The Colossus of Arcadia

E. Phillips Oppenheim

This late novel of E. Phillips Oppenheim begins as the Train Bleu pulls into the railroad station in Monaco. Its a leisurely spy fiction tale set in Monaco as various members of aristocracy from different countries plus one vacationing American woman find themselves involved with international intrigue. The bulk of the book consists of members of the leisure class drinking cocktails, playing baccarat, and generally spending time in Monacos elite clubs. Oppenheims work often reflected the current political and social events he was living through. In the late 1930s, Oppenheim was living in the South of France, near Monaco, as that playground of the wealthy slowly emptied out it wealthy and royal clientele in advance of the coming war.

The Court of St. Simon

E. Phillips Oppenheim

E. Phillips Oppenheim, writing as Anthony Partridge, in 1912. A curious tale in three parts. The Court of St. Simon, by E. Phillips Oppenheim tells the story of Monsieur Simon with his consort Josephine, who lives in the demi-monde of Paris, consorts with criminals and artists, and exacts contributions from various evil-doers in the Court of St. Simon an underground tribunal of, for, and by, the criminal class. One evening, he brings along with the jaded youth Eugene dArgminac who falls under the spell of blood lust and becomes a criminal himself. Edward Phillips Oppenheim provides a thrill of another sort!

The Curious Quest

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Edward Phillips Oppenheim (1866-1946) was an English novelist, in his lifetime a major and successful writer of genre fiction. This novel is an Oppenheim classic from 1919 about a high society villain: characteristic of Oppenheims typical works, with the characters living in luxury, and a very flowing and exact story. Much of Oppenheims work possesses a unique escapist charm, featuring protagonists who delight in Epicurean meals, surroundings of intense luxury, and the relaxed pursuit of criminal practice, on either side of the law. The Curious Quest is a lovely tale of a rich man having to spend a year earning his own money because he is bored and ill. Full of action and scams.

The Deliberate Detective

E. Phillips Oppenheim

The adventures of Mr. Stanely Brooke, The Deliberate Detective. E. Phillips Oppenheims detective Stanley Brooke unearths the strange and criminous underbelly of London, but the greatest challenge he tackles is how to capture the heart of his beautiful but grim partner, Constance. This detective contributed to the foundation of the genres history. The collection also includes the following stories: The Rescue of Warren Tyrrwell, The Princess Pays, The Other Side of the Wall, The Murder William Blessing, The Disappearance of Monsieur Dupoy, The Spiders Parlor, The Silent People, and The Glen Terrace Tragedy.

The Devils Paw

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Julian Orden, son of a British aristocrat attends a dinner party and meets Catherine, a young woman of mixed antecedents British and Russian. She is entrusted with important documents. When she is suspected of being a spy and arrested, she saves herself by giving the papers into the keeping of young Orden. A beautiful, intelligent young woman is she a traitorous spy or a patriot? These two characters become caught up in a plan by the leaders of the working people of Germany and England to force a premature end to World War I. Secret agents, an international conspiracy, and the threat of war make The Devils Paw a thrilling tale of romance and adventure!

The Distributors

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Lord Evelyn and a group of seven like-minded esthetes make up The Ghosts a cabal of social arbiters, of whom the mere mention is regarded as a faux pas. They are imbued with almost mystical power in setting tastes and trends and behavior for the members of Society in London in 1908. Desperate for stimulation The Ghosts embark on a risky program of wealth redistribution... other peoples wealth. Meanwhile, a spurned aspirant to their club, the American debutante Sophy Van Heldt, seeks revenge against them. Originally published in 1908 as The Ghosts of Society this intriguing novel carries the theme of social boredom, ennui, and sensation craving which entranced late Victorian Europe in the pre-war period.

The Double Life of Mr. Alfred Burton

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Alfred Burton, a smooth-talking salesman, is having a perfectly ordinary day on the job when he stumbles across a strange plant with green leaves and a cluster of queer little brown beans hanging down from them in an old house. The virtue of the beans is that he who eats one shall see nothing, think nothing, say nothing but the truth. Alfred Burton has a well-meaning, rather ordinary wife who becomes unendurable to him, and he falls in love with a charming girl who would have no appeal for the man he formerly was. What Alfred really doesnt realize is that the fruit of the plant, when eaten, will change not merely the entire course of his life, but in fact his very self.

The Double Traitor

E. Phillips Oppenheim

The Double Traitor is an espionage novel set in the days leading to the first World War. The main character is Francis Norgate, an aspiring British diplomat who falls in disfavor with his superiors for defending a woman while stationed in Berlin. The resulting scandal causes Norgate to be recalled. On the way home, he meets a German gentleman, Selingman, who claims to be a crockery salesman. But, Selingman is not what he appears to be. Disillusioned by the English government, Norgate allows himself to be recruited by Selingman. Oppenheim tells a good story a little romance, a little adventure turn of the century tales of success and failure, gain and loss.