The Sunless City

James Edward Preston Muddock also known as "Joyce Emmerson Preston Muddock" and "Dick Donovan" (1843-1934) was a prolific British journalist and author of mystery and horror fiction. For a time his detective stories were as popular as those of Arthur Conan Doyle. Between 1889 and 1922 he published nearly 300 detective and mystery stories. At the age of 14 he travelled to India. By 1870 he had started publishing serial stories in English newspapers. During his journalistic career he travelled to China, the United States, and Australia. Most of Muddock's stories featured his continuing character Dick Donovan, the Glasgow Detective, named for one of the 18th Century Bow Street Runners. The character was so popular that later stories were published under this pen name. His non-fiction included four history books, seven guidebooks for areas in the Alps and his autobiography. His works include: The Star of Fortune: A Story of the Indian Mutiny (1895), Riddles Read (1896), The Sunless City (1905) and Scarlet Sinners (1910).