The Elusive Dud

Edgar Wallace

During and after the First World War, Edgar Wallace wrote several story and article series for the Glasgow Sunday Post, a weekly newspaper founded in 1915 by the Scottish shipping and media magnate David Couper Thomson. Some of these series were published under Wallaces own name, others including the present work under the house-author name of John Anstruther. The story The Elusive Dud is fast-paced with some surprising twists, well written and great to read. Wallace was a very prolific writer despite his sudden death at age 56. In total Wallace is credited with over 170 novels, almost 1,000 short stories, and 18 stage plays. Wallaces works have been turned into well over 100 films.

The Exploits of Airman Hay

Edgar Wallace

The Exploits of Airman Hay is a series of ten stories about an intrepid aviator by the name of Captain Murray Hay. The stories fast-paced with some surprising twists and turns, well written and great to read. The book presents the stories under the titles found in Edgar Wallaces manuscript, most of which correspond to those used in Topical Times. Edgar Wallace was a prolific author of crime, adventure and humorous stories, whose best known creations include The Four Just Men, Sanders of the River, and J. G. Reeder. Although Wallace wrote many stand alone novels it is, perhaps, for his series based material-always popular with readers-that he remains best known. More than 160 films have been made of Wallaces work.

The Face in the Night

Edgar Wallace

The Face in the Night was written in the year 1924 by Edgar Wallace. Leaving her chicken farm and moving to London to seek her sister, Audrey Bedford is caught passing the Queen of Finlands stolen necklace, and allows herself to be sent to prison for a year rather than implicate her guilty sibling. Once released, she takes a position as scribe to the mysterious Mr. Malpas, who lurks in his electrically-automated apartment and only allows himself to be seen from across a darkened room. When Malpas neighbor, the Australian Mr. Marshalt is murdered in the lair, Audrey is enmeshed in a tangle of lost diamonds, a long-burning feud, the fate of her father, and the affections of Captain Dick Shannon, Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard.

The Feathered Serpent

Edgar Wallace

The Feathered Serpent is a mystery-thriller novel penned by the remarkably prolific Edgar Wallace. A number of people receive threatening cards emblazoned with the device of a feathered serpent, a device that we later find is associated with ancient Aztec religion and with a cult that still exists in Mexico and Central America. Reporter Peter Dewin suspects the card mysteriously left in the handbag of actress Ella Creed is a publicity stunt. He soon discovers that a wealthy artist, a boxing promoter and a nouveau riche stockbroker share her fear. Then, after leaving the house of millionaire philanthropist and African explorer Gregory Beale, Daphne Olroyd is followed. The Feathered Serpent case will eventually lead to murder and two kidnappings. Who is behind the crimes of The Feathered Serpent?

The Fellowship of the Frog

Edgar Wallace

The Fellowship of the Frog is a typical, fast-paced Edgar Wallace thriller. The plot centers around the identity of an arch-criminal who is using down and outs to do his dirty work. The Frog is a menace to Society. A criminal mastermind who has organized the tramps of Britain into an unlawful army. He murders, he robs, he blackmails... He must be stopped. But who is he? There is no shortage of suspects and no shortage of twists. Richard Gordon, a prosecutor, and Sgt. Elk, set out to unmask the head Frog and bring him to justice. But it seems that the Frog has some insiders at Scotland Yard, who help captured criminals escape and who help misdirect the forces of justice.

The Fighting Scouts

Edgar Wallace

The second of Edgar Wallaces two short story collections about Scottish airman Tam during World War I. In this book Tam is joined by a new young American protégé Billy Best. The stories of Tam the pilot are not mysteries. They are the entertaining stories of the exploits of a cockney aviator who supposedly was Charles Lindberghs childhood inspiration to fly. Tam is a real person, and all the adventures set forth have actually happened, though names and places are necessarily fictitious. In these stories Mr. Wallace describes a rare character, a Glasgow mechanic who becomes a Royal Flying Corps pilot. Wonderful entertainment and highly entertaining.

