Audiobook · read by volunteers
Second Latchkey
Charles Norris Williamson (1859–1920) · Alice Muriel Williamson (1869–1933)
Read by Esther, Sibella Denton, Gesine, Katie Gibboney, Stephanie König, Nichole Karl · 26 chapters · 8 h 32
About the book
A white rose, a society party and a string of jewel thefts: The Second Latchkey is a glittering mystery set between England and the United States in the early twentieth century. Clairvoyance, intrigue and the stirrings of romance all find their place in this lively tale from the husband-and-wife team of Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson. As the plot moves between drawing rooms and hotels, the authors keep the reader guessing about who can be trusted, and chapter titles such as Smiths and Smiths, Why She Came and The Great Moment promise a few twists along the way. The novel has the pace and charm of popular fiction from the years just after the First World War. Six LibriVox readers share its twenty-six chapters across about eight and a half hours. It is a fine choice for lovers of light, old-fashioned detective stories and romance.
Introduction
Charles Norris Williamson (1859-1920) and Alice Muriel Williamson (1869-1933) were a British married couple who wrote together for much of their careers. They became best known for a series of motoring romances, beginning with The Lightning Conductor, which sent their characters on journeys across Europe, and they remained prolific for decades. The Second Latchkey, published in 1920, is one of their later works and combines mystery with romance.
The novel is set in England and the United States in the early twentieth century and moves between the two countries. Its ingredients, jewellery thefts, society parties, clairvoyance and a love story, were popular with readers of the time, who enjoyed a mixture of glamour and suspense. The authors had a talent for light, brisk storytelling, and they made use of settings that they knew well from their travels.
Chapter titles such as A White Rose, Smiths and Smiths, Why She Came and The Great Moment give a taste of the story's twists. As in many books of this type, the pleasure lies as much in the atmosphere and the characters as in the solution of the puzzle, and a reader who relaxes into the period will be well rewarded.
The recording is shared among six volunteers, among them Esther, Sibella Denton and Gesine. It runs for about eight and a half hours and is divided into twenty-six files. The shared reading gives a pleasant variety of voices, and the length makes it ideal for a long journey or several evenings at home. For anyone with a taste for the popular fiction of the 1910s and 1920s, it is an engaging discovery.
Public domain
Charles Norris Williamson died in 1920: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
Alice Muriel Williamson died in 1933: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text