8 h 23 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 23 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What can you trust when names, pasts, and motives stay hidden?
In The Seven Secrets, William Le Queux draws you into a mystery of murder, hidden identities, and concealed motives. A detective sees what others miss, while a trail of clues invites you to look closer. People are not quite what they seem, and the pleasure lies in guessing what they hold back.
This is a story built for forward motion. Short, quick chapters lead you toward what is hidden, step by step. Le Queux puts intrigue before deep character study, drawing on an age fascinated by crime and secret dealings. For the reader, each withheld name or purpose becomes another reason to keep turning pages.
What you’ll discover
- People behind the names Look beyond appearances as concealed identities give you reasons to question whom you can trust.
- Motives beneath the surface Follow people who hold back their true purposes, keeping suspicion alive as you read.
- A trail to follow Weigh the clues for yourself and enjoy the pull of a puzzle still taking shape.
- An eye for clues Follow a detective whose eye for what others miss makes each clue worth your attention.
- Quick chapters, steady suspense Let the brisk pace carry you onward without losing the pleasure of guessing along.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy gaslit London, clever amateur detectives, riddles with many layers, and a narrator who confides in you. It suits anyone who likes a love story tangled with a murder.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Ralph cannot explain his dread
- A warning puts love under suspicion
- A night call brings murder
- Ralph hides a troubling clue
- The wound deepens the mystery
- A river walk overturns certainty
- A plea conceals an ambush
- Jevons follows the hidden connections
- Secrecy divides love from judgment
Who’s who
- Ralph BoydA young London doctor and the narrator, who wants a quiet country practice and a life with Ethelwynn but cannot shake his dread.
- Ambler JevonsA tea blender who solves crimes for pleasure, he wants the truth and works quietly, in disguise, while saying little to anyone.
- Ethelwynn MivartMary's beautiful sister, engaged to Ralph, who lives in the Courtenay house and guards a secret she will not share.
- Mary CourtenayA young wife who loves society and amusement, and whose behaviour grows stranger as the mystery deepens.
- Henry CourtenayA rich, sick old man afraid of burglars, who is found stabbed through the heart in his own bed.
- Sir Bernard EytonA famous, miserly specialist in nervous disorders who is Ralph's chief and patron and who warns him against Ethelwynn.
- ShortThe Courtenay manservant, who finds the body and tells a story about the dagger that the police do not believe.
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The Seven Secrets
by William Le Queux · 1903
A doctor finds a scrap of cream silk beside a murdered man's bed and hides it from his detective friend.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“Nothing in the world is as convincing as a corpse.”
In short
Would you trust an instinct that warned of a disaster you could not name? Ralph Boyd, a young London doctor, cannot shake a dread that has grown in him for months.
The Seven Secrets at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 45 min3 h 45 min fast, 5 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 67,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1903by William Le Queux
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A doctor's dread and a detective friend
Ralph Boyd is thirty-three, an assistant physician at Guy's Hospital. He earned high honours at Edinburgh, yet he thinks his friends rate him too highly. He works as deputy to Sir Bernard Eyton, the great specialist in nervous disorders, and lodges in Harley Place.
His life is comfortable. Yet since a spring holiday in Scotland, a vague sense of insecurity has crept over him. One evening he tells it all to Ambler Jevons, his closest friend, over whisky and a pipe.
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Details
- First published
- 1903
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 30 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Le Queux, William. The Seven Secrets. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-seven-secrets.
Le Queux, W. (2026). The seven secrets. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-seven-secrets (Original work published 1903)
Le Queux, William. The Seven Secrets. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-seven-secrets.
@book{lequeux2026seven,
author = {Le Queux, William},
title = {The Seven Secrets},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-seven-secrets},
note = {First published 1903}
}
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What is The Seven Secrets about?
It is a Victorian mystery in which a young London doctor, Ralph Boyd, becomes entangled in the stabbing of a wealthy patient. With his detective friend Ambler Jevons, he follows clues across London and the countryside.
What are the seven secrets in the book?
Ralph counts them as the killer's identity, the strange wound, Ethelwynn's secret, her reason for living at Kew, a reappearance after burial, the attack on him, and Mary's death. Each one is explained by the end.
Who is Ambler Jevons?
Jevons is Ralph's friend, a tea blender in Mark Lane who solves crimes as a hobby. Scotland Yard respects him, and he works alone with disguises, patience and a habit of keeping his theories quiet until he is sure.
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.
“Nothing in the world is as convincing as a corpse.”
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