Wallace, Edgar - The Man at the Carlton (1931)

Lew Daney is a cunning and successful criminal, the first true English gunman. But Daney is not all bad; once he saved Mary Grier from a knife attack by a madman. Mary Grier now works at Clench House in Scotland as secretary to the miserly Mr Arkwright, and Mr Arkwright's nephew and heir is 'Tiger' Tim Jordan, an ex-Colonial police officer now holidaying in England and seeking work with Scotland Yard. Jordan doesn't get much of a holiday but he does get the job, after proving his mettle in pursuit of a murderous criminal.

Published in the last year of Wallace's life, The Man at the Carlton shows signs of overwork and illness. The underlying plot is sound but there is indecisiveness as the story lurches from one line to another. The murder rate is higher than in most Wallace books -- including some of the most interesting characters -- and by the end the shortage of remaining suspects makes the outcome fairly easy to deduce. There is little of Wallace's characteristic humour and none of his affectionate descriptions of London and the Thames, or indeed of Scotland. For collectors only.

The Man at the Carlton is available for download from Project Gutenberg Australia.

Jon.