The only novel published by Beadle under the name Erskine Boyd was "A Desperate Deed," which also appeared in England as No. 44, Dick's English Novels. The story, however, is not original, but is a translation of Emile Gaboriau's "L'affaire Lerouge." Boyd was a popular English writer of the 1870's, and a number of his stories appeared in the English periodical Bow Bells. Since the story published by Beadle is not really Boyd's, his biography does not belong here. Curiously enough, Dr. John B. Williams, a popular American writer, also appropriated "L'affaire Lerouge" under the title "Who was Guilty; or, The Harlem Mystery. A Story of the Detection of Crime." Williams, however, went a step farther than Boyd. He changed the setting to New York, and the characters to New Yorkers. It appeared in Saturday Night as a serial beginning in volume VI, December 19, 1868.

For the French story which masqueraded as "A Desperate Deed," see Gaboriau.