The Feathered Serpent

 The Feathered Serpent (1927) by Edgar Wallace

When reporter Peter Dewin first heard about the Feathered Serpent, he laughed. "When he heard of it again, he sneered." It sounded for all the world like something from a shilling shocker or from one of the thrilling plays on London's stages. And, to be fair, the story did start with the theater. Miss Ella Creed, well-known actress, receives a cardboard message with a crude drawing of a Feathered Serpent and the words "Lest you forget." It's an exact duplicate of a card received by her friend Leicester Crewe, a stockbroker, and Joe Farmer, a boxing promoter. She scoffs at it as a joke, but she isn't scoffing when she's waylaid by a masked man at her apartment's door. She faints and when she comes to, her jewelry (all paste, fortunately) is gone, and another Feathered Serpent card is hanging round her neck.

Dewin's editor sends him to get the story. And he's none too happy. He's sure that it's nothing more than a publicity stunt on the part the of actress. But as he dutifully searches for a story that will make his boss happy, he discovers that there is more to this Feathered Serpent business than meets the eye...and when Farmer is shot on Crewe's doorstep (just as he's coming to tell Crewe that he knows who the Feathered Serpent is), Dewin realizes that he's got a hot story on his hands. Behind the Feathered Serpent is a story of forgery, theft, false imprisonment, treachery, and revenge. But will Dewin and his friend, Inspector Clarke, be able to track down the Serpent before someone else is killed? Reports are that the killer is an ex-con by the name of William Lane. But William is dead--can a ghost kill?

Wallace was a prolific author of thrillers and he's definitely at the top of his game in this one. Lots of thrilling action with killer "ghosts," menacing men in masks, fainting women, kidnap attempts, a secret code, and a mysterious key all playing their parts. Dewin is an engaging character and if he doesn't make appearances in future Wallace books...well, then Wallace missed a shot at having a really good recurring character. This is an entertaining story with a good attempt at basic clue-dropping (not bad for an adventure/thriller). I did have a glimmer about the identity of the culprit, but I didn't get the whole picture--not quite enough clue-dropping for that. But a good, quick read. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: What annoyed Peter Derwin most, as it would have annoyed any properly constituted reporter, was what he called the mystery-nove element in the Lane case.

Last line: "And whilst I slept lo! the Feathered Serpent vanished from the land!"
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Deaths = 4 (three shot; one hit by car)