Miss Mephistopheles

Miss Mephistopheles by Fergus Hume is the second book to Madame Midas, following Mrs. Villier's life in Ballarat, a small mining town. Mrs. Villier must discover the secrets behind a local romance and a grisly murder. Excerpt: "A wet Sunday--dreary, dismal, and infinitely sloppy. Even the bells ringing the people into evening service seemed to feel the depressing influence of the weather, and their brazen voices sounded hoarse and grumbling as if they rang under protest. Cold, too!--not a brisk sharp frost--for here in Melbourne frost and snow are unknown; but a persevering, insinuating, gnawing cold, just disagreeable enough to make one shiver and shake with anxiety to get home to a bright fire and dry clothes."