James Payn was among the brightest disciples of Dickens, to whom he dedicated Mirk Abbey (1866). He found fame with his thriller Lost Sir Massingberd (1864) and for many years thereafter delighted his public with a blend of romance, intrigue, adventure, and comedy. The key phrase for him is High Spirits, the title of one of his collections of short stories published in 1879. Mysteries and family stories flowed easily from his pen for nearly forty years. He was a brilliant writer of vignettes and the tidbits that the public demanded as the century wore on. But he had gifts as a novelist, particularly in plotting, and brought the art of the comedy thriller into prominence. He was also adept at drawing credible characters whom he placed in impossible fixes against vividly realized backgrounds drawn from the length and breadth of Britain and from overseas. He should perhaps be classified among...