Also published as 'Boodle'
About the author: Leslie Charteris (1907 – 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter. He was best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of his charming hero Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". Charteris spent 55 years – 1928 to 1983 – as either writer of or custodian of Simon Templar's literary adventures, one of the longest uninterrupted spans of a single author in the history of mystery fiction, equalling that of Agatha Christie (from Wikipedia).
Synopsis:
The Ingenious Colonel - The Saint meets up with a Colonel who has developed a con game to predict the winner of horse races. The Saint places his bets and manipulates the Colonel's system to his own benefit.
The Unfortunate Financier - A financier with the unfortuate name of Wallingford Titus Oates (see article) has a scheme to manipulate stock values. He is also a rabid stamp collector, and The Saint uses a rare stamp to lure him to his come-uppence.
The Newdick Helicopter - Oscar Newdick has supposedly invented an improved version of helicopter, and teases The Saint into investing in it.
The Prince of Cherkessia - The Prince is in London supervising creation of a fabulous jeweled crown. Inspector Teal takes measures to ensure it is not stolen, but The Saint gets away with it anyway.
The Treasure of Turk's Lane - Turk's Lane is a quaint little London back street which time has passed by. Now a developer is buying up all the property to gentrify the street with moden businesses and apartments, and The Saint does not take that lightly.
The Sleepless Knight - Truck drivers are being pushed past their limits and causing accidents. The Saint teaches the owner of the trucking line, Sir Melvin Flager, what being a driver is really like.
* The Uncritical Publisher - Herbert Parstone is a "vanity printer" who prints small runs of books despite his wild promises of promoting their sale. The Saint traps him into printing something not quite legal.
* The Noble Sportsman - Maurice Vould has been receiving threatening letters. The Saint and Inspector Teal attend his house party, but he is murdered under their very noses.
The Damsel in Distress - Domenick Naccaro brings his unmarried daughter and her child to The Saint, and hires him to help persuade the baby's father to do the right thing and marry her. If The Saint can grab him, Domenick will do the persuading - with a bar of soap.
The Loving Brothers - Brothers Walter and Willie Kinsall never got along, and never tired of cheating each other. Now their father has died, but there are several versions of his will floating around. The Saint manages to purchase (!) the latest one.
The Tall Timber - The Saint encounters a Ponzi scheme: Sumner Journ gets people to invest in his African timber production. But it takes ten years for his trees to grow up and make a return on their investment.
The Art Photographer - Photographer Gilbert Tanfold sells "saucy" photos of Parisian ladies, while looking for blackmail victims. He traps The Saint into a compromising pose, but his blackmail scheme backfires.
The Man Who Liked Toys - Lewis Enstone is shot to death in a locked room. It appears to be suicide to Inspector Teal, but The Saint knows it is murder.
The Mixture as Before - Louie Fallon shows The Saint a contraption which supposedly can produce artificial diamonds. The Saint tries it himself, and to Fallon's surprise, it works!
* some editions omit the stories "The Uncritical Publisher" and "The Noble Sportsman"
