Clubfoot the Avenger

Valentine Williams

Clubfoot the Avenger is a delightful treasure hunt on the Pacific island from the fearless Major Oakuvuda. The circumstances of how Okuvud gains knowledge of the treasures and the subsequent pursuit of the sworn enemy of Okuvud, clubfoot, made for a swift, intense and fascinating reading highlighted by romantic interest and a satisfactory ending.

Courier to Marrakesh

Valentine Williams

Perhaps Valentine Williams finest mystery thriller. Set in WW2, folk singer and guitarist Andrea Hallam gets caught up in a Nazi spy ring while travelling alone in Morocco. Kidnapped by Nazis who believe she holds a dossier on Hitler, the tale travels from entertaining wartime banter to sinister suspense and back again. She is swept into a plot to destroy or blackmail Hitler with some secret documents. But that enterprising villain Clubfoot (Dr. Grundt), wants to retrieve these documents. An exciting and emotional book from beginning to end. Courier to Marrakesh is the last entry in the seven book series about the evil Dr. Adolph Grundt. There are 7 books in the Clubfoot series of secret agent action novels, featuring Dr Grundt, an agent of the German government as the baddie.

Dead Man Manor

Valentine Williams

There is a secret surrounding the abandoned local manuar and the death of the local miller. When a lawyer on vacation is found slaughtered, the law enters into force. One area of interest for the British reader is the different legal system and methodology used by Sergeant Biguri, who is conducting an official investigation. His personality perfectly complements and contrasts with the personality of Tredgold. The love interest between Dr. Wood and Adrienne de Saint-Remy is well maintained, and the villagers, including the mayor, priest and notary, come alive.

Masks Off at Midnight

Valentine Williams

Trevor Dene and his wife are looking forward to attending a masked ball in Lavra, a Long Island mansion owned by the wealthy Tallifer family. But the problem is brewing in the form of a prolonged feud with local businessman Brent Hordern. Resenting the way Tallifers use their new money, and decided to marry their daughter Jenny, Horder swore to attend the ball at all costs.

The Crouching Beast

Valentine Williams

It is 1914, but war has not yet broken out. Olivia Dunbar, a young English woman, is working in Germany as a private secretary. She obtains secret military information, and becomes entangled in a British secret agent operation, and encounters the terrifying Dr. Grundt, head of German counter-intelligence: the crouching beast of the title. The Crouching Beast by Valentine Williams is an example of the reluctant spy sub-genre, in which an innocent civilian finds himself caught up in the dangerous game of espionage. The twist in this book is that the innocent civilian is a young woman. She is also the narrator of the tale. Third in the seven book series about the dreaded German Secret Service Chief Dr. Adolph Grundt. The Crouching Beast is an effective and enjoyable espionage thriller.

The Fox Prowls

Valentine Williams

A hard boiled mystery and suspense thriller set in Ukraine. A rich American magnate Stephen Selmar and his daughter Melissa are lured into Rumania by an arms dealer, the sinister Barm de Bahl "The Fox", as part of a plot to boost the arms industry by fomenting a war between Rumania and Russia. Enter the British Secret Service... "The Fox Prowls" by Valentine Williams is a fine bunch of villains cooking up international deviltry in romantic surroundings; inextinguishable hero; lovely gal; continuous thrills. In it, a bit of mystery with a rundown Bessarabian castle, a hidden treasure, a gang of international crooks, and an officer of the British Intelligence, disguised as a crude chauffeur. Highly recommended for people who like to treat a mystery story as a solvable riddle!

The Gold Comfit Box

Valentine Williams

Philip Clavering is a British agent using fake name James Dunlop while in Belgium. He found out that the train Berlin-Paris crashed. His boss calls and tells him that agent Charles Forrest was on this train, and Philip must find the gold box he was carrying. The woman who survived the crash is in his hotel, and he asks her if she has any information about Forrest. She is in a state of panic and loses consciousness. Returning to the lobby, he meets with Dr. Grundt, who rides upstairs to see the woman. He does not know who Grundt is. He will find out later.

