Call Mr. Fortune

Call Mr. Fortune by H. C. Bailey is a fiction, mystery, shorts first published in 1920. The work draws its energy from secrecy, evidence, motive, and the difficult search for truth, giving H. C. Bailey room to explore how people respond to pressure, desire, and change. As part of a series, the book also contributes to a larger imaginative or narrative design while retaining its own identity. Form and tone matter throughout, with a carefully controlled structure that rewards attention to detail and shifting suspicion. At roughly 55,680 words with an easy reading profile, it offers a reading commitment that is easy to judge before beginning while still leaving room for close attention. Its continuing value lies in its role in shaping the pleasures and conventions of detective and suspense fiction. It remains worth reading for the precision with which it turns secrecy into a sustained literary experience. Call Mr. Fortune therefore works both as an encounter with H. C. Bailey’s individual voice and as an example of the wider literary tradition surrounding fiction, mystery, shorts.