by Sapper
The Island of Terror
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 undesirables on their trail?
Jim Brent
A soldier with a death wish is the subject of the title story in this inspiring collection of First World War experiences. Jim Brent, serving in Belgium with the Royal Engineers, has his heart broken when his sweetheart announces she is to marry someone else. He becomes instantly fearless and suggests a wild scheme to blow up a bridge – which could very well cost him his life.
Jim Maitland
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.
John Walters
In the ranks of North Sussex – Number Three Platoon – serves a man whose physical stature is imposing, but whose mental state is said to be inert at best. This is the story of his remarkable awakening, one hot day in May, as he serves in the trenches of the front line. Other fascinating stories follow in this convincing commentary of wartime experience.
Knock Out
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.
Mufti
In a town called Poperinghe, during the height of the German offensive in May 1918, quartermaster-sergeant, Derek Vane, watches with mixed feelings as a pilot and his observer are shot down. What is there left for this ghost town, ravaged by war and utterly devastated? This penetrating story, which takes us through to the end of the war and charts the diverse experiences of soldiers and their loved-ones, was written by a man who experienced it all.
The Return of Bulldog Drummond
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?
Sergeant Michael Cassidy RE
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.
Temple Tower
As the ‘Maid of Orleans’ sets sail for Boulogne, two men wave goodbye to their trusting wives, who are completely unaware that their husband’s intended ‘golf holiday’ is a ruse. One of the men is Captain Hugh ‘Bulldog’ Drummond – a demobilised officer with a fierce appetite for adventure and ale; the other is Bulldog’s loyal friend, Peter, who narrates this exciting tale of a man in fear of his life and in desperate need of their help in penetrating the ill-omened Temple Tower.
The Third Round
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 arch-enemy.
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