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Simon Gale #1-3
The Simon Gale Series Books 1-3
In this 3-book box set:
BOOK 1: NOOSE FOR A LADY
Margaret Hallam has been sentenced to death for the murder of her husband, John, in a supposed open-and-shut case. But Margaret swears she’s innocent and so does her stepdaughter, Jill. Enter Simon Gale, an old friend of Margaret’s, determined to clear her name. Gale learns John was an unpleasant man who had made many enemies. But which of them had reason to kill him? With the clock ticking down to the day of her execution, can Gale find the real killer and save his friend from the noose?
BOOK 2: SORCERER’S HOUSE
In the pretty English village of Ferncross, Threshold House has long stood empty. But a light has just been seen in the windows. The last two times this happened two people suffered violent deaths. Then the body of the owner, Paul Meriton, is discovered outside the house, underneath the lit window — his skull smashed in. As Simon Gale investigates the three murders connected to Threshold House, he uncovers a tangle of secrets and betrayals beneath Ferncross’s idyllic façade. But which of the villagers is a killer?
BOOK 3: THE SNARK WAS A BOOJUM
Simon Gale is spending his retreat at Hunter’s Meadow in the peaceful countryside of Lower Bramsham. But a dinner party disrupts his quiet time. He was only jesting when he referred to ‘Hunting of the Snark’ around the dinner table, but then William Baker, part of their party, is found brutally stabbed to death. The killer was clearly at the table that night. As Gale digs further, he discovers that all his fellow guests had a motive for murder. Who is next? And is Gale on the hit list too?
BOOK 1: NOOSE FOR A LADY
Margaret Hallam has been sentenced to death for the murder of her husband, John, in a supposed open-and-shut case. But Margaret swears she’s innocent and so does her stepdaughter, Jill. Enter Simon Gale, an old friend of Margaret’s, determined to clear her name. Gale learns John was an unpleasant man who had made many enemies. But which of them had reason to kill him? With the clock ticking down to the day of her execution, can Gale find the real killer and save his friend from the noose?
BOOK 2: SORCERER’S HOUSE
In the pretty English village of Ferncross, Threshold House has long stood empty. But a light has just been seen in the windows. The last two times this happened two people suffered violent deaths. Then the body of the owner, Paul Meriton, is discovered outside the house, underneath the lit window — his skull smashed in. As Simon Gale investigates the three murders connected to Threshold House, he uncovers a tangle of secrets and betrayals beneath Ferncross’s idyllic façade. But which of the villagers is a killer?
BOOK 3: THE SNARK WAS A BOOJUM
Simon Gale is spending his retreat at Hunter’s Meadow in the peaceful countryside of Lower Bramsham. But a dinner party disrupts his quiet time. He was only jesting when he referred to ‘Hunting of the Snark’ around the dinner table, but then William Baker, part of their party, is found brutally stabbed to death. The killer was clearly at the table that night. As Gale digs further, he discovers that all his fellow guests had a motive for murder. Who is next? And is Gale on the hit list too?
633 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 19, 2024
About the author
Gerald Verner
118 books21 followersGerald Verner is one of the pseudonyms used by John Robert Stuart Pringle, who was born in Streatham, London, on 31 January 1897.
In his early writing days he used the name Donald Stuart, under which name he wrote 44 stories for the Sexton Blake Library as well as six stories for Union Jack and three for the Thriller magazine. In addition he wrote two stage plays, 'Sexton Blake' and 'The Shadow', two films, 'The Man Outside' (1933) and 'The Shadow' (1933) under the Stuart name. Later a number of his books were adapted for radio serials, stage plays and films.
He became a hugely successful thriller writer, producing more than 120 novels that were translated in 35 languages. The Duke of Windsor was a big Verner fan and at one time he was presented with 15 volumes specially bound.
