#1929 Club: The Treasure House of Martin Hews by E. Phillips Oppenheim

Major Henry Owston, demobbed, without any job or financial security and definitely bitter is counting his last pennies when he reaches Breezeley Mansion, a sinister looking mansion somewhere in the backwaters. Carrying a letter of introduction and his last hopes, he presents himself before wheelchair user Martin Hews, the master of the house. Hews surprises …

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Judy of Bunter’s Buildings by E. Phillips Oppenheim (1936)

Of all the sounds in this gathering darkness that was the one which she had dreaded most. Judy is a dancer at a bar called the Green Man which is frequented by sailors. When the novel opens, Judy is at her room in Bunter's Buildings when she hears another tenant making his way to the …

Five Mysteries of 1940

AUNT BEARDIE by JOSEPH SHEARING Joseph Shearing is one of the pseudonyms of prolific author, Margaret Gabrielle Vere Long, more popularly known by another pseudonym of hers, Marjorie Bowen. Last year, I read her gothic mystery, The Crime of Laura Sarelle, and was blown away. Determined to read more of her, I selected this novel …

He ain’t no Dickson Carr: E.P. Oppenheim’s The Golden Beast (1926)

Lord Israel Honerton sits watching his family at the dinner table, his thoughts tinged with melancholy when a servant enters and tells Israel's eldest son,Cecil, that the gamekeeper John Heggs wants to talk to him regarding the hunting expedition the next day. Cecil, for some reason apprehensive, leaves the table and meets the Keeper who …

# The 1920 Club: E.P. Oppenheim’s The Great Impersonation

The year is 1920. Kaiser Wilhelm II has abdicated. The Treaty of Versailles has been imposed signed. Contours and colours of possession have changed across the globe. The sun still doesn't set over the British Empire. Time perhaps to put the past behind... The Prince of Storytellers, however, has different ideas. In 1920 comes his …

The Strange Boarders of Palace Crescent by E.P. Oppenheim (1934)

I am very fond of mysteries set in hotels. A group of disparate people, strangers to each other, staying under the same roof and interacting with each other makes for some lively reading as most of them they are pretending to be what they are not. The travelling salesman turns out to be a spy; …

As the War-Clouds Gather: E.P. Oppenheim’s The Double Traitor

The Right Honourable John William Hebblethwaite took the hat from his footman, stepped into his car, and was driven rapidly away. He leaned back among the cushions, more thoughtful than usual. There was a yellow moon in the sky, pale as yet. The streets were a tangled vortex of motorcars and taxies, all filled with …