"...I strolled down to the Embankment, and, leaning on the parapet, contemplated the view across the river; the grey stone bridge with its perspective of arches, the picturesque pile of the shot-towers, and, beyond, the shadowy shapes of the Abbey and St. Stephen's. It was a pleasant scene . . . a barge swept down through the middle arch of the bridge with a lugsail hoisted to a jury mast and a white-aproned woman at the tiller. Dreamily I watched the craft creep by upon the moving tide, noted the low freeboard, almost awash, the careful helmswoman, and the dog on the forecastle yapping at the distant shore - and thought of Ruth Bellingham."

First published in 1911, The Eye of Osiris adds the charm of Old London to this fine detective story by R. Austin Freeman.