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Tommy Hambledon #19
The Basle Express
British Intelligence agent Tommy Hambledon had the mistaken notion when he arrived at Innsbruck that he had left behind all connections with Herr Bastien, who had been shot in the railway compartment they shared on the Anglo-Swiss Express. But when he was commanded by a belligerent Austrian taxi driver to disrobe, and then forced at gunpoint to hike barefoot over the Alps, Hambledon ruefully decided that his vacation was over.
190 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1956
5 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Manning Coles
48 books10 followersFrom 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'.
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'.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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November 28, 2022Post-war Tommy Hambledon mostly set in Switzerland. It's really galumphingly obvious where the stolen papers are, but the criminals apparently believe that they're hidden in Tommy's clothes, which leads to a frankly disturbing plotline in which they twice strip him naked, the second time in company with his Swiss police ally, and we then have entire chapters of them wandering round Switzerland naked. Not sure what the authors were doing at this point but drinking is a possibility.
December 27, 2020
I made the smoth-reading of this book for DPC and FadedPage will publish it pretty soon.
July 28, 2021
I think life is sometimes a little unfair. Here am I being harassed by a gang of thugs because they think I have got the papers and getting rockets from my Department because I have not got the papers and all the time I have not the faintest shadow of an idea where they are. ~Tommy Hambledon
Tommy Hambledon, one of Britain's finest intelligence agents, is off to Innsbruck for a much needed holiday. But before he gets there he must take the Anglo-Swiss Express to Basle. He finds himself sharing a sleeping compartment with Edouard Bastien, journalist and model ship hobbyist. In the middle of the night, Tommy wakens to hear a man threatening Bastien over some papers. When Bastien unadvisedly lets the man know he recognizes him, the journalist winds up dead from a gunshot to the head.
Tommy winds up helping the Basle police investigate a bit and finds out that the plans in question are stolen secret plans for an American guided missile. Whoever had the plans (and Bastien took them from) is intent on finding them--plundering the train car, Bastien's baggage, and attempting to get into his apartment (the police actually beat them to the punch there). But neither the police nor Tommy can find evidence of the plans. Once he has helped the police all he can, he decides to continue his journey to Innsbruck. But the nasty organization from whom Bastien had taken the plans now believe that he passed them on to Tommy and they set off in hot pursuit. Tommy and his soon-to-be friend Lombard find themselves on the track of a deadly organization that specializes in secrets and high-profile thefts. They'll have to be on their toes to escape death, capture the bad guys, and prevent the plans from falling into the wrong hands.
I do have to say that Tommy does not appear to be at the top of his game in this outing. From the moment a certain thing was introduced into the narrative, I knew where the secret plans were. When that same thing was brought to Tommy's attention the first time, I thought at him, "Hey, dude. Guess where the plans are?" Nope--Tommy didn't have a guess. When the thing was brought up again, I thought for sure he'd get it. Finally. Nope. It wasn't until a loud-mouthed English woman discovered the plans where I knew they'd be and then announced it to him in the middle of the street that Tommy got it. Unfortunately...so did the bad guys hanging about on the same street, [I had a brief moment where I thought the loud-mouthed English lady was a female spy in disguise and had finagled a look at the thing in order to see if the plans were there. Nope. Just a loud-mouthed tourist...who somehow knows exactly what missile plans look like so she can announce to everyone in a six block radius.]
He also allows everyone from Lombard, member of the Austrian Special Police, to the various bad guys to get the drop on him--even to the point of stripping him naked and leaving him in the German/Austrian forest. Of course, Lombard doesn't fare much better (he joins Tommy in going au naturale), but if I hadn't come across Tommy Hambledon in other books, I'd be wondering how on earth he got such a sterling reputation as a British agent. What I find fascinating is that Tommy, who couldn't see the hiding place for the plans when it was waved right under his nose (twice!), somehow manages to spot a trail of coke chunks in the middle of the forest. A trail that will lead to a final showdown with the bad guys--a showdown where Tommy will shine as the hero we know him to be.
All that said--this isn't a bad book (really!). It's quite exciting and adventure-packed. There are some really good characters along the way and many of the scenes are very well done (when the Russian tracks down members of the organization who lost the plans, for instance). I also enjoyed the way Lombard and Tommy worked together and their final trek through the forest--first in their birthday suits and then in their gunny sack togas--is well worth the admission price. ★★★ and 1/2. [rounded up here]
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
Tommy Hambledon, one of Britain's finest intelligence agents, is off to Innsbruck for a much needed holiday. But before he gets there he must take the Anglo-Swiss Express to Basle. He finds himself sharing a sleeping compartment with Edouard Bastien, journalist and model ship hobbyist. In the middle of the night, Tommy wakens to hear a man threatening Bastien over some papers. When Bastien unadvisedly lets the man know he recognizes him, the journalist winds up dead from a gunshot to the head.
