A story about a mysterious oriental figure who pursues a British politician to London, where he wreaks havoc with his powers of hypnosis and shape-shifting, Marsh's novel is of a piece with other sensational turn-of-the-century fictions such as Stoker's Dracula, George du Maurier's Trilby, and Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu novels. Like Dracula and many of the sensation novels pioneered by Wilkie Collins and others in the 1860s, The Beetle is narrated from the perspectives of multiple characters, a technique used in many late nineteenth-century novels (those of Wilkie Collins and Stoker, for example) to create suspense.
Richard Marsh was the pseudonym of the British author born Richard Bernard Heldmann. (Summary by Wikipedia)
Richard Marsh was the pseudonym of the British author born Richard Bernard Heldmann. (Summary by Wikipedia)
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Chapters
- Chapter 1
01 - Outside
14:20 - Chapter 2
02 - Inside
17:25 - Chapter 3
03 - The Man in the Bed
12:40 - Chapter 4
04 - A Lonely Vigil
14:26 - Chapter 5
05 - An Instruction to Commit Murder
22:36 - Chapter 6
06 - A Singular Felony
19:28 - Chapter 7
07 - The Great Paul Lessingham
19:22 - Chapter 8
08 - The Man in the Street
05:11 - Chapter 9
09 - The Contents of the Packet
12:03 - Chapter 10
10 - Rejected
12:39 - Chapter 11
11 - A Midnight Episode
14:06 - Chapter 12
12 - A Morning Visitor
11:36 - Chapter 13
13 - The Picture
25:22 - Chapter 14
14 - The Duchess' Ball
18:40 - Chapter 15
15 - Mr Lessingham Speaks
15:09 - Chapter 16
16 - Atherton's Magic Vapour
18:49 - Chapter 17
17 - Magic?--Or Miracle?
05:23 - Chapter 18
18 - The Apotheosis of the Beetle
34:33 - Chapter 19
19 - The Lady Rages
10:25 - Chapter 20
20 - A Heavy Father
10:34 - Chapter 21
21 - The Terror in the Night
26:24 - Chapter 22
22 - The Haunted Man
27:58 - Chapter 23
23 - The Way He Told Her
14:40 - Chapter 24
24 - A Woman's View
09:30 - Chapter 25
25 - The Man in the Street
11:17 - Chapter 26
26 - A Father's No
09:16 - Chapter 27
27 - The Terror by Night
18:03 - Chapter 28
28 - The Strange Story of the Man in the Street
27:43 - Chapter 29
29 - The House on the Road From the Workhouse
30:15 - Chapter 30
30 - The Singular Behavior of Mr Holt
06:03 - Chapter 31
31 - The Terror by Day
12:25 - Chapter 32
32 - A New Client
06:23 - Chapter 33
33 - What Came From Looking Through a Lattice
21:18 - Chapter 34
34 - After Twenty Years
16:29 - Chapter 35
35 - A Bringer of Tidings
05:04 - Chapter 36
36 - What the Tidings Were
09:47 - Chapter 37
37 - What Was Hidden Under the Floor
12:52 - Chapter 38
38 - The Rest of the Find
09:03 - Chapter 39
39 - Miss Louisa Coleman
19:35 - Chapter 40
40 - What Miss Coleman Saw Through the Window
11:02 - Chapter 41
41 - The Constable,--His Clue,--And the Cab
14:57 - Chapter 42
42 - The Quarry Doubles
10:38 - Chapter 43
43 - The Murder at Mrs. 'Enderson's
22:22 - Chapter 44
44 - The Man Who Was Murdered
12:52 - Chapter 45
45 - All That Mrs. 'Enderson Knew
06:40 - Chapter 46
46 - The Sudden Stopping
15:24 - Chapter 47
47 - The Contents of the Third-Class Carriage
05:22 - Chapter 48
48 - The Conclusion of the Matter
07:45