Other books that might interest you

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  The Devil Light - Former soldier...

  Edgar Wallace

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  Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born on the 1st April 1875 in Greenwich, London.  Leaving school at 12 because of truancy, by the age of fifteen he had experience; selling newspapers, as a worker in a rubber factory, as a shoe shop assistant, as a milk delivery boy and as a ship’s cook.  
   
  By 1894 he was engaged but broke it off to join the Infantry being posted to South Africa. He also changed his name to Edgar Wallace which he took from Lew Wallace, the author of Ben-Hur.  
   
  In Cape Town in 1898 he met Rudyard Kipling and was inspired to begin writing. His first collection of ballads, The Mission that Failed! was enough of a success that in 1899 he paid his way out of the armed forces in order to turn to writing full time.  
   
  By 1904 he had completed his first thriller, The Four Just Men. Since nobody would publish it he resorted to setting up his own publishing company which he called Tallis Press. 
    
  In 1911 his Congolese stories were published in a collection called Sanders of the River, which became a bestseller. He also started his own racing papers, Bibury’s and R. E. Walton’s Weekly, eventually buying his own racehorses and losing thousands gambling.  A life of exceptionally high income was also mirrored with exceptionally large spending and debts.  
   
  Wallace now began to take his career as a fiction writer more seriously, signing with Hodder and Stoughton in 1921. He was marketed as the ‘King of Thrillers’ and they gave him the trademark image of a trilby, a cigarette holder and a yellow Rolls Royce. He was truly prolific, capable not only of producing a 70,000 word novel in three days but of doing three novels in a row in such a manner. It was estimated that by 1928 one in four books being read was written by Wallace, for alongside his famous thrillers he wrote variously in other genres, including science fiction, non-fiction accounts of WWI which amounted to ten volumes and screen plays. Eventually he would reach the remarkable total of 170 novels, 18 stage plays and 957 short stories. 
   
  Wallace became chairman of the Press Club which to this day holds an annual Edgar Wallace Award, rewarding ‘excellence in writing’.  
   
  Diagnosed with diabetes his health deteriorated and he soon entered a coma and died of his condition and double pneumonia on the 7th of February 1932 in North Maple Drive, Beverly Hills. He was buried near his home in England at Chalklands, Bourne End, in Buckinghamshire.

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  Marcella's Reward

  Lucy Maud Montgomery

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  Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning in 1908 with Anne of Green Gables. The book was an immediate success. The title character, orphan Anne Shirley, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following.
  Marcella's Reward: Dr. Clark shook his head gravely. "She is not improving as fast as I should like to see," he said. "In facter she seems to have gone backward the past week. You must send her to the country, Miss Langley. The heat here is too trying for her."

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  Life on the Mississippi

  Mark Twain

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  Life on the Mississippi, written by the renowned American author Mark Twain, is a captivating memoir that takes readers on an unforgettable journey along the iconic Mississippi River. With his trademark wit and storytelling prowess, Twain weaves together a fascinating narrative that blends his personal experiences, historical anecdotes, and reflections on the ever-changing landscape of America's greatest river. The story begins with Twain's vivid recollections of his own youthful days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River. Through his keen observations and richly detailed descriptions, readers are transported to a bygone era, where steamboats reigned supreme and the river served as a bustling thoroughfare for trade, transportation, and adventure. As Twain shares his intimate knowledge of the river, he delves into the intricacies of steamboat navigation, regaling readers with tales of treacherous shoals, perilous bends, and the unique challenges faced by pilots. Alongside these captivating stories, Twain introduces a colorful cast of characters he encountered during his time on the river, including fellow pilots, deckhands, passengers, and gamblers, each with their own captivating stories to tell.

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  The Pilgrim's Progress - The...

  John Bunyan

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  A man with a burden on his back leaves the City of Destruction and walks: through the Slough of Despond, past Apollyon, through Vanity Fair, to the river he must cross alone. Bunyan gave each moral condition an address and a road, and the plainness of the telling is why the book outlived the theology it was built to carry. Accompanied here by period paintings, with ornament drawn from the pilgrim's staff, the scroll and the far mountain — a Gilded Library edition of the most walked-in allegory in English.

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  Chopin Op 47 - From their pens...

  Stanley Victor Makower

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  The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors.  From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure.  Among them is Stanley Victor Makower.

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  The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

  Agatha Christie

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  Despite his best efforts to retire, the fourth book in Agatha Christie's famous detective series sees Detective Hercule Poirot returning for his next intriguing case.Detective Poirot is enjoying a quiet, peaceful retirement in a small village where he can focus on gardening and daily life. His plans are rudely disrupted when Roger Ackroyd, a wealthy widower, is murdered in his study shortly after the suspicious death of his fiancée. Ackroyd's niece and Poirot's new neighbor, Flora, begs for the detective's help on the investigation, and he can't bring himself to refuse. Poirot quickly finds himself pulled into another intriguing case filled with impossible alibis and dark secrets that he will have to unravel if he wants to discover who killed Roger Ackroyd.

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