Gale Warning

by Dornford Yates

Jonathan Mansel, one of Dornford Yates’ most popular characters, heads a small private organisation dedicated to the detection of serious crime ‘by methods sadly unavailable to the regular police’. An aristocratic member of his team is murdered and the avengers set out in pursuit of the killer, in a tale of ‘violence and a measure of sublimated sex’. Caricatured villains, a page-turning plot and some good jokes – in short, classic Yates.

268 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Dornford Yates (real name Cecil William Mercer) was a popular British novelist.

Reviews

[Kevin Cannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another chance to exit reality for a few hours.
This is Mansel and Chandos' 1st adventure in a few years after Chandos' second marriage. A crime-fighting friend of theirs has been murdered in retaliation for his spoiling a nearly-successful robbery. They need to find a foe whose name they do not know and whose location they can only guess at, with only one clue to hand.
One of the enemy's henchmen had twice been dropped off at an address in London. Through some crazy luck, they figure out who was being met at that address, and now they must figure out a way to follow him to his boss, who seems to have a surveillance state paranoia about contact.
The murdered man's best friend and fiance are detailed to surveil the 30 miles surrounding each of the main French ports of the Channel and the chase is on!
Yates as always is an expert in thrills and pacing, if quite archaic in writing and worldview.
This adventure leads almost directly into Red in the Morning.

[Eugene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic DY, as the usual crew set out to take revenge for one of their mates getting bumped off by a shady villain called Barrabas. Caught up in this are the victim's best friend, John Bagot, who has the advantage of being unknown to the underworld, and the victim's fiance, Lady Aubrey. Cue lots of sneaking about, car chases across Europe, intrigue and adventure. And romance too, of the utterly stiff-backed period British kind. This seems to consist largely of the lady being incredibly rude, and the young gentleman taking it on the chin because he loves her so ... eye-rolling stuff ... anyway, it all came together in the end and was worth the read.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yate's thrillers are very much running along the same rails every time now. This one does feature Chandos and Mansell, but they are kept in the background and a new young couple; John Bagot and Lady Audrey Nuneham follow the crooks to the continent, have thrilling car chases fall in love and seek revenge in the crooks mountain fastness.

[Iain]

A masterpiece of a thriller. Taut and perfect.

[Teresa Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling story of a group of friends that investigate the demise of their dear friend and bring the culprit to justice. It has car chases, and sneaky, suspenseful near encounters. Very exciting story! Love this one!