Mystery Lovers! discussion

Legendary British author Edgar Wallace was at one time one of the world's most prolific mystery and action writers. Wallace is the man responsible for the original story of 'King Kong'.

He writes in a generally hearty, lusty, twelve-good-men-and-true format. Rousing actioners and clever mysteries set in the wild and woolly anarchist era.

Of his bibliography I myself have read a compendium of 'The Four Just Men' which has a lot of flair and pizazz.

Today I can point you to one of his other barn-burners, "The Tomb of T'sin" (1916) which is available free on-line:
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1302...

It's rather like Sax Rohmer (if you know what I might mean by that). Except that in this romp, the detective is Italian, a certain Tillizini. Here's Wallace's own blurb for his novel:

"It concerns the tomb of the Great Emperor—the first Emperor of the Chinese, who died two centuries before the birth of Christ; it concerns that extraordinary genius and adventurer, Captain Ted Talham—surely the most talkative man in the world; it concerns, too, that remarkable woman, Yvonne Yale, and last but not least, The Society of Joyful Intention—the most bloodthirsty organisation the world has known. It concerns Tillizinni also, for Scotland Yard placed him on his mettle, set him a challenging task, which threatened at one time to bring ruin to the greatest detective in Europe.

That it likewise brought him within an ace of losing his life, I should not think it worth while mentioning at this stage, but for the fact that scoffers might suppose that he held life dearer than fame."

Oh well. Enjoy!

Good luck to you.

If you choose 'The Four Just Men' I think you'll find it fun and accessible. It too, is available free online.
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks07/0700...

At the time of my reading, I felt its only flaw was that it was slightly longer than suitable for the plot; but I can't deny that long after I've set it down, it is still very memorable. The finale is whiz-bang. Genuinely thrilling and ingenious.

There's also the fascinating history of Wallace's colossal bravado--he challenged readers to figure out the plot in advance of publication, in return for a cash prize.

But at the end of it all, he is said to be a very 'uneven' author. Wild swings of quality from one side of the compass to the other.

Here's a convenient list of what one critic considers his 'better' yield:

Code No. 2 (1916)
Four Square Jane (collected 1929)
The Stolen Romney (1919)
The Man Who Sang in Church (1927)
The Orator (collected 1928)
The Mind Readers
The Lone House Mystery
The Sooper Speaking (1928)
Sergeant Sir Peter (1929 – 1930)
The Desk Breaker
The Principles of Jo Loless

Whereas, the title I listed above ('The Tomb of T'sin') slightly echoes the works of Sax Rohmer, and Rohmer is an author which as you probably know, some readers find very hard to take in this era. But Wallace avoids the worst aspects of Rohmer's style.

I hope you report your reactions back to us here if you venture into these waters!

Just downloaded The Tomb of T'sin. I'll let you know what I think once I'm done reading it.

Its got a catchy title, I think we can all agree on that at least.

And it should impress your friends when you mention you're reading the author of 'King Kong'. Safe bet, that most folks don't know that bit of trivia.

Also, I'm kinda intrigued by this 'Italian master detective'. Odd-sounding to one's ears, right? Has the intemperate Latin culture ever yielded a great detective? Seems an incongruity, (as far as the genre goes, of course). But how does he match up with the Belgian, Austrian, British, and American archetypes we all know so much better?

A lot of authors during this period were doing their damnedest to devise sleuths which would captivate the public but at the same time, not just 'ape' Sherlock Holmes. A.E. Mason, (one I myself did not know about) had 'Inspector Hanaud', for example. A burly, barrel-chested Frenchman. Whew.

Talking about French detectives, one of the most famous on the other side of the pond would be George Simenon's Inspecteur Maigret.

Another one I particularly like is Eugene Francois Vidocq. This one is actually a real person, but it inspired a number of novels, movies and TV series. The wikipedia article on the guy is a good read too.

