Franklin P. Scudder liegt tot in Richard Hannays Wohnung und plötzlich sind alle hinter ihm Scudders Mörder, ein Verschwörer-Ring, der beim anstehenden Staatsbesuch in London den griechischen Premierminister beseitigen will und die Polizei, die wiederum Hannay für Scudders Mörder hält. Eine vertrackte Situation, in der nur eins hilft - Flucht.
Für Hannay beginnt eine atemberaubende Verfolgungsjagd durch die schottische Landschaft. Bei sich trägt er Scudders Notizbuch. Um an die dort aufgeführten Informationen heranzukommen, muss er aber erst einmal den Code knacken. Es gelingt, doch die Zeit rennt - die Verschwörer wollen sich per Schiff auf den Weg machen, an der vereinbarten Stelle befindet sich eine Treppe mit "39 Stufen". Nur wo?
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John Buchan was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the best known is The Thirty-Nine Steps. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to Lord Milner in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the First World War, he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly-formed Ministry of Information. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927. In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to the peerage as 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.