Leithen Stories Books

When his friend Charles Pitt-Heron vanishes mysteriously, Sir Edward Leithen is at first only mildly concerned. But a series of strange events that follow Pitt-Heron’s disappearance convinces Leithen that he is dealing with a sinister secret society. Their codename is ‘The Power-House’. The authorities are unable to act without evidence. As he gets deeper involved with the underworld, Leithen finds himself facing the enemy alone and in terrible danger.

Three most eminent gentlemen find themselves sunk in ennui. Soon, the local landowners are plagued with a poacher signing himself "John MacNab". The three-headed John MacNab sheds boredom and finds love in his (their?) confrontation with the Scottish wilderness.

Vernon Milbourne, orphaned as a child and haunted by a recurring dream, is a friend of the lawyer and MP, Sir Edward Leithen. An Aegean cruise takes them to the island of Plakos where Vernon is fascinated by the island’s myths. Local superstitions turn to menace as Vernon’s encounter with a beautiful woman results in obsession and adventure.

The 'Gap in the Curtain' is a supernatural story full of suspense. Guests at a country house party are enabled by an eccentric scientist to see a glimpse of an issue of 'The Times', dated a year ahead of time.

Lawyer and MP Sir Edward Leithen is given a year to live. Fearing he will die unfulfilled, he devotes his last months to seeking out and restoring to health Galliard, a young Canadian banker. Galliard is in remotest Canada searching for the ‘River of the Sick Heart’. Braving an Arctic winter, Leithen finds the banker and then his own health returns, yet only one of the men will return to civilization ….