The Flying Fifty-five

Edgar Wallace

Edgar Wallace was an English novelist, journalist and playwright, who was an enormously popular writer of detective, suspense stories, and practically invented the modern thriller. His popularity at the time was comparable to that of Charles Dickens one of Wallaces publishers claimed that a quarter of all books read in England were written by him. The Flying Fifty-Five is a novel set in the horse racing community and follows the ups and downs of turf life. Its all great fun and Wallace keeps the action moving along swiftly, as he always did. Although he takes us into some of the intricacies of betting in the horse racing arena, it is not so tedious that you cant get through those sections, but otherwise a wonderfully written, funny and happy ending.

The Flying Squad

Edgar Wallace

The creek between the canal and the river flows under Ladys Stairs, a crazy wooden house inhabited by Li Yoseph known to the police as a smuggler. The neighborhood suspects he is rich, and knows he is mad. Inspector Bradley is out to break a drug-smuggling gang which operates from an old house overhanging the Thames; the gang is headed by a criminal called Mark McGill. The disappearance of young Ron Perryman whom McGill has murdered and dumped in the river gives the Inspector his ideal opportunity to begin asking questions... Edgar Wallace established his reputation as a writer of detective thrillers, a genre in which he wrote more than 170 books, with the publication of The Four Just Men.

The Forger

Edgar Wallace

Forged notes have started to appear everywhere. Mr. Cheyne Wells of Harley Street has been given one. So has Porter. Peter Clifton is rich, but no one is quite certain how he acquired his money not even his new wife, the beautiful Jane Leith. Jane, newly married to this man she does not love, is plunged into a nightmare of murder and madness. What is the secret of her husbands immense fortune? Is he The Clever One who has baffled the police, the banks and the world with his clever forgeries? Or is he a homicidal maniac? Inspector Rouper and Superintendent Bourke are both involved in trying to solve the mystery.

The Four Just Men

Edgar Wallace

Written in 1905, it is one of Wallaces many popular thriller novels. Four Just Men was the start of a series about a determined band of European vigilantes who decide to kill off people in the world whom the law cannot punish. Their ingenuity and ability to keep several steps ahead of those who would thwart them, including police, are the essence of the plot. When the British Foreign Secretary Sir Philip Ramon decides to push through a law which will allow the enforced return of political refugees to their countries of origin, he becomes a target of the Four Just Men. These are iconic stories of adventure, intrigue and retribution set in the time immediately following the First World War. Highly recommended for people who like to treat a mystery story as a solvable riddle.

The Fourth Plague

Edgar Wallace

The Fourth Plague is an intriguing crime novel that was published in 1913, during the early years of Wallaces career as a novelist. Here again pits a master detective against a powerful crime syndicate, this time with an Italian background. An Italian secret society, burglary, kidnapping, detectives, mysterious artefacts, remarkable coincidences! This is a tale of the Red-Hand, a criminal organization that makes Count Festini, its secret head, the most dangerous man in Europe. But for his hated eldest son, the Red-Hands plans for the downfall of the country may succeed. The cat and mouse game about high treasure, a beautiful woman and a bio-weapon never really leaves the ground and grips the reader.

The Frightened Lady

Edgar Wallace

When Inspector Tanner is called in to investigate a ruthless murder at Marks Priory, the grand ancestral home of the Lebanon family, he quickly discovers that nothing is quite as it seems. The household is controlled by the family physician, the footmen behave more like guests than servants and the secretary Isla is afraid for her life. Why are these two American toughs employed as footmen? Why is Lady Lebanon so unwilling to answer any questions? What he does know is that the only obviously innocent person is utterly consumed with terror. Here is Inspector Tanners first real clue. As Tanner moves closer to the heart of the mystery he uncovers a shocking and closely guarded secret.

