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Edgar Wallace
With the stealing of the fat Englishmans wallet by Gregory Silinski, commences this extraordinary story of crime. Who are the Nine Bears? Who is Hyatt and the Man of the Eiffel Tower? And where is LOLO the secret rendezvous of the Nine? These are only a few of the facers that confront T. B. Smith, Assistant Commissioner from Scotland Yard, until the final dramatic scene aboard the mad battleship. This book is one of the most popular novels of Edgar Wallace, and has been translated into several other languages around the world. Novelist, playwright and journalist, Edgar Wallace, is best known for his popular detective and suspense stories which, in his lifetime, earned him the title, King of the Modern Thriller.
Edgar Wallace
Rather different from the usual Wallace plot, here we have a tramp heading for the Canadian border who marries a girl while in a drunken stupor. Her wedding day was so fraught with danger that she and her husband were forced to flee from the deadly menace that ruthlessly dogged their every move. She learned to avoid the man with the red beard and his swarthy knife-juggling companion. Above all, she feared and avoided Gussie, whose drawl and monocle gave him a deceptive appearance of meekness. Who were these three and who was her strange husband and what was the secret that spelled death between them? Mysterious tramps, Chicago gangsters, and villainous members of the English nobility!
Hulbert Footner
The novel begins with the fact that Phil Nevitt, an employee of an American alcoholic beverage company, goes to Annunziata, the mythical island of Futners creation in the West Indies, to learn everything he can about the Randall Trantora rum. The Obeah Murders show their fantastic roots with so many genre influences (spy, western, adventure, supernatural and detective). In the end, however, the race issue was the most surprising and, ultimately, the most important aspect of the book. More Footner reviews will appear later this summer.
Emmuska Orczy
The late nineteenth and early twentienth century were a fecund period for classical mystery writers. Among the most popular was Baroness Emmuska Orczy. The Old Man in the Corner contains twelve of the stories by Baroness Orczy featuring the mysterious man who sits in the corner of the ABC tea shop fiddling with a piece of string whilst working our the solutions to crimes that have baffled the police. Each case is unfolded during the course of a conversation between the man in the corner and a lady journalist, an ingenious method that avoids the necessity of a clumsy tacked-on explanation of the crime. Relying solely on his vast Holmesian powers of deduction, the strange looking sleuth never deigns to visit the scene of the crime, question a suspect, or examine clues. Nor does he have much faith in conventional police methods and crime solving capabilities.
Fred M. White
In Woodside Manor, there was an old servant a terrible man, almost ninety years old, with thick white eyebrows and sharp black eyes who recalled the tragedy Silas Brooks, the valet of the unfortunate Arundel Secretan. But even he never spoke about it, but only listened when the story was mentioned with suspicion and hatred, flashing in his evil dark eyes. The servants said he was crazy that the recollection had turned his brain. One day, many years ago, he told this story, and never heard of mentioning it again. Arundel Secretan had too much of a swashbuckler in his blood...
The Old Stone House and Other Stories
Anna Katharine Green
A young girl named Juliet, draws the boys in a small village after her, and along the way a rich Colonel, whose love for her reaches farther than anyone would have expected. She also hooks a fiery, unstable man named Orrin. The Colonel gets her to swear she will marry him as soon as he finishes a stone house for her, while Orrin tries something secretive to win his love. The narrator is a former lover of Juliet, and what he tells of is a twisted tale of a selfish woman and an evil man, decide for yourself which man is the villain... Short stories written by Anna Katharine Green. This well-written collection also includes: A Memorable Night, The Black Cross, A Mysterious Case, Shall He Wed Her? . Each one contains a mystery and a romantic involvement in the plot, and some have a twist ending.
The Oppenheim Omnibus. Clowns and Criminals
E. Phillips Oppenheim
Another great collection of stories from the British author E. Phillips Oppenheim who achieved worldwide fame with his thrilling novels and short stories concerning international espionage and intrigue. A best-selling author of novels, short stories, magazine articles, translations, and plays, Oppenheim published over 150 books. He is considered one of the originators of the thriller genre, his novels also range from spy thrillers to romance, but all have an undertone of intrigue. The Oppenheim Omnibus: Clowns and Criminals (1931) is one of Oppenheims most intriguing works. Here we have all the elements of blood-racing adventure and intrigue and are precursors of modern-day spy fictions. Highly recommended for people who like to treat a mystery story as a solvable riddle!
