The British Mysteries Edition: 14 Novels & 70+ Short Stories

This unique collection of British mysteries by H. C. McNeile has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards.

Herman Cyril McNeile (1888–1937) commonly known as H. C. McNeile or Sapper, was a British soldier and author. Drawing on his experiences in the trenches during the First World War, he started writing short stories and getting them published in the Daily Mail. After the war McNeile left the army and continued writing, although he changed from war stories to thrillers. In 1920 he published Bulldog Drummond, whose eponymous hero became his best-known creation. The character was based on McNeile himself, on his friend Gerard Fairlie and on English gentlemen generally. Drummond is a First World War veteran, brutalised by his experiences in the trenches and bored with his post-war lifestyle. He publishes an advertisement looking for adventure, and soon finds himself embroiled in a series of exploits, many of which involve Carl Peterson—who becomes his nemesis—and Peterson's mistress, the femme fatale Irma. McNeile interspersed his Drummond work with other detective novels and story collections that included two characters who appeared as protagonists in their own works, Jim Maitland and Ronald Standish. H. C. McNeile thrillers are a continuation of his war stories, with upper class Englishmen defending England from foreigners plotting against it.

Content:

Jim Maitland

The Island of Terror

Bulldog Drummond

The Black Gang

The Third Round

The Final Count

The Female of the Species

Temple Tower

The Return of Bulldog Drummond

Knock-Out

Bulldog Drummond at Bay

Challenge

The Horror At Staveley Grange

Tiny Carteret

Ronald Standish

Men, Women and Guns

The Saving Clause

Out of the Blue

The Finger of Fate