5 h 47 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 47 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
On the sunlit Riviera, a murder breaks the calm—and a respectable face may hide a secret past.
In The Sign of the Seven Sins, William Le Queux sets a murder mystery among the casinos, villas and grand hotels of the French Côte d'Azur. A death disturbs the resort's calm and opens the central puzzle: who gains from the crime, and who is close enough to be involved?
Hidden identities make appearances uncertain. A charming acquaintance may use a false name; a respectable visitor may conceal a past. As the mystery moves between wealthy and shady society, its title points toward the seven deadly sins of Christian tradition, suggesting human weakness as a way into the puzzle.
What you’ll discover
- Sunshine and suspicion Enter a Riviera setting where casinos, villas and grand hotels frame a disturbing crime.
- A murder to unravel Follow the questions a death raises about opportunity, advantage and the people nearby.
- Names that conceal Look beyond charm and respectability in a mystery built around disguise and hidden identity.
- The shadow of sin Consider how the title's seven sins suggest a darker view of human motives.
- Old-fashioned intrigue Enjoy a fast-moving mystery that keeps its truth back while appearances invite doubt.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy a mystery with glamour, from masked balls and casino tables to sleeping cars and Paris cafes, and who like a heroine telling her own tale with spirit and a sharp eye for fashion.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two friends leave Washington for Europe
- Monte Carlo brings luck and a shock
- A dead man waits in the sitting room
- A millionaire keeps a secret workshop
- A masked owl brings a threat
- Stolen money and false detectives
- A locked cabin, a lost train and a stranger
- Paris, a cipher and a hidden door
- Love, greed and how the tale is told
Who’s who
- Carmela RosselliA young American of Italian family who tells the story and still loves the man who left her. She wants the truth about Reggie's death.
- Ulrica YorkeCarmela's wealthy, stylish cousin and guardian, who treats love as a game and loves excitement and gambling.
- Reginald ThorneA handsome young American with a fortune, who admires Carmela and has astonishing luck at roulette on his last day.
- Gerald KeppelThe millionaire's son, a good-humored friend of Reggie, who escorts the women and is drawn to Ulrica.
- Benjamin KeppelThe Steel King of Pittsburgh, who dresses plainly, turns ivory in a secret workshop and trusts Carmela with his lonely heart.
- Ernest CameronThe dark, handsome man Carmela once loved, who appears at Monte Carlo with another woman and whose actions puzzle her.
- The OwlA masked stranger at the Carnival ball who warns Carmela away from Keppel and gives her a mysterious gift.
- Mr. BarnesKeppel's round-faced secretary, who runs the villa and whom Carmela distrusts for his small eyes.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 5 h 47 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Das Zeichen der sieben Sünden in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Das Zeichen der sieben Sünden
by William Le Queux · 1917
A young American woman on the Riviera dances with a masked owl who warns her of death and hands her stolen money.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Sign of the Seven Sins is a mystery novel by William Le Queux, an English writer of thrillers who died in 1927. It is told in the first person by Carmela Rosselli, a young American of Italian family, who sets out to write her strange story plainly and fairly.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two friends leave Washington for Europe
Carmela Rosselli opens by telling us who she is. Her mother was an American from Washington and her father an Italian marquis, and both parents died when she was fifteen. Educated by nuns in a Florence convent, she returns to Washington in the care of her cousin Ulrica Yorke, a stylish and wealthy young woman only a few years older than herself.
Ulrica is bored with life and with an admirer named Guy, who has grown too serious for her taste. She proposes a year in Europe, with London, Paris, Monte Carlo and Rome on the list. Carmela agrees, partly because Washington reminds her daily of Ernest, the man she loved and who left her.
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What is The Sign of the Seven Sins about?
It follows Carmela Rosselli, an American in Europe, whose friend is found dead in a mysterious way after a big win at Monte Carlo. She is drawn into a chase across the Riviera, a yacht, Italy and Paris.
Why is it called The Sign of the Seven Sins?
The title is a nickname for the Casino at Monte Carlo. Painted in white and gold, it is described as a place where all the vices gather, from greed to vanity, under a cheerful face.
Who tells the story in this book?
Carmela Rosselli tells it herself, in the first person. She writes after the events, speaks directly to the reader and admits her own mistakes, which gives the book a warm, confiding tone.
The author
William Le Queux
1864–1927 · Anglo-French novelist
William Le Queux (1864–1927) was an Anglo-French writer born in London. He died in Knokke, Belgium. He wrote novels about espionage, crime and war. His books include The Great War in England in 1897, published in 1894, and The Czar’s Spy, published in 1905. He also worked with radio.
More by William Le Queux
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