Tommy winds up helping the Basle police investigate a bit and finds out that the plans in question are stolen secret plans for an American guided missile. Whoever had the plans (and Bastien took them from) is intent on finding them--plundering the train car, Bastien's baggage, and attempting to get into his apartment (the police actually beat them to the punch there). But neither the police nor Tommy can find evidence of the plans. Once he has helped the police all he can, he decides to continue his journey to Innsbruck. But the nasty organization from whom Bastien had taken the plans now believe that he passed them on to Tommy and they set off in hot pursuit. Tommy and his soon-to-be friend Lombard find themselves on the track of a deadly organization that specializes in secrets and high-profile thefts. They'll have to be on their toes to escape death, capture the bad guys, and prevent the plans from falling into the wrong hands.
I do have to say that Tommy does not appear to be at the top of his game in this outing. From the moment a certain thing was introduced into the narrative, I knew where the secret plans were. When that same thing was brought to Tommy's attention the first time, I thought at him, "Hey, dude. Guess where the plans are?" Nope--Tommy didn't have a guess. When the thing was brought up again, I thought for sure he'd get it. Finally. Nope. It wasn't until a loud-mouthed English woman discovered the plans where I knew they'd be and then announced it to him in the middle of the street that Tommy got it. Unfortunately...so did the bad guys hanging about on the same street, [I had a brief moment where I thought the loud-mouthed English lady was a female spy in disguise and had finagled a look at the thing in order to see if the plans were there. Nope. Just a loud-mouthed tourist...who somehow knows exactly what missile plans look like so she can announce to everyone in a six block radius.]
He also allows everyone from Lombard, member of the Austrian Special Police, to the various bad guys to get the drop on him--even to the point of stripping him naked and leaving him in the German/Austrian forest. Of course, Lombard doesn't fare much better (he joins Tommy in going au naturale), but if I hadn't come across Tommy Hambledon in other books, I'd be wondering how on earth he got such a sterling reputation as a British agent. What I find fascinating is that Tommy, who couldn't see the hiding place for the plans when it was waved right under his nose (twice!), somehow manages to spot a trail of coke chunks in the middle of the forest. A trail that will lead to a final showdown with the bad guys--a showdown where Tommy will shine as the hero we know him to be.
All that said--this isn't a bad book (really!). It's quite exciting and adventure-packed. There are some really good characters along the way and many of the scenes are very well done (when the Russian tracks down members of the organization who lost the plans, for instance). I also enjoyed the way Lombard and Tommy worked together and their final trek through the forest--first in their birthday suits and then in their gunny sack togas--is well worth the admission price. ★★★ and 1/2. [rounded up here]
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
March 6, 2020
Reading this old-style spy/thriller novel reminded me why I used to read these. Tommy Hambledon, of British Intelligence is headed to Switzerland for a vacation, but when the man sharing his sleeper on the train is killed and Tommy is left with his book, an assortment of men are after him. They think he has papers the dead man stole and had planned to hand over. Tommy’s joined by an Austrian and together they find the papers and catch the bad guys. A quick read.
June 24, 2025
Cheeky British mystery read with a funny ending.
January 4, 2023
The Basle Express is one of Manning Coles' better known Tommy Hambledon novels. Set in the early days of the Cold War, it has Hambledon inadvertently drawn into an espionage plot while trying to enjoy a holiday in the Alps.
Sharing a train compartment with a man he does not know, Hambledon is awakened by voices, just in time to see his compartment mate shot! From what was said, Hambledon understands the killer sought documents he believed the dead man possessed.
Unwittingly, Hambledon (of course) ends up with those documents, and is soon the object of searches by the killer and his associates, as well as the intended buyer--a Russian sent to acquire the engineering diagrams for a weapon. Soon Hambledon finds himself in league with other police and intelligence men, and has a number of odd adventures in the Alpine valleys.
An enjoyable little excursion into a lighthearted take on Cold War spydom. This is not John Le Carre.
I acquired this volume at a used book store.
Sharing a train compartment with a man he does not know, Hambledon is awakened by voices, just in time to see his compartment mate shot! From what was said, Hambledon understands the killer sought documents he believed the dead man possessed.
Unwittingly, Hambledon (of course) ends up with those documents, and is soon the object of searches by the killer and his associates, as well as the intended buyer--a Russian sent to acquire the engineering diagrams for a weapon. Soon Hambledon finds himself in league with other police and intelligence men, and has a number of odd adventures in the Alpine valleys.
An enjoyable little excursion into a lighthearted take on Cold War spydom. This is not John Le Carre.
I acquired this volume at a used book store.
June 18, 2021
Fun ( but violent) cold war murder mystery.
April 7, 2015
True, Tommy Hambledon works for British intelligence, but this time he really does just want to take a vacation. It's not his fault that his companion on the sleeping car is murdered, and that the murderers, unable to find the valuable papers they seek among the dead man's belongings, decide that Hambledon must have them. Even after he gets to the quiet Austrian mountain town that has been recommended to him, mayhem follows. By this time, he's ready to get back into the game and track the papers down himself.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews