author
Andrew Forrester
1832–1909
A pioneer of detective fiction, Andrew Forrester introduced readers to Miss Gladden, one of the earliest professional female detectives in literature. His work blends sharp deduction, disguise, and Victorian crime reporting with a distinctly modern sense of mystery.
1 Audiobook
Secret Service; or, Recollections of a City Detective
by Andrew Forrester
About the author
Andrew Forrester was the pseudonym of British writer, journalist, editor, and playwright James Redding Ware (1832–1909). Born in Southwark, London, Ware began with fiction before turning to detective stories and accounts of real crimes, including the Constance Kent case.
His best-known book, The Female Detective (1864), presents the cases of Miss Gladden, an ingenious investigator who works undercover and uses observation, logic, and scientific clues. Ware also wrote Secret Service, or, Recollections of a City Detective, The Revelations of a Private Detective, and The Road Murder. Shortly after his death, his Passing English of the Victorian Era—a dictionary of Victorian slang—became another notable part of his legacy.