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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:
- Donald Gray, deceased
- Edna Gray, Donald's niece and heiress
- Alberto Garcia, Edna's friend
- Inspector Matthew Mark Luke
The staff of The Green Ribbon agency:
- Joe Trigger, operator of Trigger's Transactions
- Dr. Blanter, the brain
- Elijah Goodie, horse trainer, tenant of Gillywood Cottage
- Arthur Rustem, a disbarred attorney
- Mr. Pilcher, Rustem's clerk
Locale: England
Synopsis: Recently-disbarred attorney Arthur Rustem handles the estate of the late Donald Gray, Venezuelan cattle farmer; consisting of two properties: Gillywood Cottage/Farm and adjacent Longhall. Upon Gray's death, they have passed to his niece, Edna Gray. Edna arrives from Venezuela, intending to live at Longhall, and instructs Rustem to oust the tenant, horse trainer Elijah Goodie. She travels there to find Gillywood Cottage and horse stables well kept, but nearby Longwood neglected. Goodie tries to discourage her from moving in.
Edna has made the acquaintance of Inspector Matthew Mark Luke of Scotland Yard. He is investigating possible crimes associated with horse racing, and in particular the operation of the Green Ribbon Agency, owned by Joe Trigger. Trigger has developed a profitable - and marginally legal - method of making money from the races. He invites subscribers to place funds on deposit with him, and his agents place last-minute bets - so close to the race time that the bets cannot affect the odds.* His associates are trainer Elijah Goodie, Dr. Blanter, and Arthur Rustem.
*at least that's how I understand it.
Review: For a long time I was puzzled as to where this book was going. There is a murder, but it takes until page 261 (of 311) to occur. There are not even any crimes up to that point - it is emphasized again and again that the Green Ribbon operation is quite legal. Inspector Luke is always watching and waiting for them to do something illegal.
I enjoyed the description of how Trigger's Transactions were organized and operated, in order to keep the investors (bettors) anonymous.
Despite this odd construction, the story moves right along and kept my attention all the way. I don't understand how horse racing odds work, but that was not a barrier to enjoying the story. I think Wallace just enjoyed writing about horse racing, since a number of his novels are on that topic.
There are some of surprises along the way - when Goodie's pets are revealed, what's really going on in the Perrywig Caves, and the last paragraph of the book manages to bring in a love interest!
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