Three novelettes, the first at that length written by Charteris fill the book. They first appeared in THE THRILLER, a weekly magazine, in the late 1920s. The first two were rewritten substantially for book publication to feature a bit more of Simon Templar. The Saint had a five person team in those early days that took on criminals, extracting large sums of their ill gotten gains first before getting the police involved. The sums taken were given to charities, minus a ten percent fee for their efforts of course.
The three stories are:
1: The Man Who Was Clever
2: The Policeman With Wings
3: The Lawless Lady
Claud Eustace Teal makes his appearance in all three tales, suspecting Templar of being The Saint of course. But always outmaneuvered in the end.
One of Amazon’s publishing imprints, Thomas & Mercer, is releasing new editions in trade paperback.
Cavershamragu said:
Sounds marvellous (and I really like the cover too) – thanks Randy, not read this one.
David Cranmer said:
If I’m in a bookstore and see The Saint. Its a must buy. Always entertaining and look at that cover art! Just what you expect from a class act.
Richard said:
I just bread the first one, and enjoyed it. Charteris is better at this and shorter lengths than in novels, I think, which may be why he stopped writing the long form.
Richard said:
That’s “I just read the first one…” Darn autocorrect thingie.