Plot summary
After Simon Templar intercepts a mysterious message intended for a jewel-smuggling ring during a trip to Spain, he and his sidekick Hoppy Uniatz follow the message's trail to Tenerife, Canary Islands where they rescue an elderly Dutch diamond cutter and his daughter from being beaten to death.
Templar learns that the old man is a reluctant member of the smuggling ring and, assisted by the daughter, sets out to bring down the gang. Things become more complicated when Templar learns that the man had been in possession of a lottery ticket worth the equivalent of $2 million, and that this ticket is now missing. So not only does The Saint have to rescue the diamond cutter and his daughter from the smuggling ring, he also has to track down the missing lottery ticket, which has sparked instability within the gang. Soon after, Hoppy and the diamond cutter go missing.
Templar, using his frequent "Sebastian Tombs" cover name, infiltrates the gang, posing as a freelance diamond cutter who is hired to replace the old man. (This despite the fact that Templar hasn't the slightest idea as to how to cut diamonds.) From within the gang, Templar plans to start the members double-crossing each other, but finds his work is already half done thanks to that missing lottery ticket.
Some later editions of this book include an afterword entitled "The Last Word" in which Charteris invites readers to join The Saint Club, a fan club that he founded in the 1930s. The annual dues for the club, Charteris writes, went to support the Arbour Youth Club located in east London, which at the time Charteris composed "The Last Word" was still recovering from the Blitz of World War II.
Knight Templar is the title of a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris first published in October 1930. This was the fourth book—and third full novel—featuring Charteris's Robin Hood-inspired anti-hero, Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". The title of the book is a pun on the religious organization Knights Templar. Later editions were titled The Avenging Saint and the book is also well known by this title, which was first used in a 1931 edition.
The Saint in New York is a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in 1935. It was published in the United States by Doubleday in January 1935. A shorter version of the novel had previously been published in the September 1934 issue of The American Magazine.
Saint Overboard is the title of a 1936 mystery novel by Leslie Charteris, one of a long series of novels featuring Charteris' creation Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". An edited version was previously published in November 1935 in The American Magazine as The Pirate Saint. Some paperback editions append the article The to the title.
Enter the Saint is a collection of three interconnected adventure novellas by Leslie Charteris first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in October 1930, followed by an American edition by The Crime Club in April 1931.
She Was a Lady is the title of a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris featuring his creation, Simon Templar, alias The Saint. The novel was first published in serialized form in the magazine Thriller in February and March 1930, and after being rewritten by Charteris, was first published in complete form in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in November 1931. This was the seventh book chronicling Templar's adventures, and the fourth full novel.
The Holy Terror is a collection of three mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom in May 1932 by Hodder and Stoughton. This was the eighth book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". When published in the United States for the first time, in September 1932, the title was changed to The Saint vs. Scotland Yard.
Getaway is a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris first published in the United Kingdom in September 1932 by Hodder and Stoughton. This was the fifth full-length novel featuring the adventures of the modern day Robin Hood-inspired crimebuster Simon Templar, and the ninth Saint book published overall since 1928. When first published in the United States by The Crime Club in February 1933, the title was modified to The Saint's Getaway which was later adopted by future UK editions.
Once More the Saint is a collection of three interrelated mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in January 1933. This was the tenth book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". The first American edition, published in May 1933, changed the title to The Saint and Mr. Teal, which was later adopted by UK editions of the book.
The Brighter Buccaneer is a collection of short stories by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in June 1933. This was the eleventh book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". It was the first volume to make use of the short story format; previously Charteris had written either short novels or full-length novels featuring the character. This format would dominate the series during the late 1940s and through the 1950s.
The Misfortunes of Mr. Teal is a collection of three mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom in May 1934 by Hodder and Stoughton and the United States by The Crime Club. The book was republished under two additional titles: The Saint in England and, as of 1952, The Saint in London.
The Saint Goes On is a collection of three mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom in November 1934 by Hodder and Stoughton and in the United States in May 1935 by The Crime Club. This book continues the adventures of Charteris' creation, Simon Templar, alias The Saint.
The Ace of Knaves is a collection of three mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom in 1937 by Hodder and Stoughton, and in the United States by The Crime Club. This book continues the adventures of Charteris' creation, Simon Templar, alias The Saint. Later editions of the book were retitled The Saint in Action. The adventures in this book mark the return of Templar's longtime girlfriend and partner Patricia Holm and his nemesis, Chief Inspector Claud Eustace Teal since The Saint Goes On.
Follow the Saint is a collection of three mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, featuring the criminal and crimefighter Simon Templar, alias The Saint. The collection was first published in 1938.
The Happy Highwayman is a collection of short stories by Leslie Charteris, first published in 1939 by Hodder and Stoughton in the United Kingdom and The Crime Club in the United States. This was the 21st book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". The 1963 Hodder and Stoughton paperback edition erroneously gives 1933 as the book's original publishing date.
The Saint in Miami is the title of a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris featuring his creation, Simon Templar, alias The Saint. As with an earlier release, Follow the Saint, the order of publication for this book was changed. Instead of being published first in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton, as had been custom for most previous volumes, the first edition instead came out in 1940 in the United States, published by The Crime Club. The first UK edition followed in 1941. Most future Charteris-written Saint books would be published in the United States first hereafter.
Call for the Saint is a collection of two mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United States in 1948 by The Crime Club, and later the same year in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton. This book continues the adventures of Charteris' creation, Simon Templar, alias The Saint. "The Masked Angel" features the first literary appearance of Patricia Holm, Templar's on-again, off-again partner/girlfriend, since the 1940s novel The Saint in Miami.
The Saint in Europe is a collection of short stories by Leslie Charteris, first published in 1953 by The Crime Club in the United States and in 1954 by Hodder and Stoughton in the United Kingdom. This was the 29th book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint", and it also marked a resumption of the book series after a five-year hiatus. The publication of this book also marked the 25th anniversary of the character.
Meet the Tiger is an action-adventure novel written by Leslie Charteris. In England it was first published by Ward Lock in September 1928; in the United States it was first published by Doubleday's The Crime Club imprint in March 1929 with the variant title Meet – the Tiger!. It was the first novel in a long-running series of books featuring the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". It was later reissued under a number of different titles, including the unofficial Crooked Gold by Amalgamated Press in 1929 which failed to credit the authorship of Charteris, and the best-known reissue title, The Saint Meets the Tiger. In 1940 the Sun Dial Press changed the title to Meet – the Tiger! The Saint in Danger.
The Saint's Double Trouble is a 1940 action-adventure film produced by RKO Pictures. The film stars George Sanders as Simon Templar, a.k.a. "The Saint", a master criminal turned crime-fighter, and features horror film legend Bela Lugosi as "The Partner". This was the fourth of eight films in RKO's film series about the character created by Leslie Charteris, and the first film to not be directly based upon one of the original Saint books, although Charteris did contribute to developing the story for the film.
The Saint in Palm Springs is a crime melodrama released by RKO Pictures in early 1941. The film continued the screen adventures of the Robin Hood-inspired anti-hero, Simon Templar, alias "The Saint", created by Leslie Charteris.
