Charteris Leslie download all books 47 books

Two stories set in 1950, when Simon Templar was still proving that a wartime interlude of at least semi-respectable endeavour had not permanently impaired his piratical propensities.

“The Midas Double”, in which the Saint’s assistance is called upon by a Greek shipping magnate who is being brilliant impersonator, is a convolution of false identities and double-dealing. And hard-hitting action is promised when he is enlisted to infiltrate a gang of ruthless mercenary commandos in “The Pawn Gambit”.

In this duet of hitherto unrecorded adventures the Saint shows himself at his reckless and impudent best.

On the eve of World War II the redoubtable Simon Templar (better known as THE SAINT) finds himself in the imperial city of Vienna, his attentions divided between a very sensuous countess and some legendary diamonds — both of which he is trying to keep out of Nazi hands.

Since the days of the Holy Roman Empire, the legendary Hapsburg Necklace has been guarded by members of the Austrian nobility. But never before has it had so beautiful a protector as one Francesca, the Countess Malffy (also known as Frankie). And never before has it been so in danger of being stolen. For its hiding place, the Malffy ancestral manor, has recently been occupied by a new tenant — the Gestapo.

And as THE SAINT and Frankie plan a mission to retrieve the necklace, it becomes increasingly apparent that the Germans are not their only adversaries. Also vying for the crown jewels is a most unpredictable eccentric who is every bit a match for Simon Templar.

On an errand of mercy to help an elderly neighbour, the Sainted Simon Templar meets a very distraught — and very beautiful young woman.

Seems she is missing a brother, and someone is missing a Rembrandt. Together they track the fiend behind it all: .

On the other side of the Atlantic our “afficionado of the unexpected, the master of the unpredictable,” Simon Templar, makes the acquaintance of a lovely young heiress at a Mainline charity ball.

But a little sleuthing reveals that one member of the Social Register is also listed on the Who’s Who of Organised Crime...

The Saint is in Portugal on the trail of a young woman whose father was in the US Army and disappeared towards the end of the war. Her father worked as an investigator, tracing large sums of money. Soon the Saint and the Ungodly are on the trail of Nazi gold.

Two intriguing tales of criminal strategy that feature The Saint at his best. In , Father Bernardo, pastor of St. Jude’s church, has a dilemma: the church owns a three-hundred-year-old jewel-encrusted silver chalice, bequeathed under the condition that it never be sold. But St. Jude’s is a desperately poor parish, and the money from the sale of the chalice would greatly relieve the plight of the parishioners. When The Saint comes up with an ingenious plan to steal the chalice and send Father Bernardo a “donation” for its assessed value, appears solved — until someone steals the chalice from The Saint!

In , our hero finds himself in Cambridge shortly before Christmas, when a string of murders involving St. Enoch’s College are committed by a homicidal maniac dressed in a Santa Claus suit. With Christmas Day fast approaching The Saint must prevent this from delivering anymore deadly presents.

The Art Collectors

The task befalls the Saint to rescue a beautiful girl from the clutches of some unsavory “art lovers.” Fairly routine for Simon Templar; not-so-routine is the lady’s possession of five paintings worth over a million which is making her a target for considerable international foul play. And where did she get those paintings?

The Persistent Patriots

The Saint’s nose for adventure takes him to Nagawiland, where, true to form, he happens to be in the right place at the right time to save the local P.M. from assassination. And then the fun begins...

Amos Klein was the name of the ingenious thriller-writer and S.W.O.R.D. (Secret World Organization for Retribution and Destruction) was the ruthless institution Amos Klein had created in fiction. Who was this brilliantly imaginative writer? One man was determind to find out, and when he did, a simple kidnapping would set his destructive plan in motion. His gang had already created a real-life S.W.O.R.D. — all they needed now was its creator. Neat? Very. Successful? Almost. Because they made two small but fatal mistakes. The beautiful, brainy Amity Little wasn’t Amos Klein’s secretary, and the man who accompanied her wasn’t Amos Klein — it was Simon Templar.

When the Saint goes fishing, he catches an unusual specimen in the shape of a young lady claiming to be Adolf Hitler’s daughter. And when the Ungodly also arrive on the scene, it seems clear the fish will just have to wait...

In these stories, Simon Templar proves by his timely intervention that those on the side of the angels can to defend them.

The Helpful Pirate:

The Bigger Game:

The Cleaner Cure:

The Intemperate Reformer:

The Uncured Ham:

The Convenient Monster: may

All these stories have appeared in magazines prior to publication in this book.

