Customer Reviews

Follow the Saint (Scarlet Dagger Large Print Books)

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Three novellas, from the time just before WWII when the Saint was still living in London at Cornwall House.

"The Miracle Tea Party" details what happens when Simon opens a packet of tea he has chanced upon, and finds it stuffed full of fifty pound notes.

"The Invisible Millionaire" has him investigating a murder mystery.

And finally, we have "The Affair of Hogsbotham". I've never met anyone named Hogsbotham (although my grandmother apparently went out with someone -- fortunately not my grandfather -- named Shufflebotham). Nonetheless, the pronouncements of a character of this name ("and with a face to match", according to Simon) are what lead the Saint unexpectedly into the third adventure, involving a bank robbery.

Patricia Holm and Simon's faithful manservant Orace figure prominently, having of course both been with him since the very first Saint adventure, Meet the Tiger. And for those who have (perhaps) wondered what happened to some of the other characters in that opus: a close reading reveals that the "moribund aunt" that Pat has to meet in the last story can only be Aunt Agatha.

I find myself re-reading the middle story less often than the others (although I'm not quite sure why), but the other two are well up to the usual Charteris standard of this period.

P.S. For a list of -- and discussion of -- all Charteris's Saint books, see my So You'd Like To... Guide.

The Miracle Tea Party -- classic Saint and Teal

The Invisible Millionaire -- classic Hoppy Uniatz

The Affair of Hogsbotham -- Simon and Patricia

Copyright 1938, this is a fun set of stories about the irreverent hero that is so much more fun than any TV or Movies made of Saint stories. Somehow Charteris is at his best with the short or medium-length Saint stories, and these are typical.