The Sorceress Of The Strand

by L.T. Meade, Robert Eustace

The sinister Madame Sara is back! This new edition of the classic crime novel is the first reprint of the complete six-chapter serial for the first time over a hundred years. Get ready to meet the most dangerous woman in England!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Classics, Mystery Thriller, Pulp, Short Stories

212 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1903

About the author

Mrs. L.T. Meade (Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Toulmin Smith), was a prolific children's author of Anglo Irish extraction. Born in 1844, Meade was the eldest daughter of a Protestant clergyman, whose church was in County Cork. Moving from Ireland to London as a young woman, after the death of her mother, she studied in the Reading Room of the British Museum in preparation for her intended career as a writer, before marrying Alfred Toulmin Smith in September 1879.

The author of close to 300 books, Meade wrote in many genres, but is best known for her girls' school stories. She was one of the editors of the girls' magazine, Atalanta from 1887-93, and was active in women's issues. She died in 1914.

Reviews

[Celia T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feminist brain: Grotesque, poorly structured, one-dimensional, misogynistic, racist, homophobic, anti-semitic

Lesbian brain: Evil vampire doctor lady very very sexy

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a villainess! Everyone is obsessed with the ageless beautician Madam Sara. Most people are blinded by her sinuous beauty and her smooth charm, but these two men can see that beneath it lurks a diabolical nature.

It's actually Sara's triumph in the end, despite her fate, for when she sees the evidence beginning to gather together, she has but to say the word, and the good guys do her behest also because of her manipulations. In their quest to bring her to justice they are every bit as obsessed as the rest of the world who believes her a peerless artiste.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Madame Sarah—1890s beauty consultant, poisoner, blackmailer, schemer—for years, so I'm delighted to have the entire serial in hard copy. This isn't the best-written tale of Victorian villainy (I'd go with Dorrington Deed Box or An African Millionaire for that) but Sarah's a magnificently nasty piece of work, and I only wish they'd written more about her (like most Victorian villains, she doesn't get a happy ending).

[Devann · Rating 4 out of 5]

actual rating: 3.5

Basically a Sherlock Holmes knock-off where the Moriarty character is a sexy evil dentist poisoner lady. It's pretty simplistic as far as the actual 'mystery' aspect goes but it's also pretty fun and an enjoyable read if you're looking to read more classic books written by women. There's a fair amount of period typical British racism [in that basically all the bad people are foreign / dark skinned] but nothing worse than anything else from the time period.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a collection of related short stories with the same main characters. They are narrated by Dixon Druce, manager of Werner's Agency, a Solvency Inquiry Agency for all British trade. It can "discover the [financial] status of any firm or individual."

And you thought you had to wait till 1984 for Big Brother.

Druce is good friends with Mr. Eric Vandeleur, the police surgeon for the Westminster, a cheerful crime-solving coroner.

And then there's the arch villainess, Madam Sara, who is a manipulative expert in things like poison, disguises, and dentistry.

These stories obviously echo the immensely popular Sherlock Holmes stories, with Vandeleur as Holmes and Druce as the recording Watson. They are fun—if improbable—but can't match Conan Doyle's for wit, humor or action.

[Julie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book about a beautiful, utterly evil adventuress whose dastardly, clever plans two men are trying valiantly to stop. From the same writing team that gave us The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings. And read by the same Librivox reader whose narration I enjoy so much.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Sorceress of the Strand is not a series of GAD puzzles. Meade/Eustace are writing crime thrillers here. Their model is Conan Doyle. Druce is socially, financially, and politically more capable than Watson, and Vandeleur fits the general Holmes outline: a smart, decisive man of action.

Meade/Eustace burden neither protagonist with a spouse, depression, or cocaine addiction. Both are untouched by jezail bullets. Druce and Vandeleur are part of a broad Edwardian meritocracy: scientists and forensic operatives serving the bourgeois state.

And serving it very well indeed.

Madame Sara herself, seductress and blackmailer, thief and mesmerist, exists within the stories to exploit the upper crust weaknesses of men and women in bourgeois society. In each story, the stakes rise for our villain and the heroic protagonists.

While none of Madam Sara's crimes in this collection lead men to suicide, I wonder if her criminal activities and mesmeric powers of off-page seduction might echo or hint at the types of crimes committed by Machen's Helen Vaughan in "The Great God Pan"? Like Vaughan, and Miss Penclosa in Conan Doyle's "The Parasite" (1894), Madame Sara will stop at nothing.

Full review:
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2022...

[Caesar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming. Simple yet enchanting. Predictable yet captivating. Listening to this recording was a pure delight. I could relax, lean back, close my eyes, and let the story take my imagination away.

The beautiful and charming criminal mastermind, the ruthless Madam Sara, was always two steps ahead of her adversaries, two shrewd and cunning detectives with keen intelligence. A game of cat and mouse with peoples’ lives at stake.

Very much like Professor James Moriarty (only much prettier) vs Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson.
Or perhaps a more fitting comparison would be Josephine Balsamo vs Arsene Lupin.
Anyway, the action never stopped and Madam Sara never relented.

Good story, well written, superbly narrated, I recommend it.

[Cindy B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely plotted with well-drawn characters., especially the wicked lady . Clearly narrated at Librivox.

[Nuur Hasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read, but not a very accomplished detective novel. A lot of loose ends. But if you like this genre, you won't regret reading it, its not great but it is not terrible either

[JoAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great fun!

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is a fun romp, but this edition is terrible. It's so full of typos and editing errors that it's incredibly difficult to read. Choose the Broadview edition instead.