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The Peer and the Woman

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.

The People of the River

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.

The Phantom Car

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?

The Phantom Launch

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.

The Pigeon House

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.

The Poisoned Pen

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.

The Price a Woman Pays

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.