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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 1920’s and 30’s, 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 ...

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 firm’s 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...

In „The Green Ribbon” an insurance investigator researches the accidental death of a jockey. His inquiry leads to an illegal gambling organization, as well as the knowledge that the jockey’s death was not accidental. He also saves the life of another jockey who has been the victim of a couple of accidents. One of Edgar Wallace’s occasional horse racing novels which centers of a betting syndicate involving the jovial Mr. Trigger, the sinister Dr. Blanter, the strange Mr. Goo...

This early work by Edgar Wallace was originally published in 1929. „"The Golden Hades"” is a tale of murder and a symbol on bank notes leading to a sinister organization. This mystery novel features Wilbur Smith of the Treasury Department for Counterfeit in his investigations. Each time a crime happens be it a robbery or a murder, there is a sinister sign of Pluto (Hades) gold there... a statue of the Greek god of the underworld and the sign of dangerous gang of forgers. On...

This is an enjoyable short story by Edgar Wallace, set in England during the 1920’s. „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 nev...

Another rip-roaring tale from Edgar Wallace, „The Green Archer” features a beautiful girl looking for the mother from whom she was stolen as a baby, her kindly foster-father, a redheaded journalist, a very secret policeman who is also a master of disguise, an Anglo-Indian petty criminal and his wife, assorted villains and, at the center of it all, Abel Bellamy, a very ugly, very rich man who’s bought a Garres Castle in Scotland. Running through it all is the mysterious Gree...

„The India-Rubber Men” is a gripping thriller of London’s 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 th...

Fifth book in the J.G. Reeder series. When Larry O’Ryan decides to become a burglar he attends night school to study ballistics, then secures a job at a safe-maker’s. 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 bul...

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 th...

„The Great Reward” is thirteen quirky short stories from the master of mystery Edgar Wallace. Fast-paced, with good classic twists and turns, an unusual criminal scheme and a little romance. Edgar Wallace was a British novelist, playwright, and journalist who produced popular detective and suspense stories and was in his time „the king” of the modern thriller. Wallace’s literary output – 175 books, 24 plays, and countless articles and review sketches – have undermined his r...

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 Wallace’s publishers claimed that a quarter of all books read in England were written by him. „The Governor of Chi-Foo” is a rare short story collection, long out of print which contains 16 thrilling stories: „The Wit...

Inspector Wembury’s day turns from bad to worse when a legendary assassin who was supposed dead in Australia returns to England seeking vengeance for the murder of his sister. The detective teams up with Lomond, a police doctor, to try to find „The Ringer” who is a mysterious, revenge-driven serial killer and master of disguise. When a lawyer receives a bouquet with a note informing him that he’ll be dead in forty-eight hours, Wembury and his men embark on a frantic quest t...

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 Ghost of Down Hill” is an entertaining mystery novella, based on the idea that a ghost of a monk haunts a house built on top of former holy ground. This novella has upbeat tone and surprising outcome. „The Queen of Sheba’s Belt” features the disappearance of a priceless belt ...

The second of Edgar Wallace’s 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 Lindbergh’s childhood inspiration to fly. Tam is a real person, and all the adventures set forth have actually happened, though names and places are necessar...

„The Fourth Plague” is an intriguing crime novel that was published in 1913, during the early years of Wallace’s 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 E...

Written in 1905, it is one of Wallace’s 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 r...

The creek between the canal and the river flows under Lady’s 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 ...

„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. Mary’s 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. It’s all great fun and Wallace keeps the action...

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 husband’s immense fortune? Is he „The Clever One” who has baffled the police, the banks and the world wit...

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 Wallace’s 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. It’s all g...

When Inspector Tanner is called in to investigate a ruthless murder at Mark’s 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 th...

„The Feathered Serpent” is a mystery-thriller novel penned by the remarkably prolific Edgar Wallace. A number of people receive threatening cards emblazoned with the device of a feathered serpent, a device that we later find is associated with ancient Aztec religion and with a cult that still exists in Mexico and Central America. Reporter Peter Dewin suspects the card mysteriously left in the handbag of actress Ella Creed is a publicity stunt. He soon discovers that a wealt...

„The Exploits of Airman Hay” is a series of ten stories about an intrepid aviator by the name of Captain Murray Hay. The stories fast-paced with some surprising twists and turns, well written and great to read. The book presents the stories under the titles found in Edgar Wallace’s manuscript, most of which correspond to those used in Topical Times. Edgar Wallace was a prolific author of crime, adventure and humorous stories, whose best known creations include „The Four Jus...