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The Saint: Five Complete Novels: The Man Who Was Clever, The Lawless Lady, The Saint Closes the Case, The Avenging Saint, The Saint vs. Scotland Yard
Simon Templar and his band of fearless young men solve crimes and use unorthodox methods to catch criminals
663 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
58 people want to read
About the author
Leslie Charteris
585 books161 followersBorn Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, Leslie Charteris was a half-Chinese, half English author of primarily mystery fiction, as well as a screenwriter. He was best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint."
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 9, 2018
Early Saint stories are nowhere near as good as the later ones, and this compilation shows that. Also, I don't think I've ever read a book with as many typos as this one. Apparently proofreaders and editors weren't on Avenel's staff in the early 1980s...
July 28, 2018
—The Saint: Five Complete Novels—
Shadowy operative from the Upper Berkeley Mews or whichever mews handy.
The omnibuses give readership taste for a particular writer’s style whether each novel element of similarity or writer’s like Michael Crichton managed to write entirely different scenery such as The Great Train Robbery; Jurassic Park; Pirate Latitudes, those with scope and, those with depth. The 1930s United Kingdom terminology, such as, “Any verbiage about Roger having nothing to do that night would be so much applesauce….” Also, page 379 is nice treat from the writer set in period piece with the incomparable, Simon Templar, even syndicated with Roger Moore in pre-James Bond flicks, or, “skeezicks” even on page 401.
Excellent descriptors of vehicular pursuit vis-à-vis sly wheelman, “And Simon thought of other girls that Roger had known, and of other things that had been in their lives since they first came together, and of his own lady; and he wondered, with a queer wistfulness in the eyes that followed that tiny red star down the road. ¶And then the red star swept out of sight round a bend; and the Saint turned away with a shrug, and glanced down again at the sea, where lay another red star, with a green one beside it. ¶In that, at least, he had deliberately lied….The ship, he was sure, had been within a mile of the shore when he spoke; and now it had ceased to move. The rattle of a chain came faintly to his ears, and then he heard the splash of the anchor.” Page 379 mention from chapter 6: How Simon Templar Threw a Stone, and the Italian Delegate Was Unlucky in the book entitled The Avenging Saint.
The Edwardian age racism is also there, “A Boche, a Wop, and a Bowery Boy,” he murmured. “Gee—that man Marius ought to be running the League of Nations!” … “The League of Nations was descending the cliff stairway, the mutter of their voices growing fainter as they went.” Page 381-382.
“Chi va la?” rapped the startled challenge, in the man’s own language; and Simon felt that the occasion warranted a demonstration of his own linguistic prowess.”
“L’uomo che ha la penna della tua zia,” he answered solemnly.”
“His feet grounded on the sand, a yard from the challenger; and, as the man opened his mouth to make some remark which was destined never to be given to the world, the Saint slashed a terrific uppercut into a jaw that was positively asking for it.” Page 386 fisticuffs Saint-style.
Villainy of Alexis Vasiloff perennial hatred petite bourgeoise is understandable. He demands satisfaction.
Elementary lowercase punctuation thingy, “But that is not enough. I must make to ruin Lessing. And my friend make another plan. he say that when he tell Lessing you are with me, Lessing will try to make war…He will send out spies, and make the big countries hate each other. Then, when we have take you, he send men to kill someone—the French President, perhaps—and there is war. It is easy. It is just another Serajevo. But it is enough.” Page 396 reference reminiscent of ‘lone wolf’ Turkish gendarme, after multiple trips to Qatar, sent to assassinate Russian Ambassador to Turkey inside Ankara art gallery. Little more initiated the Great War from reciprocal alliances.
Writer gives mediaeval history lessons on chevalier Bayard in the kingdom of Naples on page 415 amongst Roland at the gates of Spain. Simon Templar works with damsel in distress; viz., Sonia Delmar to battle Rayt Marius. “The young man, compelling audience at the business end of his Webley,” page 426 excellent descriptor. Realistic enough with good guys suffering calamity such as mentioned on page 442. Saint’s Saintly caveat that he going to bring the filth back to talk with Marius is seemingly unfounded since Simon Templar himself is posted on the rogue’s gallery mentioned in page 477.
