The Seven Secrets

by William Le Queux

William Tufnell Le Queux (1864-1927) was a British journalist and writer. He was also a diplomat, a traveller, a flying buff who officiated at the first British air meeting at Doncaster in 1909, and a wireless pioneer who broadcast music from his own station long before radio was generally available. He studied painting in Paris. He was foreign editor of The Globe newspaper during the 1890s. He subsequently wrote professionally. He reported on the First Balkan War. He wrote in the genres of mystery, thriller, and espionage, particularly in the years leading up to World War I. Apart from fiction he wrote extensively on wireless broadcasting, various travel works including An Observer in the Near East and several short books on Switzerland, and an unrevealing and often misleading autobiography, Things I Know about Kings, Celebrities and Crooks. He also wrote The Czar's Spy: The Mystery of a Silent Love (1905), The Four Faces: A Mystery (1914), The Minister of Evil (1918), The Doctor of Pimlico (1919), Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo (1921), and The Secret of the Fox Hunter.

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Amazon, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Ebooks

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1903

About the author

William Tufnell Le Queux was born in London on 2 July 1864. His father, also William of Chateauroux, Indre, was a French draper's assistant and his mother was English.

He was educated in Europe and studied art under Ignazio Spiridon in Paris. He walked extensively in France and Germany and supported himself for a time writing for French newspapers. It was one of his sensational stories in 'The Petit Journal' that attracted the attention of the French novelist Emile Zola and it was supposedly he who encouraged Le Queux to become a full-time writer.

In the late 1880s he returned to London where he edited the magazines 'Gossip' and 'Piccadilly' before joining the staff of the newspaper 'The Globe' in 1891 as a parliamentary reporter. But he resigned in 1893 and decided to abandon journalism to concentrate on writing and travelling. And his extensive travelling saw him visit Russia, the Near East, North Africa, Egypt and the Sudan and in 1912-13 he was a correspondent in the Balkan War for the Daily Mail. On his travels he found it necessary to become an expert revolver shot.

His first book was 'Guilty Bonds' (1891), which concentrated on political conspiracy in Russia to such a degree that it was subsequently banned in that country. A series of short stories 'Strange Tales of a Nihilist' followed in 1892 and from then on he was producing books on a regular basis until his death, and beyond, as a number of posthumous works were published.

His works mainly related to espionage activity and it was said that he was employed for a number of years as a member of the British Secret Service, where he was an expert on wireless transmission. He did claim to have been the first wireless experimenter to have broadcast from his station at Guildford in 1920/21 and he was president of the Wireless Experimental Association and a member of the Institute of Radio Engineers.

He stated at one time that he began writing to help finance his work for British Intelligence for whom he was required to undertake much travelling and to make personal contact with royalty and other high-ranking people. He recorded some of the latter meetings in his autobiography entitled 'Things I Know about Kings, Celebrities and Crooks' (1923).

He was at one time Consul of the Republic of San Marino and he possessed Italian, Serbian and Montenegrin decorations. He was also a keen collector of medieval manuscripts and monastic seals.

However, all his activities did not stop him turning out novel after novel and at the time of his death he had well over 100 books to his credit.

After several weeks' illness, he died at Knocke, Belgium, in the early hours of 13 October 1927. His body was returned to England and on 19 October he was cremated at Golders Green with the Reverend Francis Taylor of Bedford conducting the service, which was attended by Le Queux's brother and a few intimate friends.

