Fritz to the Front

Fritz is a Dutch tramp with a peculiar talent: he throws his voice better than anyone in England, and he dreams of being a detective. When a wealthy father asks him to witness his daughter's secret elopement, Fritz gets more than he bargained for. The father claims his daughter falls into trances lasting days, and that while in one such state, she was persuaded by a young man to steal twenty thousand pounds and meet him in a remote town. The story asks a tantalizing question: is the young woman mad, or is her father lying? Fritz must use his gifts of observation and his uncanny ventriloquism to navigate a world of deception, where everyone has something to hide and the truth keeps shifting like a mirage. Part mystery, part adventure, the novel spins along with plenty of twists and the quiet charm of an unconventional hero who refuses to stay at the bottom of the social ladder. It is a delightful period piece for readers who enjoy early detective fiction with a twist of the absurd.