the visit of a young laconic English Earl of great wealth to the USA. Four short stories are set at sea or in big cities; one long story of three chapters is set in the Wild West (Gutenberg).
The Triumphs of Eugène Valmont
The Triumphs of Eugene Valmont (1906) brings together tales of the multifarious exploits of Robert Barr's elegant and cunning sleuth, Valmont, a brilliantly ironic parody of Sherlock Holmes. Exhibiting the crucial combination of realism and imagination that characterizes the finest crime writing, the stories exude playfulness and wit, blending mystery and quasi-Gothic thrills with humorous detours and romantic adventure. A notable figure in turn-of-the-century literary London and a friend of Conan Doyle, Barr was acutely aware of style as a form of statement and the stories are full of literary effects, commentary on the detective mystery genre, and Valmont's disparaging reflections on English values. From the hilarious satire of sensationalism in 'The Siamese Twin of a Bomb-Thrower' to the bizarre and operatic melodrama of 'The Ghost with the Club-Foot', Barr's stories delight the reader with their skill, variety, and never-abandoned sense of spirited fun. This edition also includes Barr's two rare pastiches of Valmont's rival, Sherlock Holmes.
The measure of the rule
A novel of somewhat melodramatic style. Closes with a deathbed scene. Title comes from a quotation from 2 Corinthians 10:15 in New Testament of the Bible, King James Version, " . . . According to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you." First chapter has allusions to Artemus Ward and Mark Twain, indicating period of the story.