The year is 1912. Richard Hannay, a thirty year old Mining Engineer is on his way from South Africa to England on the steamship 'Union Castle'. Whilst on board ship he encounters Lord Haslemere and his beautiful daughter, Lady Anne, and is invited to Lady Anne's coming-of-age party in London. Upon arriving in England, Hannay tells his good friend Reggie Armitage that whilst working in Rhodesia some months previously, he had been shot and left for dead by Count Von Schwabing and a curious black stone had been left in his right hand. Reggie tells him that five agents, all of them working for Military Intelligence, had been found murdered under similar circumstances. Hannay finds a mysterious package has been left in his cabin trunk on board the ship, but when he tries to deliver the package he is assaulted and left for dead in a cellar in Limehouse. During the course of the next day or so Hannay finds himself charged with two murders of which he is innocent, and with the assistance of
On his way to visit friends at Waddam Hall, Richard Hannay encounters Lady Madrigal Fitzjames, an impoverished member of the aristocracy, who is sharing the same railway compartment. By coincidence, Lady Madrigal is also on her way to Waddam Hall. Due to muddled directions, both Hannay and Lady Madrigal end up at Waddam Manor, not Waddam Hall; here they are mistaken for the newly married couple Sir Gerald and Lady Masefield. A fabulously valuable diamond necklace known as 'The Masefield Diamonds' plays a large part in the rest of the proceedings, which involves an international gang of jewel thieves, servants in the attic, abductions, mistaken identities, and swashbuckling adventure.
Von Schwabing is on the carpet at the German Embassy over the mess he made of the plot to destroy the British/Russian Peace Alliance described in 'Fellowship Of The Black Stone'. He swears that The Fellowship Of The Black Stone will be successful this time in its intention to eliminate Britain's First Sea Lord, Sir James West, whose armament of Great Britain is faster than Germany's. Von Schwabing sets out to enlist Richard Hannay as an unwilling assassin of Sir James West. Hannay is kidnapped and finds himself upon what appears to be a sea-going vessel. Using a young schoolgirl, who is in reality the Russian Grand-Duchess Madeline, Von Schwabing applies relentless pressure to Hannay who is put into a terrible moral dilemma. He must choose between the life of one of his best friends, Saunders, a member of Intelligence, and that of the Grand-duchess Madeline. Further he is railroaded by Von Schwabing into either killing Sir James West or letting Madeline die. Using all of his ingeni
Somebody is sending threatening letters containing quotes from Shakespeare to Richard Hannay's old friend Reggie Armitage. Hannay gets a lesson in female equality when his life is saved by Simone Angeketell, a member of the Suffragette Movement, who saves him from a person who has murdered a number of men who have one thing in common - all were members of the same squadron in the Boer War who gave evidence at the court-martial of Jerry Edwards - an act which leads to tragic consequences.
""Will ye no come back again....?"" Richard Hannay returns to Strathallen, the village in Scotland where he was born and where he spent the first seven years of his life. He meets Alison Ross, his childhood friend, who is now the village schoolmistress. She is engaged to Lord Malcolm Drysdale, an impoverished nobleman, who in an endeavour to meet crippling death duties, is selling some of the land belonging to his estate to a mining company who want the land for a colliery. This act will cripple the community of Strathallen, which is comprised mainly of farmers. When they discover that Hannay is in fact a Mining Engineer he suddenly finds that he is not at all welcome, although this is pure coincidence, as Hannay is simply visiting the town of his birth. Into this explosive atmosphere walks Logan, a troublemaker who is working for the Mining Company but who pretends that he is representing the farmers. Trouble occurs for Alison when it is discovered that Hannay is staying with her, al
The Under-Secretary Of State For War, Sir Greville Strickland is visiting Monte Carlo with his beautiful young wife, Lady Veronica. While Lady Veronica loses heavily at the gambling tables, Sir Greville is convincing the Baronne Di Castigliani, who is expected to be the new Head of Government in Italy, that it is in Italy's best interests to dump the Austro-Hungarian Alliance and Germany, and to join up with the new alliance between Great Britain, France and Russia, since war in Europe is expected to break out very soon. The Baronne Di Castigliani is thoroughly convinced when Sir Greville tells him that Italy's defences will be strengthened by the introduction of a new weapon which is being tested in England, the Vickers Machine Gun. Unknown to Sir Greville is the fact that the sinister Count Von Schwabing and his Fellowship Of The Black Stone are lurking in the background, gathering intelligence and waiting to undermine the delicate negotiations between Great Britain and Italy. Mean
Richard Hannay meets Sybil Verney, a beautiful woman who is also of South African origin. Unlike Hannay, who feels 'surrounded' in London and prefers the wide-open spaces of Africa, Sybil is very fond of England and of its society. Very quickly, Richard Hannay falls under her spell; he falls desperately in love for the first time in his life, but Sybil Verney has a secret. She is being blackmailed by Sir Marcus Leonard, a ruthless gambler and racehorse owner, who has a hold over Sybil. The secret is to be found in some letters which Sir Marcus has securely locked away in his safe. Richard Hannay offers to get the letters for Sybil, but in order to do so must take some lessons in safe-breaking from Sal Alford. He is an apt pupil, managing to break into Sir Marcus's safe, while Sal acts as guard outside. Unfortunately, he is caught by Sir Marcus, but Sal escapes with the incriminating letters. Sir Marcus convinces Hannay that Sybil is a liar and a cheat. Who is telling the truth?
Richard Hannay is introduced to Dr. Nils Larssen and his daughter Kirsten by Lord Hurst, the owner of a Chemicals business which operates out of Hurst Grange, a manor house in the English countryside. Dr. Larssen is working on a serum which will produce a vaccine against 'the terrors of the earth' - typhus, tuberculosis and cholera, which may be needed in the event of germ warfare in any conflict with Germany. The idea is to produce vast amounts of the vaccine which Lord Hurst is prepared to back and then to market. Also working in the laboratory at Hurst Grange is Edgar Voce, a German agent. Voce approaches Otto Von Schwabing, the murderous teutonic villain who is responsible for most, if not all of the treacherous activity of The Black Stone, the German Terrorist Organisation. Voce tells Von Schwabing that he is producing vaccine for German use in the event of warfare, and Von Schwabing keeps his ear to the ground. Dr. Larssen becomes suspicious of Voce, and is poisoned by him, d
""God and His Angels bless you, Dirk; you shall hear the trumpet on the other side. Goodbye, old warrior."" With this blessing Richard Hannay kisses Dirk Huysman, the man who had brought him up in South Africa after his parents died, and who is now dead himself, leaving Hannay with one last commission - to find his old adversary, Desmond Leigh, and to give him a fortune in uncut diamonds after Hannay is assured by Desmond Leigh that he bears no ill-will towards Huysman. Three months later in England, Hannay finds Desmond Leigh. He is married to a beautiful young woman called Barbara, but is a drunken wastrel. Leigh has enemies, too, from South Africa, two brothers by the name of Baxter who are owed money by Leigh. The elder brother, Meredith Baxter, declares that he is going to confront Leigh at gunpoint and demand to know where his money is. Baxter arrives while Hannay is visiting Leigh, and Leigh is murdered by Meredith Baxter. Hannay captures Baxter and hands him over to the poli
The place is Venice, Italy. Richard Hannay assists seductive artist Dore Nicholson to board the Trans-European train to London, on which he is also a passenger. Other passengers include Boy Morland, Hannay's old friend, now a Diplomatic Courier, and Auguste Karrs, a Turkish Oil Tycoon. Hannay and Dore Nicholson spend a romantic evening together. However, Dore is being watched by Conrad Smith, Karrs' personal secretary. Smith asks Boy Morland to use Hannay to get the information he wants from Dore. Boy Morland warns Hannay, but Hannay does not take him seriously. Why is Auguste Karrs so interested in Dore Nicholson's paintings, most particularly the ones that she painted in Mesopotamia? Dore refuses to show the paintings, but before going to bed, she secretly gives a notebook of her sketches to Hannay. The next morning she has disappeared. What was the mysterious Frau Steve doing in Dore's compartment on that morning? Hannay decides to investigate, and is aided by Colonel Wormesl
Richard Hannay is the new Honorary Secretary of the rugger group, 'The Centurions'. Sal Alford, landlady of Alford's Music Hall is being threatened by standover merchant, Joe Morris, who is demanding protection money. Joe Morris is a rogue member of Charlie Peterson's east-end gang of thugs. Sal, frightened for her life, approaches Richard Hannay who tells her not to pay any money to Joe Morris. When Joe Morris arrives at Alford's Music Hall with Charlie Peterson's gang he is confronted by Richard Hannay's gang, 'The Centurions', who throw them out, but not before Richard Hannay is threatened by Joe Morris personally. Alford's Music Hall is subsequently vandalised, and Hannay is abducted by Joe Morris; however, he manages to bluff himself out of the situation by telling Morris that he - Hannay - is the leader of a larger, more elite rival gang operating from the West End of London, which is comprised of politicians and members of the aristocracy. Hannay organises a 'sting' involving
Perry Swimborn, an old friend of Richard Hannay's, has beeen found drowned on the moors in England. Hannay is surprised to find that he is a beneficiary in Swimborn's will - he has been left a lighthouse in the region where Swimborn died, a walking stick, and a pair of binoculars with instructions ""to use them to help my dearest to accomplish her ambitions"". Swimborn's fortune and manor-house have been bequeathed to his natural daughter, Vivian Laputa, born in Africa and the product of a forbidden love between Swimborn and a black African Queen. Hannay talks to Delahunty, Swimborn's lawyer, about the Laputa golden amulet which symbolizes Vivian's right to her tribe's throne. No-one knows where it is, and Delahunty believes that Swimborn was murdered whilst protecting it from somebody who wanted it for its immense monetary value. Delahunty asks Hannay to protect Vivian while she is in England, as Cromwell and Vermilion, Swimborn's nephews, feel betrayed by their uncle's will, and may
The year is 1912 and the 'unsinkable' ship 'Titanic' has sunk. Richard Hannay's god-daughter Susan is being married to Lord Berenger's son, Michael Harrington, and Hannay is visiting her family. The night before the wedding Michael goes missing after his batchelor's party. Why did Lord Berenger send a large and immensely valuable consignment of gold to Canada via 'The Titanic' which was in fact heading for the United States? Did the missing gold in fact go down with the ill-fated ship - the uninsurable on board the unsinkable? What is the mystery behind the ship's bells at the foundary used by the firm Campbell/Mallory, of which Lord Berenger is Managing Director. Hannay finds himself involved in a bizarre mystery involving a kidnapping, two murders and a plot involving the Czar of Russia.
