Tuesday 13 June 2000

Leslie Charteris: The Saint Goes On (1935)

Edition: Hodder & Stoughton, 1955
Review number: 525

The fourteenth Saint book once more contains three novellas. The High Fence is one of the most entertaining stories Charteris ever wrote, with Simon Templar and Chief Inspector Teal (hampered by a colleague thrust upon him by his superiors) racing each other to unmask the man who has taken control of a large part of London's market for stolen goods.

The other two stories, about murderous attacks on a tycoon and an attempted prison escape, are standard Saint fare, neither among the best nor the worst. The latter story is somewhat marred by rather ponderous humour based on the ide of dim-witted sidekick Hoppy Uniatz in love.

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