By book entitled The Saint vs. Scotland Yard writer’s own, Simon Templar, entanglements with The Scorpion nearly got protagonist stung by scorpion’s prickly tail. “Now shoot the dope, son.” Mention on p. 510 is another good 1930s descriptor. The silver Hirondel will have many a motoring adventuring.
Observant points like, “When you were playing on the sands of Southend in a pair of pink shrimping drawers, Teal, did you ever notice that you can always dig more out of a hole than you can put back in it?” Page 551
Book entitled The Saint vs. Scotland Yard on the Part II The Million Pound Day after the Scorpion scorping mentions, “Remember reading in some paper recently that the Bank of Italy was preparing to put out an entirely new and original line of paper currency?” Page 571 mention on the Vatican-owned Bank of Italy transformed into the Bank of America another shylocking enterprise. “Kuzela’s men … through the same channels—big bouncing wads of it, translated into authentic wads of francs, marks, and pesetas—while one million perfectly genuine hundred-lire bills whose numbers were never in the catalogue are drifting home to a Bank of Italy that will be wondering whether the whole world is falling to pieces round its ears….Do you get me, Pat?” Page 572-573 describes pre-euro world.
There’s Joseph Conrad elemental unknown quantity when Simon Templar encounters Sub-Saharan Africans straight out of Africa. Certain giveaways for Europeans direct from the Continent, for those Sub-Saharan Africans straight out of Africa, the mannerism, the gait, the style. Writer goes in on early anthropological views whatnot with this gem, “Then the Negro sprang at him like a tiger.” ¶ “That one single punch which had reversed the situation would have sent any living European swooning off into hours of tortured helplessness, but in this case that Saint had never expected any such result from it. It had done all that he had ever hoped that it would do—obliterated the Negro’s speaking voice, and given the Saint himself the advantage of the one unwieldy weapon in the room. And with the red mists of unholy rage still swirling across his vision, Simon Templar went grimly into the fight of his life.” ¶ “He sidestepped the Negro’s first maniac charge as smoothly and easily as a practised pedestrian evading a two-horse dray, and as he swerved he brought the whip cracking round in a stroke that split the lavender silk shirt as crisply as if a razor had been scored across it.” ¶ “The Negro fetched up against the far wall with an animal scream, spun round, and sprang at him again. And again [,] the Saint swayed lightly aside, and made the whip lick venomously home with a report like a gunshot ….” mentioned from page 594 is a fight scene paints a picture.
Part III involves The Melancholy Journey of Mr. Teal from book entitled The Saint vs. Scotland Yard story there is the Chicago hoodlum sought ticket, “Did you get that ticket?” ¶ “Yes, I got you a berth. It’s on the Berengaria. She sails tomorrow afternoon. You’re in a hurry to leave?” ¶ “I’ll say I am. I guess it’s safe for me to go back now, and I know a dealer in Detroit who’ll give me a good price for my share. I’ll get enough to give me a start, and I’ll make it grow. There’s no money in this durned country.” Reminiscences on p. 614 involve the classic stand-over bloke prevalent in Australia with hands in many pies. When thieves burgle jewels or, bank robbers knock off the post office these stand-over men prey on their fellow crims since really where will criminality run to?
Unflattering descriptor on Eyetie, “trussed them up, wrapped them in grease-proof paper, and laid them out in a row to be called for by the corporation scavengers.” p. 635 slight on the Mediterranean proving the writer is an equal opportunity bigot like aforementioned negro bit. On to the Saint threatening the Chicago mobster, “Perhaps you’re thinking I’ll be scared of the noise. Once more you’re wrong. This gun isn’t silenced, but the first three cartridges are only half charged. No one in the street would hear a sound.” p. 636 quote.
