Book Review: Enter The Saint by Leslie Charteris

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In my ongoing quest to read and review all of Simon Templar's adventures in order of publication, here's my review of the second book in the series: “Enter The Saint” by Leslie Charteris. First published in 1930, this book consists of three novelettes which mark the beginning of the Saint's career as a vigilante crime fighter. In the first book, “Meet The Tiger”, he was more of a treasure hunter who's activities happened to bring him into conflict with a gang of bank robbers who were in possession of a pile of stolen gold that he wanted to relieve them of. At the end of that book, Simon Templar was sailing off into the sunset in company with the beautiful Patricia Holm and the gold (which he was planning to return to the bank in return for a generous reward). The three stories in this collection take place some time later, and start with: The Man Who Was Clever It's not stated how much time has passed since the events of “Meet The Tiger”, but apparently it's been long enough for Simon Templar to have spent whatever reward money he got from the bank, because he's described as living beyond his means in an expensive flat in London. Apparently having given up his life of international adventuring, he has gathered a small group of helpers around him and is starting his own personal war against criminals. His first target is a gang of heroin smugglers headed by the supposedly respectable businessman Edgar Hayn. Rather than relying on luck and improvisation, as he did in the first book, Templar has a carefully worked out plan to relieve Hayn of some of his ill-gotten gains (which the Saint plans to donate to charity, minus his own 10% commission). The plot is fairly straightforward, although it starts with an apparent coincidence. Simon Templar has been enjoying a day at the races, when the activities of a gang of thugs led by one “Snake” Ganning come to his attention. Snake Ganning's gang beats up and robs a bookie who refuses to hand over protection money. The Saint follows the gang onto their train back to London and lets them lure him into a crooked game of Poker. Out-cheating the gang and winning all their money, the Saint then beats up all four of them before leaving them his calling card and disembarking. His calling card, incidentally marks the first appearance of the famous stickman figure which became a fixture in the Saint stories. What makes all this a coincidence is the fact that Snake and his gang also work as Hayn's hired muscle. The main part of the plot concerns the Saint's fairly devious plan to bring Hayn and his gang to justice and also line his own pockets. A couple of members of the Saint's new gang help out, but they're not particularly memorable characters. The villains Hayn and Snake are more distinctive, and Templar also enlists the help of Jerry Stannard, a basically decent young man who has got involved in Hayn's gang due to a pile of gambling debts accrued in his student days. Stannard helps the Saint con Hayn out of several thousand pounds, some of which goes to settling Stannard's debts so he and his fiance can start a new, honest life, and the remainder of which goes to charity (minus the Saint's 10%). There are also brief appearances by Inspector Teal, the overweight, gum-chewing, slow-moving but intelligent detective first featured in the non-Saint novel “Daredevil”, and Simon Templar's love interest from “Meet the Tiger”, Patricia Holm (who is implied to be living with Templar despite the fact that they never got round to marrying). Needless to say, Simon Templar's plans don't all work out smoothly, but with a combination of meticulous forward planning and reckless improvisation, the Saint and his odd assortment of friends win through in the end and justice is done. It's a good re-introduction to the character. The Policeman With Wings The second story in this collection has a simpler storyline than the first, but it's just as entertaining. Some time has passed since the events of the first story, enough for Simon Templar to have had several unrecorded adventures, and one event of note that has occurred between stories is that the Saint's identity is now known to the police. In the first story, the Saint was acting covertly, or at least as covertly as someone with his flamboyant personality can manage. But now Inspector Teal has figured out that Simon Templar is the Saint, although he can't prove it. I get the impression that the author was still trying to figure out the format for these stories. In this story, instead of the Saint looking for trouble, trouble comes to him – or at least it comes to a friend of his. Simon Templar's friend and henchman Roger Conway (a member of the Saint's gang first featured in the previous story) has met a girl by the name of Betty, who lives with her uncle in Newton Abbot. The uncle has recently been receiving offers from an unknown party acting through a lawyer to buy his house. The size of the offers has been increased several times, but the uncle has refused to sell. The unknown would-be buyer then moves on to a campaign of intimidation, involving a sniper attack and poisoned milk. The latest move in the campaign in the kidnapping of the uncle, lured away from his house by a fake policeman. So Simon and Roger tear off down to Newton Abbot on a mission to protect the girl, rescue the uncle and find out what the baddies are up to – and if they can execute a bit of justice and line their own pockets, so much the better. Simon Templar and Roger Conway are very much the central characters in this story. They get a lot of dialogue and action, and there's also a pretty decent villain. Betty gets some attention too, but she's mostly there to be the damsel in distress, as well as Roger's love interest. Inspector Teal makes his presence felt at the beginning and end of the story, establishing an uneasy relationship with the Saint, and he comes across as an intelligent detective who is always about half a step behind Templar. The Saint's faithful servant Orace from “Meet The Tiger” also makes an appearance, but unfortunately Patricia Holm is barely mentioned. Maybe Leslie Charteris didn't know what to do with her, but I can't help thinking the character had wasted potential. Nonetheless, I found this an entertaining and fast-moving story. The Lawless Lady The third and final story in this collection is a bit different, in the sense that Simon Templar isn't the main character. Instead, the story focuses on Dicky Tremayne, a member of the Saint's four-man vigilante squad. Tremayne has spent a year infiltrating a gang of criminals led by an American woman called Audrey Perowne, currently posing as the “Countess Anusia Marova”. The fake countess has cultivated a set of millionaire friends, who she has invited onto her yacht for a cruise of the Mediterranean. Once they're away from land, the gang's plan is to rob the guests of their cash and jewellery. Tremayne has gained Audrey's trust to the point where he's now in a high position in the gang, behind only Audrey and her sinister deputy Hilloran. The Saint's plan is to intercept the gang as soon as they've made the robbery, relieve them of the loot and turn them over to the police. There are two complications. First, the gang has started to suspect that someone is leaking information – and second, Tremayne has fallen in love with Audrey. Despite this internal conflict, Tremayne is determined to see his mission through for the Saint, although he also hopes to save Audrey from arrest if at all possible. He also has to fend off treachery from Hilloran, who has designs on Audrey and wants a much bigger share of the loot. The result is a decent, suspenseful story which sees Tremayne and Audrey in steadily increasing jeopardy until the Saint swoops in at the end to save the day. Out of the three stories in this collection, this one probably has the simplest plot, but it's also a bit more character-driven than the other two. Again, Inspector Teal appears at the beginning and end, but Patricia Holm is hardly featured. I would say all three stories in this book are well worth reading It's a pity that Patricia Holm is hardly featured, but Inspector Teal makes an interesting supporting character. The book serves as a good re-introduction to the character of the Saint, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series in a few weeks or months.