Margery Allingham wrote three entertaining thrillers under the pseudonym Maxwell March.
These tightly plotted, fast-moving novels introduce two new detectives, new dark mysteries and dangerous conspiracies, criminal masterminds and diabolical plots. The suspenseful thrillers are united by an underlying sense of unease, of something not being quite right, and with ordinary people getting caught up in something much darker and more sinister than they ever anticipated.
Other Man’s Danger (1933)
(US title: The Man of Dangerous Secrets)
Robin Grey is Scotland Yard’s inside man, handling matters requiring a delicacy, integrity, and secrecy outside the jurisdiction of regular government offices. He’s a man of details, of observation, and of intuition. While lurking about Waterloo station on a mission for the Foreign Office, Grey’s interest is piqued by a suspicious looking character. Tailing him, Grey catches a man as he shoves a fellow passenger onto the train tracks. Rushing to intervene, Robin Grey never stops to think that saving the victim might ensnare him in a sinister plot.
Meanwhile, heiress Jennifer Fern is cursed. Tragic accidents have claimed two past fiancés, and she would have lost a third had it not been for Robin Grey’s heroic actions. Grey is drawn to this young woman and feels honour-bound to help her. Tempting fate, he goes undercover to solve the mystery. But if loving Miss Jennifer Fern means certain death, can Grey protect her, and his own heart, before history repeats itself?
Rogues’ Holiday (1935)
Inspector David Blest is trapped on a motorboat, with a pistol to his head and the life of an unconscious companion on the line. He has two choices, jump or die, and he must make the decision quickly.
The Inspector is investigating the mysterious death of a gentleman in the Senior Buffs Club, which leads him to a fashionable English seaside resort. The locals appear all too happy to help but things take a turn when Blest meets Judy Wellington, an apparently sickly young woman running from her past. But who is she and what exactly is she running from? And how has Blest found himself the murderer’s next target?
The Shadow in the House (1936)
(US Title: The Devil and Her Son)
Mary Coleridge is destitute and desperate. Out of a job, out of a home, and out of luck, Mary engages in a seemingly innocuous lie to provide her with a little break from London. Posing as her friend, she travels to the countryside to visit Miss Mason’s wealthy aunt. The estate is grand, Mrs de Liane eager and endearing, the food abundant and delectable – it is everything Mary could have hoped for. Realizing the benefits of her con, Mary settles into her new life and the possibility of a new beau. But something is not right within the great house. Mary cannot shake the feeling that something sinister is brewing in Barson’s Tye. The sweet Mrs de Liane has soured, scheming to entrap Mary in her devilish plans. When May fails to cooperate, Mrs de Liane holds her captive. How much farther will she go to keep Mary there? With no one to turn to and no way out, will Mary ever escape the house, and the oppressive evil that rules it?