Heavily influenced by Edgar Wallace, he wrote extensively for magazines such as Detective Weekly, the Sexton Blake Library, Union Jack and The Thriller. He also adapted Peter Cheyney's 'Meet Mr Callaghan' and Agatha Christie's 'Towards Zero' for the stage.
He also used the pseudonyms Thane Leslie, Derwent Steele and Nigel Vane.
He died at Broadstairs, Kent, of natural causes on 16 September 1980.
Gerry Wolstenholme
July 2013
In his early writing days he used the name Donald Stuart, under which name he wrote 44 stories for the Sexton Blake Library as well as six stories for Union Jack and three for the Thriller magazine. In addition he wrote two stage plays, 'Sexton Blake' and 'The Shadow', two films, 'The Man Outside' (1933) and 'The Shadow' (1933) under the Stuart name. Later a number of his books were adapted for radio serials, stage plays and films.
He became a hugely successful thriller writer, producing more than 120 novels that were translated in 35 languages. The Duke of Windsor was a big Verner fan and at one time he was presented with 15 volumes specially bound.
Heavily influenced by Edgar Wallace, he wrote extensively for magazines such as Detective Weekly, the Sexton Blake Library, Union Jack and The Thriller. He also adapted Peter Cheyney's 'Meet Mr Callaghan' and Agatha Christie's 'Towards Zero' for the stage.
He also used the pseudonyms Thane Leslie, Derwent Steele and Nigel Vane.
He died at Broadstairs, Kent, of natural causes on 16 September 1980.
Gerry Wolstenholme
July 2013
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 23, 2024
Obviously written in the same era as Agatha Christie and I couldn’t help but make comparisons as I was reading. The stories have a similar construction and plot style but lack Christie’s depth, charm and her ability for subtle yet wicked observations of character.
It was a good enough read and worth picking up to see the constructs within the genre laid bare, but I missed the sparks of ingenuity and the luscious glimpses into a bygone era that AC provides.
It was a good enough read and worth picking up to see the constructs within the genre laid bare, but I missed the sparks of ingenuity and the luscious glimpses into a bygone era that AC provides.
July 27, 2024
Absolutely LOVE the characters in these books.
You can just see AND HEAR Simon Gale posturing and crashing about in the throw of, his fantastic mind, working out the ins and outs of these mysterious happenings.
Never mind that he wouldn't get invited into the police working on them. You can see he is a force of nature, that wouldn't let anyone or anything get in his way.
The writing of the stories, descriptions of the, larger than life, characters, all stand out brilliantly.
It is Like watching one of those old films, where everyone is overacting and having a thoroughly good time doing it.
The last book in this set was finished by the authors ' son. He rehashed it and wrote the last third to complete his Fathers work. The only thing that I didn't agree with was him giving Simon the habit of saying don't you know or some such and I just couldn't see him using that phrase. It didn't appear in either of the previous books and I can only think it must have been a phrase 'of the time'. Apart from that he did a pretty good job.
I haven't seen the old film of one of the stories, but would have liked to see who they had playing Simon. Did they get the character right, or make a hash of transferring the story to a film?
You can just see AND HEAR Simon Gale posturing and crashing about in the throw of, his fantastic mind, working out the ins and outs of these mysterious happenings.
Never mind that he wouldn't get invited into the police working on them. You can see he is a force of nature, that wouldn't let anyone or anything get in his way.
The writing of the stories, descriptions of the, larger than life, characters, all stand out brilliantly.
It is Like watching one of those old films, where everyone is overacting and having a thoroughly good time doing it.
The last book in this set was finished by the authors ' son. He rehashed it and wrote the last third to complete his Fathers work. The only thing that I didn't agree with was him giving Simon the habit of saying don't you know or some such and I just couldn't see him using that phrase. It didn't appear in either of the previous books and I can only think it must have been a phrase 'of the time'. Apart from that he did a pretty good job.
I haven't seen the old film of one of the stories, but would have liked to see who they had playing Simon. Did they get the character right, or make a hash of transferring the story to a film?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews