by John Creasey
This time Palfrey was smiling.
“In the beginning I think your father thought that he would be a great benefactor to mankind, Eve. And in a way he has. No one else has come even to the fringe of his discovery.”
Eve didn’t speak.
Palfrey turned to Woburn.
“Bob, no one will ever quite know what a debt we owe you. When you got that message out and we knew the importance of malic acid, we really started work.”
Woburn said: “Well, it was something.”
Palfrey and Andromovitch left soon afterwards. Back in the headquarters of Z.5, they went quietly upstairs to Palfrey’s office.
On Palfrey’s desk was an envelope. He opened it, and frowned when he took out a five-pound note. Still frowning, he read a scrawl on a card pinned to the note: “Completely forgot this. Sorry. Always pay my debts. Gordon Carfax.”
Palfrey showed it to Andromovitch.
They began to laugh.
Almost two years to the day of the flood which engulfed Wolf Village and drowned her son, Jenny Robertson looked out of the window of the new farmhouse, a few miles from the site of the first. It was a glorious summer’s day. She heard a car, and put down a pastry cutter and went out into the yard.
Her husband was coming back from the valley, which was now rich and fertile.
Bill Robertson went towards the pram standing near the window, where a child lay sleeping. It was three months old, its cheeks were a clear, glowing pink, its tiny hands showed beneath the sleeves of a knitted blue coat.
“Bob and Eve not back yet?” Bill asked.
“No, not yet,” Jenny said. “Bob rang up and asked if we’d mind baby-sitting for the evening, so that he and Eve can go to the pictures.”
She smiled down on the sleeping grandson of Sir Gabriel Davos.
Series Information
Published or to be published by
House of Stratus
Dates given are those of first publication
‘Gideon of Scotland Yard’ (22 titles)
‘Department ‘Z’’ (28 titles)
‘Dr. Palfrey Novels’ (34 titles)
‘Inspector West’ (43 titles)
‘Sexton Blake’ (5 titles)
‘The Baron’ (47 titles) (writing as Anthony Morton)
‘The Toff’ (59 titles)
along with:
The Masters of Bow Street
This epic novel embraces the story of the Bow Street Runners and the Marine Police, forerunners of the modern police force, who were founded by novelist Henry Fielding in 1748. They were the earliest detective force operating from the courts to enforce the decisions of magistrates. John Creasey’s account also gives a fascinating insight into family life of the time and the struggle between crime and justice, and ends with the establishment of the Metropolitan Police after the passing of Peel’s Act in 1829.
Doctor Palfrey Novels
These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
Title Also Published as:
1 Traitor’s Doom 1942
2 The Legion of the Lost 1943
3 The Valley of Fear The Perilous Country 1943
4 Dangerous Quest 1944
5 Death in the Rising Sun 1945
6 The Hounds of Vengeance 1945
7 Shadow of Doom 1946
8 The House of the Bears 1946
9 Dark Harvest 1947
10 The Wings of Peace 1948
11 The Sons of Satan 1948
12 The Dawn of Darkness 1949
13 The League of Light 1949
14 The Man Who Shook the World 1950
15 The Prophet of Fire 1951
16 The Children of Hate The Killers of Innocence; The Children of Despair 1952
17 The Touch of Death 1954
18 The Mists of Fear 1955
19 The Flood 1956
20 The Plague of Silence 1958
21 Dry Spell The Drought 1959
22 The Terror 1962
23 The Depths 1963
24 The Sleep 1964
25 The Inferno 1965
26 The Famine 1967
27 The Blight 1968
28 The Oasis 1970
29 The Smog 1970
30 The Unbegotten 1971
31 The Insulators 1972
32 The Voiceless Ones 1973
33 The Thunder-Maker 1976
34 The Whirlwind 1979
Select Synopses
Gideon’s Day
Gideon’s day is a busy one. He balances family commitments with solving a series of seemingly unrelated crimes from which a plot nonetheless evolves and a mystery is solved. One of the most senior officers within Scotland Yard, George Gideon’s crime solving abilities are in the finest traditions of London’s world famous police headquarters. His analytical brain and sense of fairness is respected by colleagues and villains alike.
Gideon’s Night
On this particular night Commander George Gideon has to deal with a couple of psychopaths who trail pain and blood in their wake. One targets infants, and the other young women on London’s foggy streets. There’s also an explosive gang war in the offing, and one way or another all of these cases are coming to their breathtaking conclusions at the same time. Can Scotland Yard’s finest cope with such a nightmarish scenario, with what would ordinarily be months of time consuming police work crammed into just one night?
Gideon’s Fire
Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard has to deal successively with news of a mass murderer, a depraved maniac, and the deaths of a family in an arson attack on an old building south of the river. This leaves little time for the crisis developing at home . . .
Meet the Baron
John Mannering (The Baron) makes his first appearance in this volume. Lord Fauntley cannot help showing off both his daughter and the security under which his precious jewels are kept. Mannering finds himself attracted to both .... Money is tight and so he plans a burglary, but this fails and unexpected consequnces result. The relationship with Lorna Fauntley flourishes, and a series of high profile thefts and adventures ensure Mannering’s future, so he believes, until Lorna equates him with The Baron. One of the many further twists in this award winning novel occurs when the police appear to seek Mannering’s help, only to have everything turned upside down as the plot develops . . .
Shadow The Baron
John Mannering (‘The Baron’) is called in by Scorland Yard’s Superintendent Bristow to help catch the mysterious jewel thief ‘The Shadow’. No one know the thief’s identity, but he has managed to pull off many high profile robberies. However, as Mannering proceeds to track down the target, he finds the pursuer becomes the pursued . . . ..
The House of the Bears
Standing alone in the bleak Yorkshire Moors is Sir Rufus Marne’s ‘House of the Bears’. Dr. Palfrey is asked to journey there to examine an invalid - whom he finds has disappeared. Moreover, Marne’s daughter lies terribly injured after a fall from the minstrel’s gallery, which Dr. Palfrey discovers was no accident. He sets out to look into both matters, but the discoveries he makes are truly fantastic. A deserted mine, powerful explosive and a submarine all feature in this powerful mystery. The results are even capable of surprising him ...
Inspector West Takes Charge
Extortion is the name of the game, as one victim after another is ruthlessly targeted. Chief Inspector Roger West must now solve the problem, along with a tangle of murders - but the case becomes more frightening as every minute passes.
The Case Against Paul Raeburn
Chief Inspector Roger West has been watching and waiting for over two years - he is determined to catch Paul Raeburn out. The millionaire racketeer may have made a mistake, following the killing of a small time crook. Can the ace detective triumph over the evil Raeburn in what are very difficult circumstances? This cannot be assumed as not eveything, it would seem, is as simple as it first appears .....
Introducing The Toff
&n
bsp; The Toff is the Hon. Richard Rollison; the ultimate sleuth who revels in solving crimes. Whilst returning home across the Essex countryside from a day’s cricket at his father’s Norfolk home, he happens upon an accident that sets him on a new trail. This involves murder, suspense and thrilling action as The Toff applies his mind with its usual precision and thoroughness.
The Toff in New York
‘Say, Miss Hall, I hope that brother of yours hasn’t run into any trouble.’ But Will Hall had been kidnapped and the Honourable Richard Rollison, known by many by the apt if absurd soubriquet of the ‘Toff’ is soon on the scene, but not before a murdered man had fallen into Valerie Hallís arms. There’s lots of action in ‘millionaire surroundings’, with a rich private eye and the NYPD all on the case, whilst the Toff tracks Dutch Himmy, surely the worst man in New York . . . ..
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