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Published by COLLINS CRIME CLUB
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street,
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by Eveleigh Nash 1915
Published by The Detective Story Club for Wm Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1929
Introduction © David Brawn 2016
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1929, 2016
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780008137335
Ebook Edition © June 2016 ISBN: 9780008137342
Version: 2016-04-28
Table of Contents
Chapter II: The Red-Haired Pickpocket
Chapter III: The Man With the Pale-Blue Eyes
Chapter IV: The Maker of Diamonds
Chapter VI: The Mayor’s Daughter
Chapter VII: A Meeting of Greeks
Chapter VIII: The Seven of Hearts
Chapter X: Pink-Edged Notepaper
Chapter XI: The String of Pearls
WHEN The Crime Club was first published by Eveleigh Nash in 1915, little did the authors—both of them ex-policemen—know that the book’s title would become synonymous with detective publishing for the next 100 years.
Frank Froëst had risen through the ranks of the Metropolitan Police, attaining the position of Superintendent of the CID in 1906. He had become famous for his involvement in a number of high-profile international incidents, including the mass arrest in South Africa of more than 400 of the Jameson Raiders in 1896—the biggest mass arrest in British history—and for bringing high-profile villains such as society jewel-thief ‘Harry the Valet’ and the notorious Dr Crippen to justice. (More of Froëst’s exploits are discussed in Tony Medawar’s introduction to The Grell Mystery, also in this series.) Froëst retired in 1912, moving to Somerset where he joined the County Council and became a magistrate. Putting his 33-year experience in the police service to good use, he also turned to writing, and his detective
