6 h 3 minAudiobook16 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 3 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the most dangerous thing a man holds is something he knows?
In Edgar Wallace's The Man Who Knew, people hide secrets, names invite doubt, and one man holds knowledge that others fear. This mystery turns on the gap between what people claim to be and what they may really be. As you read, every claim becomes something to test rather than simply trust.
The Edwardian world gives those doubts weight. Strict manners and class lines make a person's name, family and standing matter. Behind polite company lies the possibility of deception. Wallace's fast, plain crime writing invites you to look past appearances and follow a clear question: what does this man know, and why do others fear it?
What you’ll discover
- Knowledge with a cost Follow a mystery where one person's knowledge becomes a source of fear for others.
- Names that invite doubt Look closely at identities that may conceal more than they reveal.
- Secrets behind good manners Enter a world where polite company leaves room for carefully hidden truths.
- A reader's double vision Test what people say about themselves against what they may really be.
- A quickening pace Enjoy quick chapters and plain storytelling that keep the central mystery in view.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like clue-filled detective stories, forged checks, locked rooms and a clever investigator, and if you enjoy Edwardian London, country houses and a cast of schemers, loyal friends and eccentric policemen.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A rich man fears a violent death
- A frightened wife and a dead stranger
- The little man who is never at a loss
- Love, money and a promise to wait
- Forged checks and a gentleman who vanishes
- Sergeant Smith calls and May overhears
- A wedding that fails and a shot in the library
- The will, the trial and a letter from Montreux
- Doubles, masks and how Wallace tells it
Who’s who
- John MinuteA gruff Rhodesian millionaire with a violent past, he fears enemies at every turn and wants to see his ward safely settled.
- Jasper ColeMinute's pale, clever secretary and amateur chemist, who keeps a secret room in the East End and holds a strong influence over May.
- Frank MerrillMinute's cheerful nephew and heir, an accountant at a London bank, who wants to marry May and be free of his uncle's control.
- May NuttallMinute's ward and the president of a charity mission, she is kind and honest and must choose between two men she cares for.
- Saul Arthur MannA small, untidy private investigator with a vast filing system, called The Man Who Knows, who seeks the truth and will not accept a lie.
- Sergeant SmithA hard-drinking policeman whose real name is Crawley, he blackmails Minute over old crimes in Rhodesia and wants a share of the money.
- Constable WisemanA vain, pompous country policeman who loves telling of his own cleverness and, to everyone's surprise, sees more than he is given credit for.
- Rex HollandA shadowy, well-dressed depositor at the bank who forges checks and slips away, always one step ahead of the police.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 3 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 16 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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El hombre que sabía
by Edgar Wallace · 1918
A millionaire fears a violent death, a secretary leads a double life, and one man claims to know everything.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Man Who Knew is an Edwardian mystery by Edgar Wallace, written as a tale of crime, love and detection in which one small man seems to hold every fact in London. It joins a rich man who fears for his life, a bank swindle, a shooting in a lighted room and a trial that holds a whole county.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A rich man fears a violent death
The story opens at Weald Lodge, a country house between Eastbourne and Wilmington. In a damp former billiard room, Jasper Cole works behind a mask over a boiling dish, testing the liquid on strips of paper. He is the confidential secretary of John Minute, who handed him the room because he had no time for billiards. Jasper is handsome, polite and pale, and he locks the door whenever the fumes rise. Alone, he studies a photograph of a sixteen-year-old girl with a sad, weak face.
Dinner is a silent meal. John Minute reads the stock-market news and grumbles that someone is buying Gwelo Deeps, a gold mine that has never paid. He owns half of the shares, and the other half belongs to May Nuttall, the daughter of his dearest friend. He tells Jasper that May is the girl he would like him to marry. He also sneers at his nephew Frank, whom he calls a bit of a rascal.
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What is The Man Who Knew by Edgar Wallace about?
It is a mystery about the murder of a rich former Rhodesian pioneer, John Minute, and the forged bank checks around him. A private investigator who seems to know everything helps clear a young man accused of the crime.
Who is the Man Who Knew in the book?
He is Saul Arthur Mann, a small private investigator in London who keeps a huge filing system of facts about people and places. Scotland Yard and the government rely on him, and the police nickname him The Man Who Knows.
Who is Rex Holland?
Rex Holland is the name of a well-dressed depositor who opens an account at a London bank and cashes forged checks in John Minute's name. Nobody except Frank Merrill has ever seen him, and the question of who he is drives the plot.
The author
Edgar Wallace
1875–1932 · British crime writer
Edgar Wallace was a hugely prolific British writer of thrillers and crime fiction who later co-created the story for King Kong. The Adventures of Heine follows Heine, a German secret agent, through a series of comic misadventures in Britain during the First World War.
More by Edgar Wallace
All 21 booksMore like this
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