The Gallows of Chance

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Believe it or not, here is an Oppenheim story without a single scene laid in Monte Carlo. And high time, too, for that lode, profitable as it no doubt has been, has shown signs, of petering out. The entire action of this novel takes place in England, and most of the characters, with the exception of a few detectives, belong to the upper classes. Edward Phillips Oppenheim (1866-1946) was an English novelist, in his lifetime a major and successful writer of genre fiction including thrillers. He wrote more than 100 novels between 1887 and 1943. The Gallows of Chance was first published in 1933.

The Glenlitten Murder

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Glenlitten Manor is the home of Andrew, Marquis Glenlitten, and his lovely, tiny, vivacious French wife, Felice. On the night of a small game hunt, the unsavory Baron de Bresset is murdered and the priceless Glenlitten diamond is stolen. Who stole the necklace and killed de Bresset? The subplot around the origins of Felice, who was orphaned in a French chateau at a very young age, form an interesting side story. Suspects include Sir Richard Cotton, the famous London criminal lawyer, Sir Richard Haslam, the African colonial administrator, and Prince Charles de Seuss, the impoverished Russian nobleman. Very formulaic, with some interesting descriptions of English country house life just prior to the Great Depression.

The Golden Beast

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Edward Phillips Oppenheim (1866-1946) was the earliest writer of spy fiction as understood today, inventing the rogue male school of adventure thrillers and writing over 150 novels of all sorts. In The Golden Beast, a woman curses her lovers father, a baron, who had her gamekeeper father hanged. Years afterward, three of the barons descendants disappear in a manner that baffles Scotland Yard, appearing they were the victims of that ancient curse. Written in 1925, with a powerful Jewish family as the main characters, there are strong descriptions and anti-Semitic characterizations. The men are greedy, money obsessed, and unattractive. The women are beautiful, alluring, exotic, and immoral.

The Golden Web

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Stirling Deane has sold the Little Anna Gold Mine which he discovered in South Africa early in his career. The sale has made him a rich man and the head of the company to which he sold the mine. His is engaged to Lady Olive Nunnelly, and is the envy of all of society. Deane is threatened with ruin when a old enemy Richard Sinclair- shows up in London with what appears to be a legitimate prior deed to the mine. After a meeting with Deane, the man is found murdered and the deed he claims to have had is missing. Another man which Deane hired to negotiate the return of the deed to Deane is accused of the murder, tried, and sentenced to death. What has become of the lost deed?

The Governor

E. Phillips Oppenheim

An engrossing tale of financial intrigue, full of shadowy characters and shady dealings from the author of mystery and espionage thrillers E. Phillips Oppenheim. Phineas Duge, leader of a group of American millionaires who work financial deals together, suspects his colleagues of crooked dealings, and tricks them into signing a document that gives him power over the group. During a struggle the document is stolen from Duge, and everyone is pulled into a frantic search to reclaim the incriminating paper. Readers of Mr. Oppenheims novels may always count on a story of absorbing interest, turning on a complicated plot, worked out with dexterous craftsmanship.

The Grassleyes Mystery

E. Phillips Oppenheim

This is another great novel by Edward Phillips Oppenheim, the prolific English novelist who was in his lifetime a major and successful writer of genre fiction including thrillers and spy novels, and who wrote over a 100 of them. When David Granet asks for a place to stay within a twenty-mile radius of either Nice or Cannes, he does not anticipate the trouble that he finds at the Manoir of Lady Grassleyes. The Lady of the manor is dead when he arrives, and the will is disputed. Granet gets himself drawn into an ugly dispute between the estate agent and Lady Grassleys niece. At stake is the land, the fortune, and a mysterious wealth in botanical formulas.

The Great Impersonation

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Originally published in 1913, The Great Impersonation is probably the most famous spy novel of all time. This tale is full of murder, crime, confused identity, blackmail, war, romance, politics, and theres even a ghost... In 1913, a German spy assumes a dead Englishmans identity and infiltrates British society as a sleeper agent, but when he falls in love with the Englishmans wife and his Hungarian ex-lover recognizes him, he must decide how to deal with the two women who may wreck his plans. This is excellent reading with its fast moving plot and its imagery of the rich life of English aristocrats before the First World War, as well as all characters. All the elements of an exciting adventure!

The Great Prince Shan

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Written in 1922, this story of world politics in 1934 has everything that goes to the making of an enthralling tale. A theme of present import, an intricate plot full of suspense and surprise, fascinating characters and an unusual love interest. The central figure of this absorbing story is the mysterious and cultured Prince Shan, ruler of China; the heroines are captivating English girl and a exotically beautiful Russian who pit their charm, their loveliness, and their wisdom against each other and against the highly-trained diplomats of many countries. Each of them attempts to influence the decision which may change the map of the world. Will Germany, Russia and China parcel out the world amongst themselves?

