8 h 33 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a world of polite dinners and country houses, a pleasant manner can hide a dangerous purpose.
The Yellow Crayon by E. Phillips Oppenheim takes you into wealthy drawing rooms, clubs and country houses where crime sits close to comfort. Money and rank shape this world, but good manners offer no promise of good intentions. Beneath the polished surface, secrets give some people power and leave others searching for answers.
Secrecy drives this crime thriller from chapter to chapter. Some people hold information that others want, and quiet menace runs through the social world they share. Oppenheim keeps the focus on intrigue and forward movement. The pleasure lies in following schemes behind polite manners, with short chapters that invite you to keep going.
What you’ll discover
- Manners with a hidden edge Look beyond pleasant company to the dangerous purposes that a polished manner can conceal.
- Secrets worth pursuing Follow a plot driven by information some people guard and others want to uncover.
- High society under suspicion Enter drawing rooms and country houses where money and rank are more than background.
- One more short chapter Enjoy brisk storytelling that puts intrigue first and keeps pulling you toward the next page.
- The thriller taking shape Discover early habits of the thriller in a story built around secrecy and quiet menace.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy secret societies, cool-headed heroes, drawing room duels of wit and plots set among dukes, statesmen and clever women will find this a lively and satisfying book.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Duke Leaves His Silent House
- Following a Trail Through New York
- The Revolver, the Telegram and the Circe
- London, a Niece and a Statesman
- Inside the House of Intrigue
- A Confession and a Dinner at the Club
- Sabin Walks In on His Enemies
- Poison, Politics and a Prince's Passion
- How the Book Works and What It Cares About
Who’s who
- Mr. SabinThe Duc de Souspennier, an aging, limping exile with a cool head who gives up politics to win back his wife.
- LucilleSabin's wife, also called the Countess Radantz, who is pulled from a happy life in Lenox to carry out a task for her secret order.
- The Prince of Saxe LeinitzerThe smiling head of the order's London plots, an old rival of Sabin who wants Lucille for himself.
- Lady Muriel CareyA brilliant, reckless adventuress who serves the Prince yet cannot hide her fascination with Sabin.
- Reginald BrottThe Home Secretary and radical leader, a likely future Prime Minister, who has loved Lucille for twenty years.
- DusonSabin's pale, silent valet, a devoted servant who is also bound to the society.
- FelixLucille's brother, who loves her dearly and helps Sabin quietly, while saying his own hands are tied.
- PassmoreA small, sharp former Scotland Yard detective who watches Sabin and wants to solve a deadly mystery.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 8 h 33 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 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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Der gelbe Zeichenstift
by E. Phillips Oppenheim · 1903
A duke in disguise crosses the Atlantic to win back his wife from a secret order.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Yellow Crayon is a thriller by E. Phillips Oppenheim, who died in 1946.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Duke Leaves His Silent House
The story opens in a quiet country house in late summer. A man has sat motionless in a high-backed chair for a day and a night, while bees hum in the clematis outside. At last he strikes a silver gong and calls for Burgundy. He is the Duc de Souspennier, but he tells his servant Duson that the duke stays behind. From now on the traveler is plain Mr. Sabin.
He orders everything packed and most of the staff paid off. His wife will not be coming back, he says, and her clothes must stay exactly as she left them. A cable goes to a man named Felix in Paris, asking him to meet Sabin in New York in a month. The reader senses at once that this is a man who plans ahead and trusts few people.
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What is The Yellow Crayon about?
It follows the Duc de Souspennier, living as Mr. Sabin, who searches for his wife after a secret society of aristocrats takes her away. The trail leads from New York to London and brings him against a prince and a rising statesman.
What does the yellow crayon mean in the book?
The yellow crayon is the mark of a secret order of aristocrats. Its members write warnings and orders in a peculiar yellow pencil, and the crest is drawn with it too. It stands for the society's reach and its quiet threats.
Who is Mr. Sabin?
Mr. Sabin is the plain name used by Victor, the Duc de Souspennier, a French exile and former schemer who became an English citizen. He lives quietly in America until his wife disappears, and then he returns to Europe to find her.
The author
E. Phillips Oppenheim
1866–1946 · English thriller novelist
Edward Phillips Oppenheim was an English novelist, born in London in 1866. He lived in Leicester and later on Guernsey, where he died in 1946. He wrote novels and short stories, including The Yellow Crayon (1903), The Zeppelin’s Passenger (1918), and The Great Impersonation (1920).
More by E. Phillips Oppenheim
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