Plenty of typos yet eh what you going to do? Like on last page instead of juiciest KO when aboard transatlantic Berengaria one speltjuciest
Shadowy operative from the Upper Berkeley Mews or whichever mews handy.
The omnibuses give readership taste for a particular writer’s style whether each novel element of similarity or writer’s like Michael Crichton managed to write entirely different scenery such as The Great Train Robbery; Jurassic Park; Pirate Latitudes, those with scope and, those with depth. The 1930s United Kingdom terminology, such as, “Any verbiage about Roger having nothing to do that night would be so much applesauce….” Also, page 379 is nice treat from the writer set in period piece with the incomparable, Simon Templar, even syndicated with Roger Moore in pre-James Bond flicks, or, “skeezicks” even on page 401.
Excellent descriptors of vehicular pursuit vis-à-vis sly wheelman, “And Simon thought of other girls that Roger had known, and of other things that had been in their lives since they first came together, and of his own lady; and he wondered, with a queer wistfulness in the eyes that followed that tiny red star down the road. ¶And then the red star swept out of sight round a bend; and the Saint turned away with a shrug, and glanced down again at the sea, where lay another red star, with a green one beside it. ¶In that, at least, he had deliberately lied….The ship, he was sure, had been within a mile of the shore when he spoke; and now it had ceased to move. The rattle of a chain came faintly to his ears, and then he heard the splash of the anchor.” Page 379 mention from chapter 6: How Simon Templar Threw a Stone, and the Italian Delegate Was Unlucky in the book entitled The Avenging Saint.
The Edwardian age racism is also there, “A Boche, a Wop, and a Bowery Boy,” he murmured. “Gee—that man Marius ought to be running the League of Nations!” … “The League of Nations was descending the cliff stairway, the mutter of their voices growing fainter as they went.” Page 381-382.
“Chi va la?” rapped the startled challenge, in the man’s own language; and Simon felt that the occasion warranted a demonstration of his own linguistic prowess.”
“L’uomo che ha la penna della tua zia,” he answered solemnly.”
“His feet grounded on the sand, a yard from the challenger; and, as the man opened his mouth to make some remark which was destined never to be given to the world, the Saint slashed a terrific uppercut into a jaw that was positively asking for it.” Page 386 fisticuffs Saint-style.
Villainy of Alexis Vasiloff perennial hatred petite bourgeoise is understandable. He demands satisfaction.
Elementary lowercase punctuation thingy, “But that is not enough. I must make to ruin Lessing. And my friend make another plan. he say that when he tell Lessing you are with me, Lessing will try to make war…He will send out spies, and make the big countries hate each other. Then, when we have take you, he send men to kill someone—the French President, perhaps—and there is war. It is easy. It is just another Serajevo. But it is enough.” Page 396 reference reminiscent of ‘lone wolf’ Turkish gendarme, after multiple trips to Qatar, sent to assassinate Russian Ambassador to Turkey inside Ankara art gallery. Little more initiated the Great War from reciprocal alliances.
Writer gives mediaeval history lessons on chevalier Bayard in the kingdom of Naples on page 415 amongst Roland at the gates of Spain. Simon Templar works with damsel in distress; viz., Sonia Delmar to battle Rayt Marius. “The young man, compelling audience at the business end of his Webley,” page 426 excellent descriptor. Realistic enough with good guys suffering calamity such as mentioned on page 442. Saint’s Saintly caveat that he going to bring the filth back to talk with Marius is seemingly unfounded since Simon Templar himself is posted on the rogue’s gallery mentioned in page 477.
By book entitled The Saint vs. Scotland Yard writer’s own, Simon Templar, entanglements with The Scorpion nearly got protagonist stung by scorpion’s prickly tail. “Now shoot the dope, son.” Mention on p. 510 is another good 1930s descriptor. The silver Hirondel will have many a motoring adventuring.
