10 h 19 minAudiobook3 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
What would you believe when hidden treasure, ancient secrets and deadly deception disturb the quiet English countryside?
In The Black Abbot, Edgar Wallace brings hidden wealth and a sense of menace into a rural mystery. The promise of treasure gives danger a powerful lure. Yet the puzzle asks you to look beyond what people want and question what they let others see.
Deception sits at the heart of this brisk, old-fashioned mystery. Secrets make appearances hard to trust, and fear can turn attention away from practical motives. Wallace keeps the focus on suspense: who is lying, who only seems to be, and what might lie beneath a frightening surface.
What you’ll discover
- Quiet country, dark secrets Enter an English countryside where rural quiet provides the backdrop for secrets and menace.
- The lure of treasure Explore how the promise of hidden wealth gives people reasons to conceal their motives.
- Appearances worth questioning Weigh what people reveal against what they may prefer to keep out of sight.
- A brisk unfolding puzzle Follow a mystery that puts pace and suspense ahead of slow, searching character studies.
- Fear and deception Look beneath the menace and consider how frightening appearances can serve a practical purpose.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy a brisk mystery with a rural setting, secrets and a sense of menace, and anyone who loves hidden treasure, hooded legends and puzzles of lies and disguise.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Wallace writes mysteries for speed
- The English countryside hides dark secrets
- Hidden treasure draws people into danger
- Deception is the real subject
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- 15-minute summary
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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El abad negro
by Edgar Wallace · 1926
Hidden treasure and a hooded legend draw the English countryside into a mystery where fear conceals deception.
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Read free60-day money-back guaranteeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
Wallace writes mysteries for speed
Edgar Wallace was one of the most productive crime writers of his age. He dictated many of his books and worked to tight deadlines, which shaped his style. His chapters are short, his sentences are plain and his plots move forward without long pauses.
This is the first thing to know about The Black Abbot. It is written to be read quickly and to keep you guessing from one chapter to the next. The pleasure lies in the movement of the plot more than in long description.
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Who wrote The Black Abbot?
The Black Abbot was written by Edgar Wallace, an English author of crime and thriller fiction who died in 1932. He was known for writing very fast and for filling his books with strong plots and suspense.
What kind of book is The Black Abbot?
It is a mystery novel in the early twentieth century style. Readers can expect a country setting, secrets, a sense of menace and a puzzle that is solved by following the clues.
Is The Black Abbot hard to read?
No. Wallace wrote in plain language with short chapters and a quick pace. The plot is easy to follow.
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.
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