Audiobook · read by volunteers
Clue of the Twisted Candle
Edgar Wallace (1875–1932)
Read by Lizzie Driver, Silver, J. M. Smallheer, Jason Oakley, Chuck Spann, Christabel, Brett Condron, Gesine, krithiga, Lucy Burgoyne (1950-2014) · 23 chapters · 5 h 53
About the book
John Lexman is a successful writer with a loving wife and a promising future. Then he is arrested for murder, tried and sent to Broadmoor Prison. His friend T. X. Meredith, head of a special branch of Scotland Yard, refuses to believe him guilty, and begins to work quietly to prove his innocence. The trail leads through a series of puzzles that grow stranger the closer T. X. comes to the truth. Edgar Wallace, one of the most prolific crime writers of his day, keeps the pace brisk and the twists coming. If you enjoy a thriller in which a clever policeman, a determined friend and a growing sense of danger drive the story forward, this is a satisfying choice.
Introduction
Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was a British writer of enormous output, famous for thrillers, detective stories and adventure novels, and also active as a journalist, playwright and screenwriter. In his time he was among the most widely read authors in England, and his name on a book cover was a promise of speed and excitement. Today he is remembered, among other things, as a co-writer of the original screenplay of King Kong.
The Clue of the Twisted Candle was published in 1918. It features T. X. Meredith, who appears in a number of Wallace's novels. The plot involves a miscarriage of justice, a secret that must be uncovered, and a confrontation with those who profit from it. Like many of Wallace's books, it offers a lot of plot in a short space, with sharp dialogue and an eye for the odd corners of London life.
Critics have sometimes dismissed Wallace as a mere producer of popular entertainment, but his stories have a lively energy, and they offer a glimpse of how readers of the First World War era enjoyed their crime fiction. The recording has twenty-three chapters and lasts almost six hours, read by LibriVox volunteers. It is a good choice for lovers of classic mysteries who want a fast-moving tale. It is a well-paced, atmospheric mystery that fits comfortably into an evening or two, and it will please anyone who likes to guess the solution before the detective does.
Public domain
Edgar Wallace died in 1932: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text