Observant points like, “When you were playing on the sands of Southend in a pair of pink shrimping drawers, Teal, did you ever notice that you can always dig more out of a hole than you can put back in it?” Page 551
Book entitled The Saint vs. Scotland Yard on the Part II The Million Pound Day after the Scorpion scorping mentions, “Remember reading in some paper recently that the Bank of Italy was preparing to put out an entirely new and original line of paper currency?” Page 571 mention on the Vatican-owned Bank of Italy transformed into the Bank of America another shylocking enterprise. “Kuzela’s men … through the same channels—big bouncing wads of it, translated into authentic wads of francs, marks, and pesetas—while one million perfectly genuine hundred-lire bills whose numbers were never in the catalogue are drifting home to a Bank of Italy that will be wondering whether the whole world is falling to pieces round its ears….Do you get me, Pat?” Page 572-573 describes pre-euro world.
There’s Joseph Conrad elemental unknown quantity when Simon Templar encounters Sub-Saharan Africans straight out of Africa. Certain giveaways for Europeans direct from the Continent, for those Sub-Saharan Africans straight out of Africa, the mannerism, the gait, the style. Writer goes in on early anthropological views whatnot with this gem, “Then the Negro sprang at him like a tiger.” ¶ “That one single punch which had reversed the situation would have sent any living European swooning off into hours of tortured helplessness, but in this case that Saint had never expected any such result from it. It had done all that he had ever hoped that it would do—obliterated the Negro’s speaking voice, and given the Saint himself the advantage of the one unwieldy weapon in the room. And with the red mists of unholy rage still swirling across his vision, Simon Templar went grimly into the fight of his life.” ¶ “He sidestepped the Negro’s first maniac charge as smoothly and easily as a practised pedestrian evading a two-horse dray, and as he swerved he brought the whip cracking round in a stroke that split the lavender silk shirt as crisply as if a razor had been scored across it.” ¶ “The Negro fetched up against the far wall with an animal scream, spun round, and sprang at him again. And again [,] the Saint swayed lightly aside, and made the whip lick venomously home with a report like a gunshot ….” mentioned from page 594 is a fight scene paints a picture.
Part III involves The Melancholy Journey of Mr. Teal from book entitled The Saint vs. Scotland Yard story there is the Chicago hoodlum sought ticket, “Did you get that ticket?” ¶ “Yes, I got you a berth. It’s on the Berengaria. She sails tomorrow afternoon. You’re in a hurry to leave?” ¶ “I’ll say I am. I guess it’s safe for me to go back now, and I know a dealer in Detroit who’ll give me a good price for my share. I’ll get enough to give me a start, and I’ll make it grow. There’s no money in this durned country.” Reminiscences on p. 614 involve the classic stand-over bloke prevalent in Australia with hands in many pies. When thieves burgle jewels or, bank robbers knock off the post office these stand-over men prey on their fellow crims since really where will criminality run to?
Unflattering descriptor on Eyetie, “trussed them up, wrapped them in grease-proof paper, and laid them out in a row to be called for by the corporation scavengers.” p. 635 slight on the Mediterranean proving the writer is an equal opportunity bigot like aforementioned negro bit. On to the Saint threatening the Chicago mobster, “Perhaps you’re thinking I’ll be scared of the noise. Once more you’re wrong. This gun isn’t silenced, but the first three cartridges are only half charged. No one in the street would hear a sound.” p. 636 quote.
Plenty of typos yet eh what you going to do? Like on last page instead of juiciest KO when aboard transatlantic Berengaria one spelt
July 29, 2011
This was a great collection that was compiled in the 1980s. From the early stories, where the author was still finding his voice, to some later, brilliantly-written stories, its a great way to experience a literary phenomenon of the early 1900s.
July 23, 2017
I wanted to know what the deal with The Saint was. And now I do, for better or worse. I'm surprised we have the term "Mary Sue" instead of "saint," because he is a pretty good example of some intense wish fulfillment.