Gerry Wolstenholme
January 2013

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad bad bad. It's one of those where the "mystery" is maintained by the detective not telling his friend and collaborator, the narrator, anything that he's learned. Then, compounding that, at the end it turns out that there weren't any elaborate secret clues anyway, but rather that the detective had simply been following suspects around. He actually witnessed one of the murders, without either preventing or reporting it! Furthermore the central mystery in itself is a huge disappointment, which I won't elucidate for fear of spoiling the book, as if that were possible. Dull and repetitive writing elongates a story that could have been told in just two or three chapters into tortuous length. You will read many times of how the narrator loves his fiancée, but fears that she's keeping something from him, but trusts her, but knows she's lying, but is moved by her sincerity, but is sure she's a consummate actress; all this can make a good scene, but not six good scenes! Also repeated over and over are scenes where the narrator is warned that his mentor doesn't have his best interests at heart but refuses to believe it, and scenes where the detective shows up and tells the narrator nothing at all (like, literally nothing, in some of these scenes he has no quoted dialog at all). There's also quite a lot of Victorian sexism, both in the narrator's personal relationships and in his and his mentor's discussions of their female patients. And then it finally ends when the detective tells all he knows, not because he's carefully built up his case and is at last ready to prove his charges, but because of a chance encounter which provides no new evidence at all, but only some testimony that had been available throughout the story but was withheld for no other reason than to make the story longer.
Just really quite a bad book. Don't bother with this one.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Free | I often have sympathy for readers at the turn of the twentieth century, because what was available to them was regularly ridiculous. 'Should I tell my one true love what I know? No! She has told me that she promised to keep a secret, so I won't tell her important information about the murder in her family that has caused suspicion to fall on her, because I'm annoyed.' 'Her behavior convinced me that she knew more than she was telling. The fact that she specifically told me that she did, and that I overheard people discussing how she knew these things, that wasn't enough. I had to figure it out from the way she conversed' 'This person that I've been warned against, who is generally a jerk, and who is constantly acting suspiciously, has been practicing forging my handwriting, but I'll never mention it or think about it again after I discover it, and I will totally trust him.' I mean, honestly. That's not even getting into the farce that is the solution, or the fact that instead of having our protagonist be the detective who was figuring things out and trailing the killer for months, we got the clueless doctor who wanted to lecture about women patients and their nerves.

[Kent Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Le Queux is NOT Conan Doyle

Bought this book as a "cheapie" from Early Birds. Didn't get my money's worth. Derivative, contrived, verbose, misogynistic and boring. Late Victorian detective fiction has _much_ more to offer.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow. Dated. Some loose ends never resolved.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprising twists, well developed characters, no profanity, liked the unusual plot. Classic. Well narrated by Tom Weiss.

[Thabitta · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Seven Secrets is a devastatingly tedious book with glorified plot twists. The aloof and snobbish sleuth managed to solve the crime only because he had witnessed it himself. The book could have been written in a single page. It's painfully simplistic.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author, William Le Queux, is the most famous, successful writer of mystery novels of whom you've never heard. Between 1891 and 1931, an amazing span of forty years, WLQ wrote dozens of books that sold in the millions. His "The Invasion of 1910" was translated into twenty-seven languages and sold over a million copies. This Anglo/French author was a household name in the UK during the period. Who knew? Not I.

Our protagonist is Dr. Ralph Boyd, a young London physician, early in his career. He splits his hours between a local hospital and assisting one of England's most prominent physicians, Dr. Sir Bernard Eyton. Dr. Boyd's fiancée, Ethelwynn Mivart, lives with her sister and elderly brother-in-law. The said brother-in-law, Mr. Courtenay, who is in failing health, is a close friend and patient of Sir Bernard. Young Dr. Boyd calls frequently to visit Ethelwynn and check on Mr. Courtenay's health.

The fun starts with Courtenay's late-night death in his home. When discovered dead, the household calls Dr. Boyd, who discovers the death is not of natural causes--rather, it is murder. The police are called promptly, and Dr. Boyd also calls his good friend, the amateur detective Ambler Jevons, who enjoys an excellent reputation with the police.

The book's title, "The Seven Secrets," refers to the secrets connected to the murder and the principal characters surrounding it. It could just as correctly have been named The Countless Lies, as Boyd and Jevons unravel one plot twist after another. Who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys? You can't always be sure, and one surprise follows another.

WLQ has an engaging style that keeps the reader involved and turning pages. The characters are well-crafted and interesting, and most assuredly hold our interest. It is difficult to know for whom to cheer beyond Boyd and Jevons, but rest assured that all will be revealed in the end.

I enjoyed this story enough that I'm going to start reading more of his work. I loved it.

