Showing results by author "Sapper" in All Categories

Demobilised officer, finding peace incredibly tedious, would welcome diversion. Legitimate if possible; excitement essential. When Captain Hugh Drummond, DSO, MC placed that advertisement, he was looking for adventure. What he finds is an international plot headed by the greatest criminal mastermind in the world.

Immaculate, charming, fearless wanderer, Jim Maitland, has a peculiar code of morals and an unforgettable character. Our enthusiastic narrator, Leyton, meets the legendary Maitland on the Island of Tampico – a flawless jewel in a sapphire sea, with more vice than the slums of a city – and leaps at the chance to accompany this charismatic man on his spontaneous travels.

While Hugh ‘Bulldog’ Drummond is staying in an old cottage for a peaceful few days duck-shooting, he is disturbed one night by the sound of men shouting, followed by a large stone that comes crashing through the window. When he goes outside to investigate, he finds a patch of blood in the road, and is questioned by two men who tell him that they are chasing a lunatic who has escaped from the nearby asylum. Drummond plays dumb, but is determined to investigate in his inimitable style when he discovers a cryptic message.

Bulldog Drummond has slain his archenemy, Carl Peterson, but Peterson’s mistress lives on and is intent on revenge. Drummond’s wife vanishes, followed by a series of vicious traps set by a malicious adversary, which lead to a hair-raising chase across England, to a sinister house and a fantastic torture-chamber modelled on Stonehenge, with its legend of human sacrifice.

When Colonel Henry Talbot summons Bulldog Drummond and Ronald Standish, it is to inform them of the mysterious death of one of their colleagues – Jimmy Latimer. At the time of his death, he was on a big job, and was travelling on a boat to Newhaven when he died. But there was no sign of any wound, no trace of any weapon when they found him in his cabin. What strikes Drummond and Standish is why millionaire, Charles Burton, would have been travelling on the same boat – arguably the most uncomfortable crossing he could choose and very out-of-character.

The death of Professor Goodman is officially recorded as a tragic accident, but at the inquest, no mention is made of his latest discovery – a miraculous new formula for manufacturing flawless diamonds at negligible cost, which strikes Captain Hugh ‘Bulldog’ Drummond as rather strange. His suspicions are further aroused when he spots a member of the Metropolitan Diamond Syndicate at the inquest. Gradually, he untangles a sinister plot of greed and murder, which climaxes in a dramatic motorboat chase at Cowes and brings him face to face with his archenemy.

Introducing debonair detective, Ronald Standish – good-looking, refined, and wealthy enough to be selective in taking cases that are of special interest to him. There are twelve tales in this compelling collection, written by the creator of Bulldog Drummond, who once more proves his mastery with the cream of detection.

In The Final Count, the fourth in Sapper's Bulldog Drummond series, Hugh Drummond returns after the climax of The Third Round saw him embroiled in an electrifying boat chase with his long-term enemy and master of disguise, Carl Peterson. Now, Drummond must attempt to prove the innocence of an inventor of chemical warfare whose weapon mysteriously goes missing. Drummond is utterly resolute: only one man can be capable of such a sinister plot.

Bulldog's back! This time, there is a plot to foment a revolution in England, a plot that has left the Police baffled and the nation at the mercy of a master criminal. A disguised clergyman, a beautiful sidekick, an arcane poison, car chases and abductions all fail to see off Hugh Drummond and his gang of ex-Army friends. But when the plotters capture Drummond's wife, the game is up. Isn't it?

In The Third Round, the third of Sapper’s Bulldog Drummond stories, Hugh Drummond has lost none of his trademark wit, charm, and confidence. In investigating the mysterious death of Professor Goodman, who holds the key to a formula for creating diamonds, he uncovers a menacing plot involving the Metropolitan Diamond Syndicate and, inevitably, his seemingly indestructible enemy, the sinister Carl Peterson.

Captain Hugh 'Bulldog" Drummond', DSO, MC is a first world war veteran finding it difficult to adjust to life as a civilian in London. He is a trained soldier, a strong, brutal fighter who has honed his skills of stalking and the martial arts. Now that the war is over he is bored. He posts an advertisement in the newspaper, seeking for adventure... and immediately finds himself drawn into a web of intrigue involving an international gang of criminals whose aim is the destruction of Great Britain.

When intrepid adventurer, Jim Maitland, returns to England for a brief visit, he meets a charming young woman named Judy Draycott, who solicits his help in a perilous matter. She relates the story of her brother, Arthur – drifting in South America until he meets an old sailor who, on his deathbed, tells him about a hoard of buried treasure. When Arthur is shot during an attempt to return to London, Maitland persuades his cousin, Percy, to accompany him to Lone Tree Island, where the treasure is allegedly buried. But what can they do with only half a map? And can they evade the ...

"The Perfect Crime" is written in the first person: "I know I committed the perfect crime." Phoebe Wallowes, a well educated American woman, really irritates him. He also has a genuine terror that she will one day marry him. Something therefore has to be done.

While staying as a guest at Merridale Hall, Captain Hugh ‘Bulldog’ Drummond’s peaceful repose is disturbed by a frantic young man who comes dashing into the house, trembling and begging for help. When two warders arrive, asking for a man named Morris – a notorious murderer who has escaped from Dartmoor – Drummond assures them that they are chasing the wrong man. In which case, who on earth is this terrified youngster?

Ronald Standish – the charming, occasional detective who accepts cases when they take his fancy – receives a frantic phone call from a friend, who works for the Secret Service, asking for help. But when the line suddenly goes dead, Standish rushes round to his friend’s Hampstead abode, and is horrified to find him dead, with the receiver still in his hand and a horrific wound to his eye. When Standish teams up with Bulldog Drummond, the tangled political web surrounding this murder and the fearsome risks in pursuing the perpetrators are met head on.

When Hugh Latimer is shot in the head during combat, he is not expected to survive. But he returns home a hero and is awarded the VC. As time moves on, though, it becomes clear that whilst he may have recovered physically, he has been dramatically changed psychologically by the war....

A fascinating collection of short stories by great writers that examine aspects of the first world war, from action in the trenches, to the psychological impact of war on individuals and their relationships, to heroic adventure stories, to ghosts and war graves. A wonderful collection!

Classic Love Stories 2 read by Joanna David & Edward Fox. Wonderful readings of stories centred around the theme of love, including works by classic writers like Rudyard Kipling and John Galsworthy.

Cassidy is a legendary soldier in the Corps of Royal Engineers – courageous, fiery and full of Irish charm, he has been known to turn even Brigadier-Generals trembling and submissive. During his temporary absence from the plains of Flanders, he meets our narrator – a higher-ranking officer who is in awe of Cassidy’s formidable reputation – and during their break from action, they share incredible stories about life on the front.

The title story in this wry collection concerns acquaintances Staunton and Barstow, who witness a bizarre spectacle outside a bar in an Austrian village. A thin-lipped aristocrat steps down from his plush horse-drawn vehicle, and commences formidable target-practice on some playing cards – the Five of Hearts and the Five of Spades. Barstow remains utterly still during this peculiar display, and it emerges that he has witnessed this on six consecutive days – the shooter is the husband of his mistress, and he is challenging Barstow to a duel. Further stories of love, revenge, jealousy and...