One Wonderful Night

by Louis Tracy

There, sonny-behold the city of your dreams! Good old New York, as per schedule. . . . Gee! Ain't she great? The slim, self-possessed youth of twenty hardly seemed to expect an answer; but the man addressed in this pert manner, though the senior of the pair by six years, felt that the emotion throbbing in his heart must be allowed to bubble forth lest he became hysterical. "Old New York, do you call it?" he asked quietly. The tense restraint in his voice would perhaps have betrayed his mood to a more delicately tuned ear than his companion's, but young Howard Devar, heir of the Devar millions-son of "Vancouver" Devar, the Devar who fed multitudes on canned salmon, and was suspected of having cornered wheat at least once, thus woefully misapplying the parable of the loaves and fishes-had the wit to appreciate the significance of the question, deaf as he was to its note of longing, of adulation, of vibrant sentiment.

316 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

Louis Tracy (1863 - 1928) was a British journalist, and prolific writer of fiction. He used the pseudonyms Gordon Holmes and Robert Fraser, which were at times shared with M.P. Shiel, a collaborator from the start of the twentieth century.

Around 1884 he became a reporter for a local paper - 'The Northern Echo' at Darlington, circulating in parts of Durham and North Yorkshire; later he worked for papers in Cardiff and Allahabad.

During 1892-1894 he was closely associated with Arthur Harmsworth, in 'The Sun' and 'The Evening News and Post'.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hilarious romp of a tale, wherein a man and woman find true love after an international intrigue and a murder mystery. It's a New York tale from 1912 and was made into a "motion picture" (silent film), so my copy is illustrated with pictures from the screen.

There are all sorts of hilarious and impossible scenes, from marrying a fair lady with another man's marriage certificate, to a car chase at night, and to a young heir posing as a boatman and standing on his head in a saloon--before beginning a riot by singing the Austrian national anthem in public...and it all happens in just one night! The two detectives are wise and resourceful, and the hero a plucky one. An enjoyable bit of popular escapist fiction from a century ago.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very frenetic with events swirling around young and stalwart John D. Curtis. A man and woman find true love in 1912 New York while involved in international intrigue and a murder mystery that happens in a single night!
The hero, John Delancy Curtis, arrives from Pekin, China, after strenuous engineering work,. On his first night in New York , he finds a marriage license in the pocket of a murdered man's coat, rushes off to the address of the woman named therein, marries her, punches a frantic rival on the nose, flouts her father (an English baronet), takes the fair one to a hotel, holds a banquet at which the Chief of Police of New York is an honored guest, and sits down to gaze contentedly into the future of bliss that a half a million a year will bring. All in a single night!

[Shannon Mulholland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the mystery coming together at the end, but the book seemed a little too long for such a short amount of time. At some parts I got a little bored, and there was barely any romance.

[Ellen Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was, by far, the best romance I read this year. I have yet to read a mystery-romance story that tops Louis Tracy's works. When I get my hands on one of his books, I hardly put it down until I have devoured the last word.

I loved this story so much, and I was so excited when I found out that it had been adapted into a film. I immediately went online to find it, but alas, I discovered that it is a lost film. I was so disappointed. I would love to see this story acted out.

I feel like I've met the pair of detectives featured here before in some other story, but I'm not sure. No matter, everything about this story was excellent. I have to admit, I kind of crushed on John Delany Curtis, even though he is a typical kind of hero. He is definitely American, that is for sure. I think an Englishman would have been less impulsive, but I could be wrong. Desperate situations call for desperate measures.

I loved this story so much, I told it to my siblings. My sisters thought it pretty cool, but my brothers shook their heads and said, "girls!" 😍

[Carol Spears · Rating 4 out of 5]

For whatever reason, Tracy's books where the hero is from America are usually pretty good. This story had the advantage of really moving (compared to others by the author and of the era).