The Lone House Mystery by Edgar Wallace

Superintendent Minter of Scotland Yard finds mystery and murder at a country manor house on the River Linder.

John C. Field lives like a hermit in his Elizabethan mansion, so afraid of impending danger that he has requested police protection. His fortune was made in the gold mines of the Congo, with a partner, Mr. Venn, who disappeared years ago. Field brought up Venn's lovely daughter Marjorie, who is now his private secretary—which doesn't stop him from being inappropriate with her. Field's neighbor Max Voss is a wheelchair-bound invalid aided by strange servant Veddle, whom Minter recognizes as an ex-convict he once put away. Things kick off when Field is discovered stabbed by his own ornamental African sword, while Marjorie was drugged and locked in another room. Sergeant Wills was patrolling the house but saw no one. Why has Veddle disappeared, leaving his pipe behind? Who had written Voss threatening letters? Who is lighting smoke bombs in the woods? Who are the black couple who only visit Fields when the servants were dismissed? Who tried to drown Wills in the river? Why is there money in the wastebasket? Who was shooting Voss through his windows? Who burned Fields' will which left everything to Marjorie?

Written in 1929, top thriller writer Edgar Wallace offers a rich mystery for such a small cast of characters. For 1929, I was surprised it includes interracial marriage, but not at the racial slurs accepted at the time. Marjorie is a strong young woman, but Minter's offhand manner treats everyone as useless—including his superior Gurly, who attempts to take over the case. This is what you expect for its time—a clever but innocuous entertainment.

My edition included the short stories The Sooper Speaking (dealing with underworld safecrackers), Clues, and Romance In It (where the newly rich are targets for con jobs complete with exotic Grand Dukes, and gold-filled property in the Sahara with a brand new spring to wash it clean...)

This was filmed in Britain as Attempt To Kill (1961).

Edgar Wallace is widely available in print and eBook editions.

1929 / Hardcover / 252 pages