9 h 22 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 22 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
An old house, a quiet coast, and hidden treasure: what secrets come to light when murder breaks the calm?
In J. S. Fletcher’s Ravensdene Court, a murder disturbs a quiet community on the Northumbrian coast. An old house and buried secrets draw you into a mystery where the past matters. Local people have reasons to keep quiet, and the crime demands a patient search for what lies beneath that silence.
Hidden treasure gives people reasons to lie, search, and watch one another. Fletcher moves the puzzle forward through incident and conversation, in clear, steady prose. Each small question or new fact invites closer attention. The pull comes from watching old motives emerge, and wondering how they connect to the crime.
What you’ll discover
- A coast of secrets Enter a Northumbrian setting where an old house gives the mystery a sense of isolation.
- Calm broken by murder Follow a crime that unsettles a quiet community and makes its silences worth noticing.
- The lure of treasure Discover how hidden wealth ties present suspicions to secrets rooted in the past.
- People with reasons to hide Watch local people whose guarded words make the search for truth more compelling.
- A puzzle worth your patience Enjoy steady storytelling that rewards attention to conversations, small questions, and each new fact.
Who will love it
Readers who love country-house mysteries with wild coastal settings, puzzling clues, and hidden treasure will enjoy this novel. It also suits those who like lively detectives and plots that move from quiet libraries to the open sea.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A strange name starts the mystery
- The name unsettles an unusual guest
- A hidden handkerchief deepens suspicion
- The killer wanted something specific
- The clues lead to a vanished ship
- Old documents widen the treasure hunt
- A familiar habit exposes a trail
- Suspicion makes first impressions unreliable
- Small objects connect old crimes
Who’s who
- Leonard MiddlebrookA thirty-year-old London expert on old books who tells the story and wants to finish his task, but is drawn into a murder hunt.
- Marcia RavenFrancis Raven's nineteen-year-old niece, fresh from school, quick and brave, who wants to learn about books and to solve the mystery.
- Francis RavenA shy, nervous retired official from India who has inherited Ravensdene Court and only wants his library cared for in peace.
- Septimus CazaletteAn eighty-year-old coin expert with a snuffbox, a daily sea swim, and a secret passion for detective work.
- Salter QuickA weather-beaten sailor from Devonport who searches the coast for graves bearing the name Netherfield and is careless with his gold.
- ScarterfieldA round, cheerful detective from Devonport who follows the Quick brothers back to a lost steamer and to Blyth.
- Dr. LorrimoreA polished, well-dressed doctor who lives nearby, loves science, and keeps a clever Chinese servant named Wing.
- Netherfield BaxterA once-wealthy young man from Blyth who disappears in 1904 and whom Scarterfield is sure he can trace.
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Ravensdene Court
by J. S. Fletcher · 1922
A stranger searches Northumbrian graves for the name Netherfield, and next morning a bookman finds him dead.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
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In short
What would you do if a stranger on a sunlit cliff asked you to help him find graves bearing one odd name? Leonard Middlebrook, a London expert on old books, is walking the Northumbrian coast to put a country house library in order.
Ravensdene Court at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 10 min4 h 10 min fast, 6 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 74,300 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1922by J. S. Fletcher
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A stranger on the cliff asks about graves
Middlebrook leaves London on March 8, 1912. Francis Raven, a retired official from India, has asked him to value a huge library at Ravensdene Court. Middlebrook walks the cliffs on a bright morning and meets a thickset sailor with gold rings in his ears, who gives his name as Salter Quick of Devonport.
Quick says his mother's family came from this coast. He wants a churchyard with gravestones that carry the name Netherfield. Middlebrook lends him a map, and the two walk north to the Mariner's Joy, a lonely inn kept by a tall landlord named Hildebrand Claigue.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1922
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 5 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Fletcher, J. S. Ravensdene Court. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/ravensdene-court.
Fletcher, J. S. (2026). Ravensdene Court. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/ravensdene-court (Original work published 1922)
Fletcher, J. S. Ravensdene Court. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/ravensdene-court.
@book{fletcher2026ravensdene,
author = {Fletcher, J. S.},
title = {Ravensdene Court},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/ravensdene-court},
note = {First published 1922}
}
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What is Ravensdene Court about?
It follows Leonard Middlebrook, a London book expert, who goes to a Northumbrian manor to catalogue its library and meets a sailor searching for graves named Netherfield. A murder follows, and a detective traces a hidden treasure and a lost ship.
Who is Salter Quick?
Salter Quick is a weather-beaten sailor from Devonport who meets Middlebrook on the cliffs near Alnmouth. He keeps asking about graves with the name Netherfield, carries a lot of gold, and has a brother named Noah, who runs a Devonport tavern.
Who are Cazalette and Scarterfield?
Septimus Cazalette is an eighty-year-old expert on coins who stays at Ravensdene Court and takes a keen interest in the crime. Scarterfield is the cheerful Devonport detective who follows the Quick brothers back to a lost steamer and a bank theft.
The author
J. S. Fletcher
1863–1935 · English mystery novelist
Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863–1935) was a British journalist and author who lived in England. He was born in Halifax, Yorkshire. He wrote historical fiction, detective novels and poetry during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His novels include Ravensdene Court, The Herapath Property and In the Mayor’s Parlour.
More by J. S. Fletcher
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