Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder
‘I see wrong in everything,’ said Mr Reeder, ‘I have the mind of a criminal.’
At first glance J G Reeder is an ordinary, slightly shabby little man with red hair, weak eyes, whiskers, square-toed boots and a chest protector cravat. However, working for the Public Prosecutor he finds plenty to stretch his extraordinary mind. Here are eight thrilling, highly original tales from one of the greatest talents ever applied to detective fiction.
More Educated Evans
The further escapades of the incorrigible Evans, Edgar Wallace’s Cockney hero of the Turf feature in these twelve tales. There are bets, bookmakers, horses, tip-offs, winners, journalists and women. There is banter, humour and much fun to be had along the way.
Mr. J.G. Reeder Returns
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 bullion and a series of bank frauds baffles Scotland Yard. But not Mr J G Reeder.
Mr. Justice Maxwell
When Cartwright and Maxell visit the theatre in Tangiers, Cartwright boldly liberates the Irish singer Miss O’Grady from her infamous surroundings, so angering the theatre owner’s son and the Spaniard Jose Ferreria. Then the news from El Mograb is good so Cartwright leaves to arrange the necessary finance. In the Crown room of the Law Courts, Mr Justice Maxell is asked by the Attorney General if he is doing business with Cartwright. ‘No,’ he lies.
Red Aces
J G Reeder is a shabby little man with red hair and weak eyes. However, his extraordinary mind is rapier sharp. Here are three thrilling episodes torn from his casebook: Red Aces about a man who gambles high and lives in fear; Kennedy the Con Man, reveals the impeccable mask stripped from a fiend, and finally The Case of Jo Attymer, a thoroughly intriguing mystery involving murder on London’s Thames.
Room 13
Recently released from prison, John Gray visits his old friend Peter Kane. Although it is the day of his daughter’s wedding, Kane agrees to an audience with Emanuel Legg, the criminal and cop-killer with whom he has some business. Gray wanders into the garden and a tornado of fury sweeps through him. The debonair Major Floyd, the new husband to whom Kane has entrusted his precious daughter, is a fraudster of the most sinister kind.
Sanders
Employing his unique style of innocent and endearing humour, Bones has written to the newspapers The Surrey Starand The Middlesex Plain Dealer inviting the Foreign Secretary to pay a visit to the African territories which they administer. It is against the regulations and his boss Hamilton is furious. While world powers vie for colonial honours, Sanders and his assistants attempt to administer an uneasy peace in a climate of ju-ju and witch doctors, and all the while Bosambo, chief of the Ochori, watches closely.
Sanders of the River
Commissioner Sanders is called upon by the British Government ‘to keep a watchful eye upon some quarter of a million cannibal folk, who ten years before had regarded white men as we regard the unicorn.’
Written when world powers were vying for colonial honour, Sanders of the River encapsulates the beliefs and assumptions that motivated such quests. There is religious-palava, raiding-palava, and all the while, Bosambo, magnificent chief of the Ochori watches on.
Sinister Man
Jessie Dame calls Major Amery ‘The Sinister Man’. Secretary Ella Marlowe is the ward of Maurice Tarn, who has drunkenly but seriously proposed. Tarn is going abroad and desires the company of someone he can trust. Though sworn to secrecy, the horrified Ella confesses everything to Ralph Hallam. Looking pale and unkempt Maurice arrives at the office to apologise to Major Amery for losing his temper – they talk: the Stanford Corporation is mentioned, along with drugs and gangs…
Square Emerald
‘Suicide on the left,’ says Chief Inspector Coldwell pleasantly, as he and Leslie Maughan stride along the Thames Embankment during a brutally cold night. A gaunt figure is sprawled across the parapet. But Coldwell soon discovers that Peter Dawlish, fresh out of prison for forgery, is not considering suicide but murder. Coldwell suspects Druze as the intended victim. Maughan disagrees. If Druze dies, she says, ‘It will be because he does not love children!’
Three Just Men
If you like a villain to be a proper villain then Oberzhon is the genuine article. What a villain! What an adventure! There are crimes for which no punishment is adequate, offences that the written law cannot efface. When conventional justice fails The Three Just Men employ their great intellect and cunning. They use their own methods, carry out their own verdicts. There can be no compromise.
Three Oak Mystery
While brothers Lexington and Socrates Smith, authority on fingerprints and blood stains, are guests of Peter Mandle and his stepdaughter, they observe a light flashing from the direction of Mr Jethroe’s house. COME THREE OAKS, it spells in Morse. A ghostly figure is seen hurrying across the moonlit lawn. Early next morning the brothers take a stroll, and there, tied to an oak branch, is a body – a purple mark where the bullet struck.
Traitor's Gate
Hope Joyner, ward of a Mr Hallet whom she has never met, is in love with Sir Richard Hallowell. Diana Montague, who was once engaged to Sir Richard, now keeps very dubious company – Sir Richard’s brother Graham for one. He has just been released from prison. Since Graham has been away Diana has acquired money, and she is now Press Secretary for the Prince of Kishlastan, who according to Colly Warrington, is totally besotted with her…
When The Gangs Came To London
Tough, ruthless gangsters from Chicago descend on London and for two weeks their violent campaign of murder and intimidation holds the city in a crushing grip of fear. Scotland Yard has never seen such an onslaught. When a lull ensues, Captain Jiggs Allermain of the Chicago Detective Bureau suspects the rival gangs of forming an uneasy alliance. Suddenly a shot rings through the House of Commons – unleashing an outburst of terror even more bloody.
www.houseofstratus.com
Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns Page 15
