The Yellow Crayon by E. Phillips Oppenheim

Description

Felix Sabin, an ageing English gentleman of formidable composure — and, in secret, a continental duke — learns that the Duchess has been removed from his life against her will and hurried across the Atlantic. Laying aside his disguise, he follows the trail through steamships, hotel registers, and the guarded confidences of New York, where a corrupt ring feeds on the great and the anonymous messages written in yellow pencil multiply.

Behind the pursuit stands a secret society of the old aristocracies, sworn to hold the line against a rising politics of crowds and republics, and entirely willing to sacrifice private happiness to its object. Oppenheim at his most atmospheric makes the reader comb drawing rooms and city streets for a vanished woman, and wait on the last message in yellow crayon.

Why readers still come back to it

• Oppenheim’s signature blend of espionage and romance in elegant Edwardian prose.
• A hero whose real power is masked by age and frailty.
• Coded warnings and a vanishing woman that keep every turn surprising.

About this DodaBooks edition

Prepared for fine reading: elegant clear type, a fully linked table of contents, and paced chapters suited to a page-turning classic. The crayon’s last message waits in the file that downloads the moment you pay.