Not Negotiable

Tommy Hambledon #11

by Manning Coles

It's Tommy Hambledon, of course, and this time on the track of a counterfeiting ring which keeps him racing from London to Brussels to France, with way stops for every kind of action in the book.

Genres: Mystery

187 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Manning Coles is the pseudonym of two British writers, Adelaide Frances Oke Manning (1891–1959) and Cyril Henry Coles (1899–1965), who wrote many spy thrillers from the early 40s through the early 60s. The fictional protagonist in 26 of their books was Thomas Elphinstone Hambledon, who works for the Foreign Office.

Manning and Coles were neighbors in East Meon, Hampshire. Coles worked for British Intelligence in both the World Wars. Manning worked for the War Office during World War I. Their first books were fairly realistic and with a touch of grimness; their postwar books perhaps suffered from an excess of lightheartedness and whimsy. They also wrote a number of humorous novels about modern-day ghosts, some of them involving ghostly cousins named Charles and James Latimer. These novels were published in England under the pseudonym of Francis Gaite but released in the United States under the Manning Coles byline.

Many of the original exploits were based on the real-life experiences of Coles, who lied about his age and enlisted under an assumed name in a Hampshire regiment during World War I while still a teenager. He eventually became the youngest officer in British intelligence, often working behind German lines, due to his extraordinary ability to master languages. Coles had 2 sons (Michael and Peter, who were identical twins and who are both still alive, living in the UK) and the Ghost stories were based on the tales he used to tell his young sons when he was 'back from his travels'.

Reviews

[Rick Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Major characters:

Yanni the Nephew
Louis Burenne
Alexandre Maurice, a counterfeiter; a.k.a. Pierre Guyon
Hilde, a.k.a. Leonie Vermaas, Maurice's wife
Colette Masurel, Maurice's fiancée
Jules Parisot, a naive young man
Tommy Hambledon, British Intelligence
Antoine Letord, of the Sureté

Locale: Brussels, Belgium; and Paris, France

Synopsis: During WWII the Germans made an effort to destablize other nation's economies by producing large quantities of counterfeit money. Tommy Hambledon of British Intelligence is in Brussels to look into counterfeit currency emanating from there. In a cafe, Tommy notices a man (Yanni the Nephew) looking at something written on the bottom of a beer coaster, and slipping it in his pocket. Yanni leaves the cafe, and is followed by a man (Louis Burenne) under a bridge, where Yanni is shot. Tommy was following Burenne, who runs away. Tommy retrieves the beer coaster, which has the message "Parcel at 208 Rue Olive. Ask for Raoul". Meanwhile, Tommy was followed by another man who accosts him for the coaster. This man turns out to be Antoine Letord of the French Sureté. Now that Tommy has encountered another good guy, they team up to see if the mysterious parcel is full of counterfeit money.

Tommy goes to 208 Rue Olive to find it inhabited by an old man (Papa) and two young girls, Giselle and Brigitte. The girls depart, and Tommy is unable to find the parcel. The girls had taken it away. Tommy and Letord locate the girls, and retrieve the parcel which is full of counterfeit. A man (Alexandre Maurice) is watching them, so Tommy replaces the money with some clothing and allows the man to steal it.

Tommy follows Maurice to his hideaway cottage in Belgium, where he encounters Maurice's wife (Leonie Vermaas) in residence, along with a large safe. After several adventures, including setting up a confrontation between wife Leonia and fiancée Colette Masurel, Tommy winds up imprisoned in an underground room beneath the cottage.

Review: An excellent Manning Coles adventure complete with the usual uproars. The fight in the cafe over the mysterious parcel is excellent, especially when it is found to contain only clothing. Tommy discovers the astounding fact that Maurice has not only a wife in Belgium, but a fiancée in Paris - and sets up a meet between them with a predictable cat fight among a pile of counterfeit money resulting.

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have an ancient paperback of this one (a Berkeley Medallion at 50 cents), that must have belonged to my parents. It is mildly entertaining, but not one of his best. That prize goes to
Drink to Yesterday, with these immortal words:

"What were you thinking of, my sweet?"

"Cold pickled pork," said her sweet with a burst of fearful frankness.

"Heavens! Why?"

"It takes your mind off," explained Bill, quoting Hambledon.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tommy Hambledon is in Belgium, trying to get a lead on the counterfeiters who are flooding Europe with almost perfect banknotes. He stumbles across a crime in progress, which leads him to Antoine Letord of the French police, who is also on the case. Their efforts take them to France, where things are quiet until Tommy is kidnapped. All the pieces eventually fit together, but there's not much spy element in this one. It is notable for the presence of several women in comparatively major roles.