The Gambling Girl

Edgar Wallace

The Gambling Girl, by Edgar Wallace is a book of short story mysteries. Bill and Mary met at a gambling casino and both are imprisoned for reasons that are murky. Bill was a former detective with the American Army at G.H.Q. Marys past was more mysterious. From that day forward however, neither of their lives would ever be the same again. Fast-paced, with good twists and turns, an unusual mystery scheme and a little romance. Its all great fun and Wallace keeps the action moving along swiftly, as he always did. Wonderful entertainment and highly entertaining. If you havent discovered the joys of Wallaces mysteries there is a good place to start. Highly recommended.

The Gaunt Stranger

Edgar Wallace

Inspector Wemburys day turns from bad to worse when a legendary assassin who was supposed dead in Australia returns to England seeking vengeance for the murder of his sister. The detective teams up with Lomond, a police doctor, to try to find The Ringer who is a mysterious, revenge-driven serial killer and master of disguise. When a lawyer receives a bouquet with a note informing him that hell be dead in forty-eight hours, Wembury and his men embark on a frantic quest to uncover the killers identity... An exiting book full of intrigue and mystery, The Gaunt Stranger is a must-read for all fans of thrilling crime fiction. Edgar Wallace provides a thrill of another sort!

The Ghost of Down Hill & The Queen of Shebas Belt

Edgar Wallace

Best remembered for penning the screenplay for the classic film King Kong, author Edgar Wallace was an astoundingly popular luminary in the action-adventure genre in the early twentieth century. The Ghost of Down Hill is an entertaining mystery novella, based on the idea that a ghost of a monk haunts a house built on top of former holy ground. This novella has upbeat tone and surprising outcome. The Queen of Shebas Belt features the disappearance of a priceless belt supposedly worn by the Queen of Sheba. Seemingly the theft is not through want of money but an act to set up a rival in love. Wonderful entertainment and highly entertaining. If you havent discovered the joys of Wallaces mysteries there is a good place to start.

The Golden Hades

Edgar Wallace

This early work by Edgar Wallace was originally published in 1929. "The Golden Hades" is a tale of murder and a symbol on bank notes leading to a sinister organization. This mystery novel features Wilbur Smith of the Treasury Department for Counterfeit in his investigations. Each time a crime happens be it a robbery or a murder, there is a sinister sign of Pluto (Hades) gold there... a statue of the Greek god of the underworld and the sign of dangerous gang of forgers. One of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century, Edgar Wallace was an immensely popular author, who created exciting thrillers spiced with tales of treacherous crooks and hard-boiled detectives.

The Governor of Chi-Foo

Edgar Wallace

Edgar Wallace was an English novelist, journalist and playwright, who was an enormously popular writer of detective, suspense stories, and practically invented the modern thriller. His popularity at the time was comparable to that of Charles Dickens one of Wallaces publishers claimed that a quarter of all books read in England were written by him. The Governor of Chi-Foo is a rare short story collection, long out of print which contains 16 thrilling stories: The Witney Road, Mother o Mine, The Kings Brahm, The Greek Poropolous, The Treasure of the Kalahari and others. An exiting book full of intrigue and mystery, this book is a must-read for all fans of thrilling crime fiction. Edgar Wallace provides a thrill of another sort!

The Great Reward

Edgar Wallace

The Great Reward is thirteen quirky short stories from the master of mystery Edgar Wallace. Fast-paced, with good classic twists and turns, an unusual criminal scheme and a little romance. Edgar Wallace was a British novelist, playwright, and journalist who produced popular detective and suspense stories and was in his time the king of the modern thriller. Wallaces literary output 175 books, 24 plays, and countless articles and review sketches have undermined his reputation as a fresh and original writer. Moreover, the author was a wholehearted supporter of Victorian and early Edwardian values and mores, which are now considered in some respects politically incorrect. In England, in the 1920s, Wallace was said to be the second biggest seller after the Bible.