[J. Rubino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Ralph Boyd, an up and coming physician has one prominent patient, Mr. Henry Courtenay. Courtenay has married a much younger woman, who is often absent, preferring society and amusement to her husband's bedside. Courtenay has a more dedicated attendant in Ethelwynn Mivart, Mrs. Courtenay's sister and Ralph Boyd's fiancee. When Courtenay is found stabbed in his bed, Boyd calls in his close friend, Ambler Jevons, a Bohemian, pipe-smoking, logical, amateur "investigator of mysteries" to assist in the investigation of the murder.
The patterning of the main characters after Holmes and Watson (this book was published in 1903) is evident, but the novel itself lacks Conan Doyle's focus and rational plotting. The story wanders from inference to overlong passages of dialogue, to eavesdropped conversations, to questionable motives. Then, midway through the book Boyd stumbles on a clandestine meeting between the dead man and his young wife, which has a reader anticipating - "Now, we're on to something!" But the plot wanders off again, to a lecture on the power of suggestion, attempt on Boyd's life, a second murder; and the explanation of the clandestine meeting - in fact, much of the narrated resolution - is pretty implausible and disappointing.
Really a 2 star novel, but I upped it because you have to give credit to author William LeQueux, who managed to squeeze this work among the 5 he produced that year and the 150 he published overall. Prolificacy like that deserves at least one star.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful British mystery listening 🎧
very will written British mystery novel by William Le Queux with lot of misdirection by interesting will developed characters. The story line is set in London and the English country side where murder takes place but there is no suspect or weapon. New Scotland Yard can not find any leads. A British tea merchant keeps investigating. The wife of the victim dies is it suicide or murder? The investigation continues leading to the real criminal and conclusion of the crime. I would recommend this novel to reader of mysteries. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listing 🎧 to books 📘 2021 🕵️‍♂️💕👍🎉🎩

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

A timeless whodunit of 1903. I love these! A twisty, clean read! No unnecessary cuss words! Thank you!
An amazing quick read! Marvelous page turner!
A well written, steady flow read revealing the Londen country side!
Wow! Pure pleasure! Nothing heavy! Light and enjoyable!
Fabulous! Suspenseful! Dramatic!
Enjoy!

[Mark Rabideau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good and 'twisted' mystery. It is hard to believe that this mystery was written in 1903. Although the English used is quite Victorian, the story feels very current and consistent with better BBC Mysteries.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old-fashioned mystery

This book was hard to put down. The mysteries just kept piling on one after the other. And the murderer turned out to be the last person you'd suspect.

[Dmfmls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting as a historical piece, but sadly dated in plot and characterization.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice classic whodunnit.

[Pat Salt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old fashioned, but I liked it. Twisting, turning plot kept me engaged.

[Marvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished, albeit with much skimming. Half of the book is spent inside the main protagonist’s head. Quite dull in the there.

[Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It feels like a trip down a well known lane

What a tale. It feels much like a combination of Houdini and Sherlock Holmes, but without the assistance of Dr. Watson.

If mystery is your venue, this must be included in your library having been read.

[Hugh Ashton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read a fair amount of material which is roughly contemporary with Sherlock Holmes. One of those authors who wrote books dealing with crimes and dirty doings around the turn of the 20th century was William le Queux. Some of his books deal with the ever-present threat (at least in the minds of many Britons at this time) of the German invasion, but the earlier ones are very much in the style of (or at least in the general genre of) those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. However, this book, which I picked up in a Gutenberg edition, really did not deserve to be published. It is very clear that it was written in a hurry, and that the plot had not been properly thought out.

The hero is a doctor, and a friend of the genius detective, though his relationship with the strangely named Ambler Jevons is nowhere near as close as that of Watson and Holmes. The characters involved in the mystery are much closer to the protagonists than those in a Conan Doyle story, and the plot, though fantastic and imaginative, for some reason seems to lack many of the elements that make for a great Sherlock Holmes story.

One of the main problems with this story, to my mind, was the character of the detective himself. Most of his work is done offstage. The hero is left in a perpetual state of bewilderment during which the detective is nowhere to be seen, popping up at intervals in order to explain that as yet his researches are incomplete and he therefore is unable to provide any details of his investigations to the narrator. If I remember correctly, there is only one scene where the detective is shown actually doing his detecting, though he does appear at the scene of a couple of the crimes.

It is with a sense of relief that I turn back to Edgar Wallace, or to Arthur Morrison, whose adventures of Martin Hewitt come much close to my mind to rivalling those of Sherlock Holmes. Hewitt himself is a much more credible character than le Queuex' detective - who also acts as a tea importer (!). Though I can recommend some books by this author, this is not one of them.

[Jeff Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly decent mystery that holds up pretty well. Though I found the conclusion a bit disappointing in how the seven secrets were solved.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

About exactly what I expected from the genre and era.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not half bad. Will check for more LeQueux. Well worth the time.

[gloria thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of curious mysteries.

I love British murder mysteries and this was not a disappointment. It was a combination of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. I've already purchased another book in this series.

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this quite a bit, kept me guessing all the way through! Hard to find modern stories that do that! Published in 1903 this was probably very interesting in it's day. It may seem tedious to the modern day reader because of the advancements in science and availability of information in our modern world but I can imagine the wide-eyed wonder of some of the detective methods used in this story at the time of publication!