The Beetle (novel)

Lore & Background

The Beetle is told from the point of view of four narrators: Robert Holt, Sydney Atherton, Marjorie Lindon, and Augustus Champnell. The novel begins with Robert Holt, a clerk, who takes shelter in an abandoned house and meets a monstrous figure, the Beetle. The Beetle uses mesmerism to control Holt, forcing him to steal letters from the home of Paul Lessingham, a member of the House of Commons. Holt succeeds but is captured, then escapes by shouting 'the Beetle,' which paralyzes Lessingham.

Reader's Guide

The narrative shifts to Sydney Atherton, a romantic rival of Lessingham, who resists the Beetle's hypnosis. The Beetle, calling itself a child of Isis, tries to enlist Atherton's help. Atherton later learns that Lessingham killed a woman in Egypt, and the Beetle transforms into a scarab and flees. Marjorie Lindon, engaged to Lessingham, is captured by the Beetle after she and Atherton search its house. The final narrator, Detective Augustus Champnell, hears Lessingham's confession: twenty years earlier in Cairo, Lessingham was captured by the cult of Isis, witnessed human sacrifices, and strangled the high priestess, who turned into a scarab. Champnell, Atherton, and Lessingham find only Lindon's clothes and hair at the Beetle's house; a neighbor saw the Beetle leave carrying a human-sized package.

Did You Know?

• The novel initially sold more copies than Bram Stoker's Dracula, published in the same year.
• The story is told from the perspectives of four narrators: Robert Holt, Sydney Atherton, Marjorie Lindon, and Augustus Champnell.
• The Beetle can shape-shift, including transforming into a scarab.
• The Beetle uses mesmerism to control its victims, including Robert Holt.