June 29, 2024
Read only the novella The Lawless Lady. Somewhat light hearted tale centered on Templer's effort to stop a well know con woman from robbing several millionaires in an elaborate plot. One of Templer's men infiltrates the woman's gang and the tale is filled with intrigue and betrayal
November 15, 2022
A little hard to read at times due to being novellas and not conplete novels!
May 5, 2023
Pretty silly and dated. But electric writing. I preferred The Scarlet Pimpernel.
June 27, 2025
This was so boring when I was reading it myself, I put away & moved on …to anything else - Mom’s grocery list, for instance, was more exciting.
Then I saw they had them on kindle unlimited with Audible’s “whisper-sync”. As I cannot stand things left unfinished, I figured I’d give it another shot. Wha’d’ya know: Mr. John Telfer’s narration made me laugh - out loud! The books are amusing! (Guess it just shouldn’t be read w/our ironed out American accents? ;)
Then I saw they had them on kindle unlimited with Audible’s “whisper-sync”. As I cannot stand things left unfinished, I figured I’d give it another shot. Wha’d’ya know: Mr. John Telfer’s narration made me laugh - out loud! The books are amusing! (Guess it just shouldn’t be read w/our ironed out American accents? ;)
December 21, 2021
Five complete Saint novels, unabridged? Not if the list of contents on the cover is accurate.
The Saint Closes the Case (original title The Last Hero) and The Avenging Saint (Knight Templar) are certainly complete novels, and what’s more, two of the best. But The Man Who Was Clever and The Lawless Lady are merely two of the three stories in Enter the Saint, the other being The Policeman with Wings. The Saint vs. Scotland Yard (original title The Holy Terror) is not a novel at all, but three more “novellas” of the same kind.
So this looks to me not like 5 complete Saint books, but 3.66.
I do like the picture on the cover, though.
If pushed to it, I would say that the best single-volume anthology of Saint stories is The First Saint Omnibus
The Saint Closes the Case (original title The Last Hero) and The Avenging Saint (Knight Templar) are certainly complete novels, and what’s more, two of the best. But The Man Who Was Clever and The Lawless Lady are merely two of the three stories in Enter the Saint, the other being The Policeman with Wings. The Saint vs. Scotland Yard (original title The Holy Terror) is not a novel at all, but three more “novellas” of the same kind.
So this looks to me not like 5 complete Saint books, but 3.66.
I do like the picture on the cover, though.
If pushed to it, I would say that the best single-volume anthology of Saint stories is The First Saint Omnibus
February 1, 2008
I'm having a drink with the infamous Simon Templar when four members of the Bowery gang enters the bar. My companion's eyes briefly shine as cold as steel before returning to their normal twinkling blue, as he watches them enter the private room in the back. "Excuse me," he says, "those lads look just the type to be interested in giving to charity." He slips quickly from his seat and strides to the back room. Not many moments later the Bowery gang quickly departs, looking rather the worse for wear and one limping painfully. Templar rejoins me, sliding a stack of hundred pound notes into the pocket of his immaculate jacket. "Yes, I thought those chaps would be quite interested in donating money to help out orphans. Did I mention I am an orphan?" I know he is a criminal, but the cheerfully innocent smile on his face reminds me that he is known as The Saint.
This is a collection of five of the first eight Saint novels from the early '30s. The Saint is a bit younger and more impulsive than in later novels, but the stories are a bit more serious with worries about war forming the background for some of the plots.
Also, bonus points for using the word "persiflage".
This is a collection of five of the first eight Saint novels from the early '30s. The Saint is a bit younger and more impulsive than in later novels, but the stories are a bit more serious with worries about war forming the background for some of the plots.
Also, bonus points for using the word "persiflage".
Want to read
November 4, 2007just LOVED Simon Templer "the Saint" spy mystery stories!!
December 17, 2007
read 08.09.85
read 05.17.90
read 05.17.90
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