Though he is today best remembered for the mysteries he began writing later in his literary career, English author J. S. Fletcher got his start in fiction as a writer of historical tales. In the Days of Drake immerses readers in the heady era of sixteenth-century British sea exploration in a rip-roaring yarn told from the perspective of a salty old sea dog who has retired and is looking back over his life.
Joseph Smith Fletcher (7 February 1863 – 30 January 1935) was an English journalist and author. He wrote more than 230 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and non-fiction, and was one of the most prolific English writers of detective fiction.