AustLit

'It is a detective story, and has to do with buried treasures stolen from the ruined palaces of a forgotten city in China by three adventurers, one of whom tricks his partners and escapes with the spoils. The scene then shifts to the Occident - to London, Paris, and Italy - where the hero detective follows the absconding partner in order to restore to the other adventurers their booty'.

Source: New York Times, 6 July 1901.

'This is the last of Boothby's Dr. Nikola novels, set in Venice, Italy. Nikola tells the story of his sad life, demonstrates his mystic ability to enable people to experience themselves in another place and time, transforms a man into being a beast, and departs from his palace in Venice which has a bloody history, but he remains in the minds of those who met him.'

Source: feedbooks.com