Résumé
Résumé de Kate Plus 10
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
Readers who love clever criminals, witty banter between rivals, train and heist puzzles, and old-fashioned London settings, as well as anyone who enjoys a romance that grows between a detective and the thief he is chasing.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
Kate Plus 10 is a crime comedy by Edgar Wallace, first printed in the years after the First World War. Wallace was a London writer who turned out thrillers at astonishing speed, and here he builds a whole book around a duel between two clever people who like each other far too much. On one side stands Kate Westhanger, a girl of nineteen who plans great robberies the way a general plans a campaign. On the other stands Inspector Michael Pretherston of Scotland Yard, who wants her caught and, rather awkwardly, wants her for himself.
The book gives you a lively chase across London and the south of England. There are disguises, forged telegrams, a police raid, bombs that blow open strongrooms and take nothing, and a crime that sounds impossible: the theft of a whole railway train carrying twenty tons of gold. Along the way you meet a bad-tempered earl, his sharp-minded daughter, a pompous businessman, a rich young man who can hardly finish a sentence, and nine neighbours on one quiet street who are all thieves.
Wallace writes with quick dialogue, teasing wit and a plan laid out in fair view, so you can weigh the clues alongside the detective. Let us begin where it all starts, in a grand London house, over a missing pearl necklace that is not what it seems.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A Missing Necklace Brings Back MichaelFree
- 2Kate Is the Brain Behind Crime Street
- 3Kate Plans Like a General
- 4A Wager Is Made in Michael's Flat
- 5Two Victims Fall for Two Disguises
- 6A Raid, a Park Bench, and Two Explosions
- 7The Gold Train Vanishes, and Michael Tracks It
- 8What the Book Says About Honor, Money and Play
- 9How Wallace Builds the Chase
Point clé 1 sur 9
A Missing Necklace Brings Back Michael
The story opens at Felton House in London, where the Earl of Flanborough is in a foul mood. He is a thin, bald, bad-tempered man who made two million pounds in mining before a stroke of luck handed him a title and a heavily mortgaged estate. This morning eighty-three pearls have vanished from his daughter's keeping, and he is drafting a notice that offers a reward he keeps cutting down until it offers nothing exact at all.
His daughter, Lady Moya, is twenty-two, pretty and sensible about money. She has gone over the night before step by step and decided the thief must be her maid, Martin, who is now locked in her room with a footman at the door. Moya is practical in love, too. Five years ago she promised to marry a poor, hot-headed young man named Michael Pretherston, then sent him a fourteen-page letter listing her conditions.
Scotland Yard sends Inspector Pretherston, and Michael himself strides in, older and better looking and amused by everyone. He asks Moya what mood she was in that night and whether she took off her fur cloak herself. Then he asks to see the cloak. The pearls hang from a flat hook in the silk lining, caught there when she tossed the garment aside in a temper.
Michael says the same small accident has happened half a dozen times since those hooks came into fashion. He then scolds the family for locking up an innocent woman, and he speaks to the maid with such mock gratitude toward her generous employers that Lord Flanborough is nearly speechless. Moya feels whatever warmth she had left for her old suitor burn away in sudden anger.
Before he leaves, Michael asks for a secretary to take down his report. In comes Miss Tenby, the quiet girl in black who has worked in the house for a month. Michael greets her warmly as Kate and asks after the Colonel and Gregori. Her mask slips, and the shy secretary becomes a sharp-tongued young woman who tells him he will never win a conviction. She sneers at the earl's cheap cigarettes and leaves the library on Michael's arm.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Kate Plus 10
What is Kate Plus 10 about?
It follows Kate Westhanger, a young woman who plans huge robberies, and Inspector Michael Pretherston of Scotland Yard, who is trying to catch her. Their cat-and-mouse game centers on the theft of an entire train of gold.
Who wrote Kate Plus 10 and when?
Edgar Wallace wrote it. He was a British author of crime and adventure fiction who died in 1932. The book appeared in the years after the First World War, and it keeps the manners and settings of that period.
Who is Kate Westhanger?
She is the niece of Colonel Westhanger, raised to steal on a grand scale. She plans each big crime in detail, never leaves her name on one, and enjoys the thrill more than the money.
What is Crime Street in the book?
Crime Street is the police nickname for a curved road of nine houses in Hampstead. Every house is home to a known thief, each with a respectable cover such as civil engineer or teacher of languages. Kate and her uncle live at Number Six.
Is Kate Plus 10 easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that matters: it is built from short chapters and lively conversation, with a clear chase and plenty of humor. The plot is easy to follow and the clues are laid out fairly for the reader.