Yep. I know 'em. Very famous names, icons even. The life of Vidocq alone, inspired troves of emulators in Britain and Europe. What a guy. And George Simenon is a fine novelist even outside of his Maigret series.

Feliks wrote: "Yep. I know 'em. Very famous names, icons even. The life of Vidocq alone, inspired troves of emulators in Britain and Europe. What a guy. And George Simenon is a fine novelist even outside of his M..."

Simenon was admired by many writers, including Hemingway, Graham Greene and Truman Capote. And, you're right, he did a slew of fine novels aside from the Maigret series.

Just finished the Tomb of T'sin.

Well, that was an interesting read...

The story wasn't bad, though fairly predictable. The writing style was a treat, albeit far from politically correct. If I were of Chinese descent, I'd likely find the book quite offensive.

To address the question of the famous Italian detective raised by Feliks. You were right, that didn't work. But I don't think the guy's nationality was to blame as much as the fact he plays second violin to Talham who's the book main character. Tillizinni (the Italian "super" sleuth) plays a minimal part in the story. It seems to me that he's barely an after thought with close to no character development.

H'mmm! Unusual. The reviewer who led me to this work, emphasized a bunch of observations in his write-up which don't align well with what you've just said. I guess its to be expected, though.

Its easy to forget that each reviewer is an individual and approaches a book from their own angle. He was a bit older than you, was less disturbed by the insular-mindset and more engaged by the action/adventure.

T'sin perhaps shows itself off better when compared to the works of Sax Rohmer; which (are claimed in the review I read) to have all the worse flaws of Wallace but not better action.

Oh well. I myself have not yet read T'sin; but I am all praise for 'Four Just Men'. That story practically takes place entirely in England and is a simple, rousing tale. The target of the vigilante's revenge is merely an opposition party leader in Parliament who is too easy on crooks.

I don't regret reading it. I liked the writing style and I had to look up a bunch of words I didn't know :) That's what happens when you read books written a century ago...

I'll put Four Just Men on my ever growing to read list.

Marc wrote: "The story wasn't bad, though fairly predictable. The writing style was a treat, albeit far from politically correct. If I were of Chinese descent, I'd likely find the book quite offensive...."

Y'know, isn't it odd how, before the internet arrived, no one ever chivvied over issues of 'race' very often? Now it comes up in almost everything. I always wonder at myself, even bothering to address this angle, whenever it strikes me to do so. Such as now.

My comment is this: I don't know if anyone here has traveled very much in the Far East. I have. What I found there? Surprisingly, fairly widespread racism towards anglo/whites. We're not thought of very highly there. There's much casual, second-nature racism. In the west, we're so busy scourging ourselves that we tend to forget that racism is global, a worldwide phenomenon.

I even found plenty of unquestioned, institutionalized racism between different Asian ethnicities towards each other. For instance, whenever there's a flood or earthquake in China which kills hundreds-of-thousands? Koreans and Japans shrug their shoulders. "Who cares, they're only Chinese". That's the reaction.

They all have different slur words for each other like 'monkey' or 'centipede'.

Getting back to your remark Marc, about "who might take offense over Edgar Wallace": I wager it would only be Americanized, or 'westernized' Chinese who might take umbrage. Or else, Chinese individuals who have merely become 'part of internet culture'. Its the net where everyone wants retribution and redress.

In neighborhoods I've lived in (Baltimore, New York, Philly), that's considered the cheapest kind of weasel. In the America I grew up in, your own self-respect could never be threatened of lessened by words blathered by some stranger. You carried your own respect with you and no one could take it away. Americans were never known for being sensitive to slights or insults; there was never anything to whine about.

I was surprised to realize that in today's China, no one probably remembers that we saved their country from winding up Japan's vassal slave state. No one probably recalls the Flying Tigers (had I felt moved to mention them). Yep. Bashing Yanks has been going on so long that its automatic. And we gladly jump in to pummel ourselves anytime our neighbors let up.

Oh well. Just musing aloud.