The Great Secret

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Mr. Hardross Courage is a wealthy young Englishman whose life has been carefree and uneventful. He plays cricket for his county, he attends to the management of his estates, he serves as a local magistrate. He has never taken any interest in a career of any sort. On a trip to London to participate in a cricket match, Hardross is confronted by a man who forces his way into his hotel room imploring him to hide him. His reason They want to kill me. So begins a tale that is likely to change Hardross idyllic life forever to one of mystery and espionage. The Great Secret is an entertaining tale of adventure. If you have a fondness for early 20th century spy fiction you should find this to be an entertaining read.

The Hillman

E. Phillips Oppenheim

John Strangeways lives the life of a country Gentleman farmer with his puritan brother in the hills of Cumberland. Far from the world of cities and noise he lived the clean, healthy, out-of-door life. When actress Louise Maurels car breaks down near their farm, she is forced to seek refuge with the misogynist brothers. Love ensues. Life no longer was quite the same to him, and in a short time he followed her to London. The coming of an unsophisticated though well educated, handsome young man into the semi-Bohemian circle brings about dramatic situations which the author knows well how to handle. Some wonderful minor characters aid the story also.

The Honourable Algernon Knox, Detective

E. Phillips Oppenheim

This is a very clever collection of linked stories by E. Phillips Oppenheim written in 1913. Algernon Knox, pretty young, dapper, seemingly silly, has failed at everything. Although wealthy, he fails when he stands for parliament. By chance he becomes involved in a blackmail against his uncle, who is a diplomat. Knox foils the plot, and a new career is born, the gentleman detective. In some ways, the young man carries out increasingly dangerous and cleaver missions against criminals and foreign spies. Haunted by the beautiful but foreign Adele de Hagon, Knox finds his career and fortunes on the rise. An enjoyable read!

The Human Chase

E. Phillips Oppenheim

The six stories in Part I of this book trace the early career of Peter Benskin. He is a public school graduate with a small private income who joins the police force in London. After an early success he transfers to Scotland Yard where he becomes a detective. He is successful in solving several difficult cases but is hampered at times by his ethical feelings towards criminals who have been coerced or forced to commit crimes. He allows the innocent to escape, while he pursues the truly guilty. Part II of the book, which also consists of six stories, chronicles Benskins pursuit of and ultimate victory over a self-conceited master-criminal known only by the sobriquet Matthew.

The Illustrious Prince

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Written in 1910, The Illustrious Prince is set in England some time after the Russian-Japanese War which ended in victory for the Japanese in 1905. The Emperor of Japan, suspecting an ulterior motive in the world cruise of the American battleship fleet, dispatches his cousin, Prince Maiyo, on a mission to learn the secret if one existed. Two American spies are murdered, an intrepid detective from Scotland Yard is hard on the trail of clues that will lead him to the killer. As Scotland Yard races to solve the mystery of the murders, several highborn ladies (one of them is Penelope Morse who becomes both wary and fascinated by him) and gentlemen from the British aristocracy befriend the charming Prince and get caught up in the intrigue.

The Inevitable Millionaires

E. Phillips Oppenheim

In this funny satire, Oppenheim offers us an argument that has been used in several movies: Two brothers come into a large inheritance with a pre-condition that they need to spend a big amount of money within a month. In the letter from their deceased father, they are enjoined to learn how to spend as well as that have learned how to save. The story deals with their noble efforts to spend their money without waste or ostentation. They back a musical comedy, finance a gold club, back an inventor who wants to extract rubber from sea weed will they be able to get rid of their fortune? Join the likeable Mr. Steven and Mr. George Henry Underwood in this goodhearted comedy of The Inevitable Millionaires.

The Interloper

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Oppenheim was famous for his hundreds of spy and espionage novels. This is not one of them. Its billed as a novel of social intrigue and as a story of revenge without violence and moves quickly. Duke Henry Chatfield with his family, and family lawyer Sir Stephen are riding through central Italy when the car breaks down in Pellini, where, 20 years earlier, the Dukes brother had a mistress and illegitimate child. Dukes daughter Monica is intrigued by a young Englishman named Francis taking his vows before disappearing into a monastery. She tries to convince him not to shut himself away but fails. Three years later, the family lawyer discovers that Francis is in fact the legitimate Duke, and encourages him to return to England. How Francis treats his relations, and his new found wealth and position form the plot of this 1927 novel.

The Kingdom of Earth

E. Phillips Oppenheim

John Peters is the dissolute Crown Prince of Bergeland. The nephew of the rapacious and immoral King. Grace Pellisier is an English American actress who meets a thoughtful, serious, hiker in the mountains of Switzerland. Bernhardt is the energetic Chief of the Secret Service, protecting the aging King, and constantly searching for The Watcher, the leader of the revolutionary republicans. Written during a period of intense anti-monarchy which saw the end of the Russian Tzar, Oppenheim is using the politics of Europe to imagine an alternative path to bloody revolution. And so on, and with the material of conspiracies, love and adventure the story is woven around the Prince with that peculiar polish in dialogue and fascinating coloring characteristic of the popular author.