A Treasury Of Horse Racing Stories
(Deadly Odds)
This episode is a crime story, but their are no mysteries to be solved, and no detective character. It shows signs of similarity with the work of Wilkie Collins, and especially J.S Le Fanu. The young heroes in the story are persecuted by an evil old man. Just as in Le Fanu, and later in Collins, he plays on their sense of social naiveté and trust to exploit them. Mind hampering drugs play a role in the story. The hero makes a discovery by looking into a mirror and seeing the villain; this half world of illusion reveals truths not apparent in external reality. The old man functions as a "double" of the young hero; the mirror reveals the similarity in physical appearance.
People tend to think that Sensation novels are products of the 1860's. Here is a 1849 book that has such Sensation features as: secrets from the past; criminal conspiracies; victimization of the socially naive; characters who serve as doubles of each other; mind controlling drugs; the use of mirrors to suggest hidden truths about the villains; and satire of the religiously active.
Angus Reach's novel is the first use to known to me of a popular plot: the gambler villain wants to fix a horse race. This plot has been recycled on virtually ever TV drama and cop show of the last twenty years. Many other kinds of sports have been substituted - boxing matches used to be popular, and today basketball games seem to the most frequently used - but the basic plot remains unchanged, after 150 years.
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