Joseph Smith Fletcher
This novel takes place in the London parish of Paddington. The story opens with the murder of an old Jewish pawnbroker. Our Scottish hero, Andrew Lauriston, a penniless aspiring writer, has the misfortune of finding the body, and is accused of killing and robbing the old man. But then its found the pawnbroker had had in his possession an extraordinary South African diamond worth over eighty-thousand pounds a diamond thats now missing. It falls to Melky Rubenstein to unravel the mystery and prove the young mans innocence. This is a great tale which you can immerse yourself in and will appeal to anyone who likes the old style crime/ mystery novels.
Edgar Wallace
This decent collection presents short stories that include The Mind-Readers, The Sirius Man, The Couper Buckle, and many more stories featuring Chief Inspector Oliver Rater, written by a famous British author Edgar Wallace.? ne of the stories are told in the third person, but one is told by Rater himself, which is unexpected. The stories are fast-paced with some surprising twists, well written and great to read but definitely a product of their time and place. 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. He provides a thrill of another sort!
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. He composed some one hundred and fifty novels, mainly of the suspense and international intrigue nature, but including romances, comedies, and parables of everyday life. The Ostrekoff Jewels is the story of a Russian prince, princess and the end of the Russian Revolution that is taking place around them and involves the smuggling out of a familys hereditary jewels. They attempt to flee, which appears to be successful, at least at first. Loosely based on the Romanovs reign in Russia.
Hulbert Footner
Suppose you were a young and very rich New Yorker, and you suddenly lost all your money. Suppose you met a taxi-driver and for reasons good to both you agreed to exchange identities. Suppose, having started up Fifth Avenue in the old taxi at one a.m., you were about to admit your first fare when you discovered a dead body already occupying the car. Humor, espionage, romance, and adventure make this novel thrilling.
Joseph Smith Fletcher
A quaint and idyllic English community is rocked to its very core when a dead body of a man is found and foul play is suspected. Did he fall or was he pushed? The inquest records a verdict of death by misadventure but more than one person is dubious about the death. But with few clues to go on and no likely suspects, it appears that the brutal crime may remain unsolved. Theres another murder, lots of behind the scenes investigation into burial and marriage records, questionable parentage, questionable motives, changed names, poisonings, twists and turns galore. This classic from the golden age of detective fiction will suck you in and keep you guessing until the very last page.
Arthur Griffiths
Thrilling detective novel taking place in the Engadine Express from Calais to Lucerne. It is a well-planned, logical detective story of the better sort, free from cheap sensationalism and improbability, developing surely and steadily by means of exciting situations to an unforeseen and satisfactory ending. A mysterious woman, followed by two detectives, shows up at the last minute to book a compartment for her servant, an infant and herself. The lady is afraid that someone is following her. What is her secret and who is she? And is she a criminal or a victim? Find the answers to these questions and others on a thrilling railway journey spanning Europe.
E. Phillips Oppenheim
The Passionate Quest is the story of Rosina, Philip and Matthew, who work in rural England in the glass factory owned by Rosinas uncle. All three dream of a different life: Rosina wants to be an actress, Philip a poet, and Matthew hopes for a career in high finance. They all go off to London in the passionate quest for their dreams. This 1927 novel by Edward Phillips Oppenheim where problems arise in a family business. Oppenheim inherited a leather company from his father and ran it for 20 years before he became a full time author. The business of leather features in a number of his novels. He was acutely aware of class behavior and distinctions. An enjoyable read!
E. Phillips Oppenheim
E. Phillips Oppenheim was a British writer known for his thriller novels. He is credited with writing over 100 novels including suspense, international intrigue, romance, parables, and comedies. His protagonists are known for their love of luxury, gourmet meals, and their enjoyment of criminal activities. The Pawns Count is a novel during World War I and intrigue. German, Japanese, British and Americans play roles in this novel. A chemist, Sandy Graham, has discovered a new powerful explosive, but he lets it slip in a London restaurant that he has made the discovery. So it should come as no surprise, really, when he goes to the lavatory to clean up and never comes back out. Several highly cultured spies from different governments set out to find him and the formula. Read this rather short book to find the answers.
E. Phillips Oppenheim
If you have a fondness for mystery you should find this novel to be an entertaining read. Lord Alceston, the Earl of Harrowdean, statesman, philanthropist, nobleman, is murdered in his own study on the night of a great ball given at his home. On the same night a mysterious woman is murdered in the slums of East London. The valet disappears. Thus begins a moody and dramatic tale of love, jealousy, and revenge. This is the second published novel by E. Phillips Oppenheim and deals with a rigid Victorian moral code which is hard to comprehend today. Oppenheim dictated many of his later novels, but the careful writing, lengthy descriptions, and close observation of characters are beautifully expressed in this early work.