Scene: Europe and the British Isles

Here, in his six intrigues, the Saint becomes involved with everything from haunted ladies, tycoon, and a Candy King in California to justice in Georgia and a Florida dragon whose scales were mathematical — and adventures that are “big enough” even for the swashbuckling Saint.

The saint, whose real name is Simon Templar, is back, in some very special adventures that will captivate his TV fans and fascinate all lovers of good mystery fiction.

Violence and murder among students, hippies and members of the “youth culture” involve. The Saint this time. An arch-black-mailer, a psychological experiment that involves students in a “murder game” that turns into the real thing these are some of the far-out ingredients in this boiling cauldron of homicidal happenings.

So the Saint pledged himself to a vendetta which took him to Sicily, a land particularly suited to that ancient bloody custom.

From then on, except for an interlude with a luscious Italian pasta named Gina, it was all-out, heel-stomping war, with the Robin Hood of Modern Crime pitted against the arch-evil, centuries-old traditions of the Mafia!

Bermuda, England, France, the Middle East, Malaya and Vancouver are stopping places for adventures to catch up with the Saint. They include a missing bridegroom, a lady and a gentleman Bluebeard, murder in a nudist colony, dowsing for oil for a Sheik, and putting a dent into dope smuggling. The trademarks of impudence and extravagant odds make this a lightfingered collection.

The Saint is a traditionalist — he knows what a good pirate story needs. Gold, hidden treasure, smugglers, dastardly villains and damsels in distress. From Bimini to Nassau, via Jamaica and Haiti, the Saint travels the Caribbean — interrupting his holidays to settle disputes, solve murders, overthrow governments, and hunt for treasure. Wherever he lands, you can be sure that the Ungodly will get what's coming to them.

Simon Templar, alias the Saint, as he tours the gayest and deadliest spots in Europe and finds suspense and chilling action when he meets the man from Paris who lost his head, from the neck up; the Spanish Cow who wore a fortune in diamonds, a modern-day Rhine Maiden — and all the others who figure in this Grand Tour to Danger!

In these nine mysteries the criminal backdrops vary, but each requires the touch of Simon Templar, The Saint. Templar's reputation tends to precede him. A double-cross episode triggers his latest round of specialist crime-prevention, and in the ensuing tour of Americas' iniquity, he encounters racketeering, roulette and banditry.

In these two novellas, crooked charity collectors and bent boxing promoters attract the Saint's attention... and will wish they hadn't.

In these three stories set in the American west, the Saint finds ways to get into his usual trouble. He travels to Arizona in pursuit of a Nazi scientist who wants to take over a ranch to mine the mercury underneath, goes to Palm Springs and gets hired as the bodyguard to an alcoholic millionaire, and almost becomes a movie star in Hollywood.

A new opium ring was flooding the country with all the misery, vice, and murder that go with the illicit traffic in drugs. How could Dr. Zellermann, the Park Avenue psychiatrist, be linked with the distribution of the dope? What did New York's bawdiest rendezvous for seamen, Cookie's Canteen, have to do with it?

And where did 903 Bubbling Well Road, Shanghai enter the picture? It was the business of Simon Templar (The Saint) to find the answers to these questions. It was his job to track down and bring to justice the "top brass" of the criminal organization that made these connections profitable.

But, the Saint was sick — He had been so ever since he first laid eyes on lovely Avalon Dexter. She was utterly desirable; her laughter was like "bells at twilight"; and honesty seemed to look out of her eyes! The Saint "had it bad."

Most important, Avalon was in a position to help him immeasurably with his mission. However, she be one of the international gang he had vowed to smash! Templar had to be sure.

When a shipment of iridium is stolen the Saint hatches a scheme to recover the goods — but then one of his prime leads is murdered and he's framed for the crime. He escapes to Galveston in Texas in pursuit of a man who has been sabotaging weapons factories, only for him to turn up burnt to a crisp. The Saint has to contend with the local police, a trio of mysterious men and a beautiful Russian in his attempt to get to the bottom of what is going on.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, the Saint has almost turned respectable. Employed by a secret wing of the government to track down spies and take on cases the ordinary police can't touch, he is dining in Washington DC when a young woman asks for his help. Her father, a noted scientist, has invented a new form of synthetic rubber — and now he has disappeared, and she is under threat. Simon is sceptical — but he swiftly realises there's something to her story. Soon he finds himself on the hunt of a band of conspirators who will stop at nothing to ensure the invention never sees the light of day.

A mysterious summons and a hidden Nazi submarine scatter death from Miami's luxurious beach villas to the treacherous Everglades.