Unique Elements
Historical contextDetailed 19th century analysis
About The Wrong Box
“It was all dark within; but Gideon knew his room, he knew where the matches stood on the end of the chimney-piece; and he advanced boldly, and in so doing dashed himself against a heavy body; where (slightly altering the expressions of the song) no heavy body should have been.”
The Wrong Box is a black comedy mystery novel, co-written by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and American Lloyd Osbourne, first published in 1889. It was the first of three novels co-written by Stevenson and his stepson.
The story follows two brothers who are the last two surviving members of a tontine; an investment providing an income during the nominated individuals’ lifetimes. A fortune is now contingent on which of two brothers outlives the other. A humorous classic, satirizing the Railway Novel genre which was popular at that time, it is also an early example of police detective fiction.