The Man with the Clubfoot

Valentine Williams

If you like English adventure and spy stories, during the Great War, Valentine Williams is for you. The brothers Okewood, Desmond and Francis, will steal your heart and inspire you to mix it up with any passing Hun. Desmond Okewood is a young British officer in the First World War who goes to Germany on an important secret mission. The Kaiser has written a letter which both the British and the Germans are eager to get their hands on. Desmond has a series of misadventures and soon attracts the unwelcome attention of Dr. Adolf Grundt, known as Clubfoot. Clubfoot that sinister figure, who limps menacingly, is one of the most cunning and dangerous secret agents in Europe and he wants not only the Kaisers letter, but the capture and death of Desmond Okewood. In The Man with the Clubfoot, Valentine Williams has written a thrilling romance of mystery, love, and intrigue that in every sense of the word may be described as breathless.

The Mystery of the Gold Box

Valentine Williams

In the dark days just before the outbreak of WW1, Philip Clavering, a British Secret Service agent, is despatched to Europe to recover a gold box carried by a now dead agent, the box holding a deep secret. But the Kaisers man, Dr. Grundt, alias Clubfoot, is also on the trail of that box and its secrets. The chase is on! The Mystery of the Gold Box is the fourth in the seven book series about the evil Dr. Adolph Grundt. He answers to no one except the Kaiser. Hes a big man with a clubfoot. Since hes behind a lot that goes on his nickname is the Crouching Beast. The first in the series is The Man With The Clubfoot (1918), written as Douglas Valentine and the last entry is Courier To Marrakesh (1944). Dr. Grundt is an over the top villain but that makes the series even better. A hard boiled mystery, suspense, and espionage thriller.

The Pigeon House

Valentine Williams

The novel begins in Paris on the wedding night of Sally and Rex Garrett. A former member of the French Foreign Legion Rex mysteriously disappears on the night of his wedding. At The Pigeon House, a lonely inn, a band of conspirators await the arrival of a deserter from the Foreign Legion, who is their key man in their plan to start an uprising in French Morocco. The conspirators have also driven the bridegrooms closest friend into exile and a shameful death, which means he must hunt them down and destroy them. Williams spy story, The Pigeon Man (1927), presents us with a character whose motivations are as obscure as any in modernist literature. Why is the hero doing what he is doing? Why, for that matter, are the other characters? George Valentine Williams never says explicitly, leaving readers to puzzle this out for themselves.

The Red Mass

Valentine Williams

On the day of the execution, Voulland saw the tumbrils approaching. Come, said he to those who were at his side, let us go to the high altar and see them celebrate the Red Mass. The Red Mass is a bustling action tale of the French Revolution and of the sulky and wild young British officer who in one day in London manages to insult a French nobleman, get challenged to a duel and throw a glass of wine in the face of the Prince Regent George the Fat. Sent abroad on a secret mission, both he and his French sweetheart come close to the guillotine. But that is not the end far from it. Written in 1925 by English journalist, actor, lecturer and screenwriter Valentine Williams who was the son of G. Douglas Williams, Chief Editor of the Reuters News Agency.

The Return of Clubfoot

Valentine Williams

An Espionage/Adventure Classic! With The Return of Clubfoot, Valentine Williams has penned a thrilling page-turner of mystery, love, adventure, and intrigue. Whilst spending a holiday in a small Central American Republic, Desmond Okewood, of the Secret Service, learns from a dying beachcomber of a hidden treasure. With the assistance of a millionaire, he sets out for an island in the Pacific. To his astonishment he discovers that the Man with the Clubfoot, whom he had regarded as dead and who had shot his brother Francis, has anticipated him. The circumstances of how Okewood gains knowledge of the treasure and the subsequent pursuit by Okewoods nemesis, Clubfoot, in which the millionaires pretty daughter takes a prominent part, made for a fast-paced, suspenseful, and entertaining read highlighted by a romantic interest and a satisfying ending.

The Yellow Streak

Valentine Williams

George Valentine Williams (1883-1946) was an English journalist, actor, lecturer, screenwriter, and author of many crime and thriller novels. He created The Fox (Baron Alexis de Bahl), Clubfoot (Dr. Adolph Grunt), Mr. Treadgold the tailor and Detective Sergeant Trevor Dene. The Yellow Streak is the first book in the Inspector Manderton series. A wealthy industrialist with a mysterious past, has a group of friends staying with him at his country house in England. He apparently commits suicide, but a good friend of the young woman engaged to the industrialist believes its murder and seeks to find the murderer. Good old fashioned country house novel: sort of locked room, suicide or murder mystery. Highly recommended for people who like to treat a mystery story as a solvable riddle!