The Green Archer

Edgar Wallace

Another rip-roaring tale from Edgar Wallace, The Green Archer features a beautiful girl looking for the mother from whom she was stolen as a baby, her kindly foster-father, a redheaded journalist, a very secret policeman who is also a master of disguise, an Anglo-Indian petty criminal and his wife, assorted villains and, at the center of it all, Abel Bellamy, a very ugly, very rich man whos bought a Garres Castle in Scotland. Running through it all is the mysterious Green Archer, the castles ghost, who appears to be walking once more. At the opening of the story, The Green Archer is again active. There is a mysterious murder where the victim is left with a green arrow through the heart. A thrilling, hair-raising mystery story.

The Green Pack

Edgar Wallace, Robert Curtis

The Green Pack is a novel adapted from a successful play by the playwright Robert Curtis. Robert Curtis was the private secretary to British crime writer Edgar Wallace. Curtis and Wallace met for the first time in 1913, before parting following the outbreak of World War One, as Curtis had to do his military service. In 1916, he was discharged from the service after contracting malaria. In 1918 he was reunited with Wallace who employed him as his secretary, he had the task of copying out Wallaces dictations, this task he accomplished at such a speed that he was known as the fastest secretary in England. He accompanied Wallace on his travels, and was rarely from the side. After Wallaces death, he completed some of Wallaces unfinished manuscripts and turned several plays and film scripts into novels in the style of Wallace as well as writing several original novels.

The Green Ribbon

Edgar Wallace

In The Green Ribbon an insurance investigator researches the accidental death of a jockey. His inquiry leads to an illegal gambling organization, as well as the knowledge that the jockeys death was not accidental. He also saves the life of another jockey who has been the victim of a couple of accidents. One of Edgar Wallaces occasional horse racing novels which centers of a betting syndicate involving the jovial Mr. Trigger, the sinister Dr. Blanter, the strange Mr. Goodie, and the slippery disbarred lawyer Rustem. How does the Green Ribbon tipping agency keep on picking winners? Looks like theres dirty work going on at the race track...

The Green Rust

Edgar Wallace

This is an enjoyable short story by Edgar Wallace, set in England during the 1920s. The Green Rust, his twelfth crime novel, is one of three books he published in 1919. It begins at the English home of the severely ill American millionaire, John Millinborn. With him are his best friend, Kitson, and a local doctor, the Dutch van Heerden. He is murdered, stabbed to death in his sick bed in the first chapter, having just left his fortune to his niece, Oliva, whom he has never met. Before he dies, he asks Kitson to find and watch over Oliva. But then theres the young detective, a young woman, a fortune, secret laboratories, poison, some gun play, hostages, and the list goes on... The mysteries multiply and deepen as the story proceeds.

The Gunner

Edgar Wallace

The name, Edgar Wallace, threads through early twentieth century crime fiction like a stream that turns out to be a lot deeper and wider than you thought. For many, Haynes, known as Gunner, is not an outlaw but a gentleman of unorthodox methods. For Scotland Yard, he is one of the most skilled thieves in the world. The Gunner and Luke Maddison belong to completely different worlds; Luke is a respectable banker with a charming girlfriend. But Luke has done a favor for the Gunner that hell never forget, so that when the banker gets in trouble, the Gunner intervenes to get him out of his nightmare. In Gunmans bluff youll find wharf rats and millionaires, gangland and Mayfair, the love of a banker and the love of a crook and a ruthless battle between upper world and underworld.

The Guvnor and Other Short Stories

Edgar Wallace

Fifth book in the J.G. Reeder series. When Larry ORyan decides to become a burglar he attends night school to study ballistics, then secures a job at a safe-makers. After three successful robberies Larry is caught by Mr. J. G. Reeder. An unlikely friendship develops and on Saturdays they can be seen together at the British Museum or the Tower. One day Larry rescues Miss Lane Leonard, daughter of a millionaire. The disappearance of one and a half million pounds in gold bullion and a series of bank frauds baffles Scotland Yard. But not Mr. J. G. Reeder. The Guvnor and Other Short Stories is a short story compilation by the British crime writer Edgar Wallace. These are the final stories about Mr. J. G. Reeder, a police officer with the mind of a criminal.