About the author: Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was a prolific British crime writer, journalist and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and countless articles in newspapers and journals (Goodreads). In terms of production, by cranking out one novel per month, he was the British equivalent of Erle Stanley Gardner. See this Wikipedia article.
Major characters:
- Septimus Salter, solicitor
- Jim Steele, his secretary
- Eunice Weldon, Jim's girlfriend
- Lady Mary Danton, the missing heiress, widow of...
- Jonathan Danton, deceased
- Dorothy Danton, their daughter
- Mrs. Jane Groat, Jonathan's sister
- Digby Groat, Jane's son
- Madge Benson, a nurse
Locale: London
Synopsis: Jim Steele, secretary to solicitor Septimus Salter, sees himself as an amateur detective and is fascinated with one of Salter's cases. The case involves the Danton fortune of Jonathan and Lady Mary Danton, held in trust for their daughter Dorothy. Twenty years ago, the Dantons had gone to America, Lady Mary dropped out of sight, and daughter Dorothy may have been lost in a boating accident but no one is really sure. Under the Danton will, if Lady Mary and Dorothy do not show up after twenty years, the fortune reverts to Jonathan's sister, Mrs. Jane Groat. The clock is running down on that, and Jane's pompous son, sinister doctor Digby Groat, wants to be sure he gets his hands on the fortune.
Jim's girlfriend, Eunice Weldon, takes a position as secretary to Mrs. Groat. Eunice is unnerved by Digby's medical experiments on animals, and she receives anonymous notes, signed by "Blue Hand", warning her to leave the position; along with a blue handprint smeared on the wall each time. Meanwhile, Jim tracks down Dorothy Danton, but before her can get her, she is kidnapped by Groat who attempts to get her to France via car, train, boat, and airplane; none of which work.
Review: Jim Steele takes the James Bond role in this thriller, which has everything thrown in: mysterious mansions, people being tied up, several secret identities, wills being burned, poisons, a missing heiress, an evil doctor, drugs, car chases, train chases, boat chases, and airplane chases. With all these transport options, one would think they could get across the English Channel. The only thing missing is a secret passage. The action is nonstop, and is surprising it is pulled off with such a small cast of characters. Three amusing henchmen (Villa, Fuentes, and Bronson) appear late in the book and are all dealt with quickly. Pro tip: If you are a passenger in an open-cockpit airplane, be sure your seat belt is fastened.
I was a bit confused for a time on the status of Jonathan Denton, but well into the book it is stated that he is long-ago dead and that Lady Mary is his widow.
Animal lovers will note there are several references to Groat's vivisection experiments, but nothing graphic.
Edgar Wallace wrote another book with a similar premise to this one, I believe it was "The Strange Countess". It's interesting to read them because you note some similarities between the situations, but with the equivalent characters behaving in very different manners. Two characters in this book for instance, have equivalents whose roles are reversed in the other book. I must say I also preferred the other book, although I liked this one too.
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