Edgar Wallace
The setting is Nigeria a century ago, and British District Commissioner R.G. Sanders oversees the tribes. He discovers that Bosambo has been acting as chief without approval, but is so impressed with his skills Sanders allows him to remain in place, but Sanders heads to England to marry and unrest follows. The classic Commissioner Sanders stories about Africa by Edgar Wallace. This is the second collection in the series, following Sanders of the River. Wallace served in Africa and he gets the background right. Both books were written in the same year, when world powers were vying for colonial honor. Great humor, lots left to the readers imagination, but delightful stories about individuals and their interactions with Commissioner Sanders, British authority figure.
Fred M. White
Sebastian Wilde really was a great man. He seemed to be paralysed from his hips downwards, which, indeed, was the case, though his arms were vigorous enough and his affliction had not robbed him of the brightness of his eyes or blunted the edge of his amazing intellect. He had no friends and visitors; he was pleased, in his words, to work quietly on the task of his life and, perhaps, when this is completed, he can go out of his obscurity and again take his place in the great world. However, what could such a noble person hide?
Aidan de Brune
There is always a special thrill of excitement about a mystery story, especially when the main characters cover their tracks successfully. The Phantom Launch is an Australian story through and through, its main setting being Sydney and Melbourne, and the swiftness and sureness with which both the launch people and amateur sleuths act will keep the reader breathless. Wireless plays an important part in this story. We defy any reader to guess the perpetrators of the crimes and the secret of the launch until the colorful and prolific Australian writer Aidan de Brune? reveals them.
Valentine Williams
The novel begins in Paris on the wedding night of Sally and Rex Garrett. A former member of the French Foreign Legion Rex mysteriously disappears on the night of his wedding. At The Pigeon House, a lonely inn, a band of conspirators await the arrival of a deserter from the Foreign Legion, who is their key man in their plan to start an uprising in French Morocco. The conspirators have also driven the bridegrooms closest friend into exile and a shameful death, which means he must hunt them down and destroy them. Williams spy story, The Pigeon Man (1927), presents us with a character whose motivations are as obscure as any in modernist literature. Why is the hero doing what he is doing? Why, for that matter, are the other characters? George Valentine Williams never says explicitly, leaving readers to puzzle this out for themselves.
Arthur B. Reeve
The second collection of 12 of the early Craig Kennedy mysteries, written by Arthur Benjamin Reeve and published in 1912. His Craig Kennedy stories, of which these are early examples, earned their main character the nickname the American Sherlock Holmes, both for his highly rational and analytical detective work as well as for his ever-present Dr. Watson-like companion Walter Jameson. They solve crimes using cutting-edge technology of the early twentieth century with varying degrees of plausibility. This volume includes The Germ of Death, The White Slave, The Confidence King, The Invisible Ray, and eight more. Each story features a fascinating look at life in the early 20th century, and even includes some action along the way.
The Postmaster of Market Deignton
E. Phillips Oppenheim
This early work from the prince of storytellers E. Phillips Oppenheim published as a novel in 1897. Mr. Norman Scott is a young, hardworking, distinguished physician with a busy practice in London. He is called to visit a patient, Mr. Humphrey Deignton, who suffers from gout and who is murdered later. Dr. Scott is suspected. Two years later, we meet Mr. John Martin, postmaster and chemist in Market Deignton. A lonely, bitter, impoverished man. He is living near the home of Lady Deignton, seeking revenge upon the person who killed Lord Deignton, and ruined his name and career. There are lots of unexpected turns and twists to the adventure of poor John and the local color of the setting is extremely charming.
Edgar Wallace
Dr. Beechington knew how difficult it was to live in genteel poverty. He was determined his daughter Mary should marry a wealthy man but Mary wasnt so sure. Should she obey her father or follow her heart? 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 Price a Woman Pays is a story packed with great fun and Wallace keeps the action moving along swiftly, as he always did, and it highlights Wallaces unmatched skill in setting a pulse-pounding pace. Wonderful entertainment and highly entertaining.
Fred M. White
Sir Wilton Oakes was a man of about five and forty years of age, although he looked younger, he didnt feel like it. He had all the attributes of his ancient race the face of a hawk, a short upper lip, and the easy manner of one who was born to be the commander of people. He recently took over the beautiful Elizabethan house that was his legacy. And now the old baronet was dead, and the man sitting at the library table reigned in his stead.