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Secret service did not end with the close of the Great War, and some alluring adventures in the highway and byways of diplomacy are narrated in "The Councillors of Falconhoe," the new serial story by Mr. Fred. M. White, publication of which will begin in the columns of the "Herald" on Friday. The story opens in the cardroom of the Mars and Jupiter Club, London, where a few diplomatists are enjoying a quiet rubber of bridge, and the reader's interest is held from the start in an atmosphere of excitement. Hilary Jelicorse, the central figure in the story, after exciting adventures in the war, is unable to settle down to the comparatively peaceful routine of the Foreign Office. He prefers to work through other channels for the Foreign Secretary, and in the book is engaged thrillingly in countering the machinations of those who would throw Europe further towards the abyss. With him are a miscellaneous assortment of people, also unable to adjust themselves to humdrum life after the hectic years of war adventure. The Ladies Peggy and Joan Pevensey, twin daughters of the Duke of Fairbourne, after thrilling exploits in Serbia, are anxious to assist him. Then there is the impecunious nobleman, Nelson, compelled by circumstances arising out of the war to act as a waiter in the Hotel Agincourt. Mingling with them, and all involved in the exciting plot, are prima donnas, Spanish grandees, German plotters chafing under defeat, and others.

Falconhoe is an old manor house on the high cliffs, not far from the lovely village of Lynton, in North Devon. It is a secluded and romantic spot of England, and here Jelicorse has started, with his associates, as a sort of international detective agency, with branches all over Europe, private service of aeroplanes, and wireless to Berlin, Vienna, and Rome. A beautiful ancient emerald, won by the opera singer, Inez Salviati, has an important bearing upon the story. A fascinating woman is this Salviati, with her slim, graceful figure, dark, intelligent eyes, and smile that is both mocking and elusive. She has worked on secret missions with Jelicorse in Mexico City and elsewhere, and she plays a large part in the present adventure. Readers of the story will probably agree that its subject matter has a perennial fascination, that the plot is excitingly developed, and that Europe, as always still offers superb attractions to the man of adventurous imagination.

—The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 August 1922