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.