BRADLEY, Charles. - The Red Cripple. A Tale of the Midnight Express.

Melbourne, George Robertson & H.W. Mills 1891. Octavo publisher's colour illustrated wrapper; [6],186pp. Price changed by hand from one to two shillings. An outstanding copy. ¶ First edition of this scarce, busy murder mystery, a tangle of disguise, false identity, astounding coincidence and extended comic relief. Despite the often repeated note this has nothing to do with a diamond robbery but in passing near the end. Almost all of this takes place on the Manchester-London train - though the unsolved murders started seven years ago - with hair-raising action, comedy, tragedy and mystery piled upon mystery. An all round Melbourne production, though disguised as the account of detective Medway of Scotland Yard sent to Bradley in Melbourne. Bradley was in theatre - manager of the Walter Bentley company's tour of Australia and New Zealand at about this time. He was busy in 1891: he published another thriller, had plays produced and, at the end of 1892 went off to conquer America with his plays. He puffed the forthcoming New York production of 'The Gold Escort' - the introduction of Australian theatre to American audiences. I can't discover that America ever saw the drama, action and slaughter promised but Bradley does surface here and there over following decades as a manager, producer and maybe playwright. If he'd managed to carry off setting the whole thing on the train this would now be hailed as a pioneering modernist work.

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