A Mediterranean Mystery by Fred E. Wynne

Name: A Mediterranean Mystery
Author: Fred E. Wynne

The Reverend Davoren, a comfortable, scholarly Sussex vicar of forty-five with a taste for Byzantine history and homing pigeons, receives a telegram announcing the arrival of his younger brother Edmund, a charming, impecunious wanderer who has drifted between the merchant marine and various half-successful ventures since youth. Edmund arrives transformed: prosperous, elegantly dressed, and now master and part owner, with his partner Captain Welfare, of the Astarte, a Levantine trading schooner engaged in the fruit trade and about to open a curiosity shop in Brighton stocked with Eastern wares. Davoren is drawn in by Edmund's stories and, over his lawyer Marshall's objections, becomes a financial partner in the enterprise, drafting an agreement with Welfare, an awkward but likeable self-made man of humble origins. Davoren's household — his devoted servant Bates and housekeeper Mrs. Rattray — and his friend the Bishop, Parminter, are all charmed or intrigued by the visitors, though Welfare's rough manners and Edmund's new air of "surrender" trouble Davoren obscurely. He also opens, with Edmund's help, an ancient smugglers' tunnel running from his cellar to the beach, later used to land Arab crew members and mysterious cargo from the Astarte at night. Persuaded to join a short pleasure cruise to the Channel Islands, Davoren boards the Astarte and is enchanted by its comfort and the exotic Arab crew, particularly the sinister, contemptuous helmsman Jakoub. At sea, a signal from a passing steamer abruptly changes plans: Jakoub is wanted by the Egyptian police, and to save the ship from arrest the voyage is diverted to the Mediterranean. Davoren, persuaded by Edmund and Welfare, reluctantly agrees to continue rather than be landed, and is later asked to escort disguised cargo — described as rare earth for gas mantles — through the desert to Alexandria under Jakoub's guidance, ostensibly to keep Jakoub out of police hands and preserve the firm's trade secrecy. Landed on the Libyan coast, Davoren undertakes a harrowing camel journey with Jakoub through a violent khamsin sandstorm, taking refuge in the ruined Temple of Osiris, where he passes an anxious night in an ancient underground chamber while Jakoub, armed and watchful, guards against pursuers who have tracked him even there. The danger passes, and after reaching the railway, the Egyptian threatening police entourage is evaded, Davoren delivers himself and the mysterious cargo to Alexandria and Van Ermengen's Hotel, posting Welfare's letter to the local agent. Alone and anxious about money and how to explain his absence, he is unexpectedly recognized by Brogden, an old Oxford friend now serving in the Egyptian army, who greets him warmly and questions him about his travels just as Davoren is groping for a plausible account of himself.

By Fred E. Wynne · First published 1923 · Genre: Mystery, Adventure, Literary Fiction · 19 chapters · 100,865 words

First lines

I hate the sight of those terra-cotta envelopes that telegrams come in. They have often announced ill news to me, and even in the absence of ill news they bear with them an atmosphere of emergency, suggestions of sudden action, which is always detestable to me.

Bates stood by while I read the ugly puce form which announced, had I known it, the opening of the curious chapter in my otherwise quiet life which I am now trying to recall and to record in its incredible details.

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A Mediterranean Mystery is listed on Textopian as a novel by Fred E. Wynne, dated 1923 CE.

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Work type: Novel
Author: Fred E. Wynne
Date: 1923 CE
Language: English
Genres: Mystery, Adventure, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Domestic Fiction
Length: 100,865 words
Structure: 19 chapters, 2,540 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Genres

Mystery — The title 'A Mediterranean Mystery' and the central plot involving an underground smuggling passage from the vicarage cellar to the beach, combined with cryptic hints about Edmund's and Captain Welfare's activities and the narrator's unexplained suspicions, establish mystery as the primary genre.
Adventure — Edmund's extensive seafaring experiences, maritime trading ventures, nautical encounters across the Eastern Mediterranean and Eastern waters, and his unconventional lifestyle focused on adventure and action form a substantial thematic core of the narrative.
Literary Fiction — The work demonstrates sophisticated prose style, philosophical discussions about life and morality, references to Byzantine history and intellectual pursuits, and introspective character analysis characteristic of serious literary fiction from the early 20th century.
Historical Fiction — The narrative is set in a specific historical period (Victorian/Edwardian era) with detailed attention to period customs, social hierarchies, ecclesiastical practices, and historical details including smuggling history and Byzantine scholarship.

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