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.

The Hand of Power

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. During the 1920s and 30s, it was said that one of every four books read in England was written by Wallace, who ultimately produced 173 books and 17 plays. The Hand of Power is a tale about the sale of a desk designed by a butler who murdered his wife. This book has all the aspects of good mysteries from around 1930 a beautiful woman, a young man infatuated with her, a secret society, an evil man, lots of twists of plot, and a surprise ending. It takes place in London and elsewhere in England and on an ocean liner. Highly recommended for people who like to treat a mystery story as a solvable riddle.

The India-Rubber Men

Edgar Wallace

The India-Rubber Men is a gripping thriller of Londons River Police, whose swift launches patrol the Thames and guard the ships that lie in port. Inspector John Wade is given the toughest job of his life when he is assigned the task of running to earth a gang of gunmen in rubber gas-masks, rubber gloves and crepe rubber shoes, who rob banks and jewelers, and even commit murder under the very eyes of the police, and get away with it. Through it all runs the Thames, and there is even time for a little excursion out of London to its upper reaches in Oxfordshire. A classic Wallace, stitching together his favorite themes with enough humor and vigor to keep the reader intrigued till the very end.

The Iron Grip

Edgar Wallace

1929 short story collection by Edgar Wallace revolving around the demobbed soldier (WWI) Jack Wireless Bryce and his engagement by the law firm Hemmer & Hemmer. Operating on the fringes of lawlessness, Bryce uses his brains and brawn to protect a range of the firms more vulnerable and downright gullible clients. His new career as a detective creates a compelling tale of adventure. Most of his adventures involve rescuing various damsels in distress from the clutches of men who are far from gentle. The tales are told with real zip, with a dash of grit and humor. Eventually, however, he is overpowered caught in the tender grip of love from which he has no desire to escape.

The Joker

Edgar Wallace

Mr. Stratford Harlow, the colossus of British Finance, was a gentleman with no particular call to hurry. By every standard he was a member of the leisured classes, and to his opportunities for lingering, he added the desire of one who was pertinently curious. The most commonplace phenomena interested Mr. Harlow. He had all the requisite qualities of an observer; his enjoyment was without the handicap of sentimentality, a weakness which is fatal to accurate judgement. Between Stratford Harlow and James Carlton, whom Harlow described as Scotland Yards most unscrupulous man, there was never open warfare until the murder of Mrs. Gibbons...

The Just Men of Cordova

Edgar Wallace

There are crimes for which no punishment is adequate, offences that the written law cannot redress. The three friends, Pioccart, Manfred and Gonsalez, may be enjoying the exotic, Spanish city of Cordova with its heat and Moorish influences, but they are still committed to employing their intellect and cunning to dispense justice. In The Just Men of Cordova, written in 1917, the just men move into the treacherous, aristocratic world of gambling, horse-racing and high finance. It seems that police services, even governments, have no power to control this world, where blackmail, poison and murder are commonplace. The just men, working outside the law, take it upon themselves to clean things up in their own way.