A bid for fortune, or, Dr Nikola's vendetta

"A Bid For Fortune" (1895) establishes the arch-criminal Dr Nikola as a character to rival Doyle's Moriarty.

London, in the decadent 1890s and a mysterious meeting is called in a private room of the sumptuous Imperial Hotel.

The sinister Dr Nikola is presiding, but what masterpiece of crime is he planning?

Meanwhile in Sydney, Australia, a rugged man rescues a girl from attack by ruffians.

These two events are woven skilfully together in one of the classics of late-Victorian fiction.Before his tragically early death, Boothby lived his life equally in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and in this novel he creates a narrative that moves from the West and East Ends of London to a climax in the South Seas via Egypt and Australia.