Beware of Johnny Washington: Based on ‘Send for Paul Temple’
Описание книги
Republished for the first time since 1951, Beware of Johnny Washington is Francis Durbridge’s clever reworking of the very first Paul Temple radio serial using his new characters, the amiable Johnny Washington and newspaper columnist Verity Glyn. Includes as a bonus the first Paul Temple short story, ‘A Present for Paul’.When a gang of desperate criminals begins leaving calling cards inscribed ‘With the Compliments of Johnny Washington’, the real Johnny Washington is encouraged by an attractive newspaper columnist to throw in his lot with the police. Johnny, an American ‘gentleman of leisure’ who has settled at a quiet country house in Kent to enjoy the fishing, soon finds himself involved with the mysterious Horatio Quince, a retired schoolmaster who is on the trail of the gang’s unscrupulous leader, the elusive ‘Grey Moose’.Best known for creating Paul Temple for BBC radio in 1938, Francis Durbridge’s prolific output of crime and mystery stories, encompassing plays, radio, television, films and books, made him a household name for more than 50 years. A new radio character, ‘Johnny Washington, Esquire’, hit the airwaves in 1949, leading to the publication of this one-off novel in 1951.This Detective Club classic is introduced by writer and bibliographer Melvyn Barnes, author of Francis Durbridge: A Centenary Appreciation, who reveals how Johnny Washington’s only literary outing was actually a reworking of Durbridge’s own Send for Paul Temple.
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Francis Durbridge. Beware of Johnny Washington: Based on ‘Send for Paul Temple’
Copyright
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I. AN OBVIOUS CLUE
CHAPTER II. ENTER JOHNNY WASHINGTON
CHAPTER III. GREY MOOSE
CHAPTER IV. A JOB FOR THE POLICE
CHAPTER V. INQUISITIVE LADY
CHAPTER VI. A PRELIMINARY CONFERENCE
CHAPTER VII. A CALL FROM SCOTLAND YARD
CHAPTER VIII. LONDON BY THE SEA
CHAPTER IX. TALK OFF THE RECORD
CHAPTER X. RENDEZVOUS
CHAPTER XI. WHAT’S YOUR POISON?
CHAPTER XII. JOHNNY MAKES A SUGGESTION
CHAPTER XIII. AN UNEXPECTED PRESENT
CHAPTER XIV. A STRAIGHT TIP
CHAPTER XV. AN INFORMAL VISIT
CHAPTER XVI. BEHIND THE PANEL
CHAPTER XVII. THE SECRET TUNNEL
CHAPTER XVIII ‘THE BEST LAID PLANS …’
CHAPTER XIX. A CASE OF ABDUCTION?
CHAPTER XX. EXIT VERITY GLYN?
CHAPTER XXI. MR QUINCE HAD A CLUE
CHAPTER XXII. THE ENEMY CAMP
CHAPTER XXIII. RUN TO EARTH
CHAPTER XXIV. THE DESERTED CAR
CHAPTER XXV ‘RELEASE AT DAWN’
CHAPTER XXVI. THE END OF GREY MOOSE?
POSTSCRIPT
A PRESENT FOR PAUL
THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB
About the Publisher
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‘THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB is a clearing house for the best detective and mystery stories chosen for you by a select committee of experts. Only the most ingenious crime stories will be published under the THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB imprint. A special distinguishing stamp appears on the wrapper and title page of every THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB book—the Man with the Gun. Always look for the Man with the Gun when buying a Crime book.’
Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1929
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‘Eh? What’s that?’
‘There are no fingerprints on it. I used rubber gloves when I put it together, and whoever tore it up and put it in that waste-paper basket must have done the same. Now, if Mr Washington left that card deliberately, why should he go to the trouble of using gloves?’
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