The Female of the Species. A Bulldog Drummond Thriller. Illustrated

by H. C. McNeile

In The Female of the Species, the fearless Bulldog Drummond faces a new and deadly adversary—Irma Peterson, the brilliant and merciless widow of his arch-enemy Carl Peterson. Driven by revenge and armed with her own sinister plans, Irma proves to be one of the most dangerous foes Drummond has ever encountered.

As a wave of mysterious crimes and threats spreads across England, Drummond is pulled into a cat-and-mouse game with a woman who is as cunning as she is ruthless. With his trademark daring and unshakable resolve, Drummond must unravel her plot before it brings chaos and destruction.

Filled with intrigue, action, and sharp psychological tension, The Female of the Species showcases a darker, more complex villain and raises the stakes in the ongoing battle between justice and evil. It’s a thrilling chapter in the Bulldog Drummond saga—and proof that sometimes, the most dangerous enemy wears a smile.

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 26, 2025

Reviews

[D J Rout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phyllis Drummond has been kidnapped, and Captain Hugh Drummond must go in search of her, helped along by his friends from 'the Froth Blowers'. He gets a series of written clues from the kidnapper, Irma Petersen, which lead him to a rendezvous that will save Phyllis' life at the cost of his own.

This tale introduces Joe Dizon, a new narrator writing in first person limited voice, which is something McNeile seems more comfortable with. Joe is a dab hand with crosswords and acrostics, but even he has to seek help when one of the clues is:

“A lily with the plural put before
A thing of beauty, but in this case, more
Like the fair lady whom you met last night.
When found, at any rate, you’ll start quite right.
Dipped in the river Styx one part alone stayed dry.
Leave out the next, but take the cry
Of every schoolboy.
That should give a man.
And now, you poor fish, find it if you can.”(p. 135)

Well, anyway, that gets solved and the Froth Blowers (whom we've previously met as The Black Gang hie off to the place described in the above clue and, unsurprisingly, save the day. The method by which they do this tested my willing suspension of disbelief, but you may hae stronger wills than I do.

I was rather tickled to find "My shout this time" (p. 183) but there were other parts that caused even me to halt a bit. The portrayal of black people in the past has been the topic of much outrage, and the backlash has been pretty outrageous itself over the past few years, but because I don't want these novels to be cancelled, burnt or bowdlerised like Fleming and Blyton, I'll just say the line appears on p. 263 in a resolution that I simply couldn't believe.

This well supports Kipling's thesis that 'the female of the species is more deadly than the male' in a fun way.