Originally published in 1917 as 'The Rainbow Mystery:Chronicles of a Colour-Criminologist',this new edition which appears under the present title together with a story by Robert Bourne.
As to the nine short stories which comprise this rather odd and intriguing volume I will try to explain.
Professor John Durston employs a young lady called Miss Dalrayne as his assistant in a series of experiments in 'Colour-Criminology'. The term is used for a phenomena in which a colour,say purple for instance is projected into the mind together with a scene in which a clue of some sort is seen by the investigator. Daft ? yes of course it is,but the way in which these stories are told,somehow it works.
One thing which struck me was that how the author wrote about an early form of time-switch,which was years ahead of its time and quite 'Wellsian' in its concept.
Regarding the other story "From Whose Bourne' by Robert Barr,well this is quite a novel concept. A man dies by poisoning and his wife is arrested for the murder. The husband is certainly dead,but has been transported to 'another place' and is conscious of what is going on below.He attempts with the help of various entities to prove her innocent. The only problem is that no one on this higher level can communicate with anyone down on earth/
a very interesting premiss. ( )