Some writers become so identified with one character you don’t often think of other characters they created. Erle Stanley Gardner is a perfect example. Perry Mason is the immediate identification, despite his excellent Cool and Lam books. Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe is the same despite the Tecumseh Fox series, you get the idea. Leslie Charteris is another author who we immediately associate with Simon Templar, who appeared in 36 books by Charteris and another 17 or so by work-for-hire hacks (including Harry Harrison!). What is easy to forget, ignore or be unaware of is that Charteris started out writing stories that weren’t Saint related. He later revised these adventures as the earliest of Simon Templar’s daring escapades but first they appeared as the stories of other men.
The Thriller (“The Paper with a Thousand Thrills”) was a biweekly British Mystery paper (similar to Pulps in America, these books were only 28 pages but crammed with small print). Publication begun on February 9, 1929. The first issue featured superstar Edgar Wallace’s “Red Aces”. By the fourth issue (March 2, 1929), Leslie Charteris had taken center stage with “The Story of a Dead Man” featuring Jimmy Trail. By “The Judgment of the Joker” (June 14, 1929), the Jimmy Trails and Mr. Hayns had been replaced for all time by Simon Templar, though his famous calling card took a little longer to show up. The non-Saint stories were re-penned as Templar tales before book publication. Charteris produced a steady stream of stories for The Thriller, collecting them at the same time that he wrote longer novels that he published elsewhere.
The covers and the generous interiors for The Thriller were by R. Jones.Free public domain downloads are available for the earliest issues here. If you’d like to own the originals try here.
1. “The Story of a Dead Man” (March 2, 1929) – rewritten for Alias the Saint (1931)
2. “The Secret of Beacon Inn” (April 6, 1929) – rewritten as “The National Debt” in Alias the Saint (1931)
3. “The Five Kings” (May 4th, 1929) – rewritten as “The Man Who Was Clever” in Enter the Saint (1930)
4. “The Judgment of the Joker” (June 1, 1929) – retitled “The Wonderful War” in Knight Templar (1930)
5. “The Creeping Death” (July 13, 1929) – became The Last Hero (1931)
6. “The House on the Moors” (August 24, 1929) – retitled “The Policeman with Wings” in Enter the Saint (1930)
7. “Crook Cargo” (October 19, 1929) – retitled as “The Lawless Lady” in Enter the Saint (1930)
8. “Sudden Death” (November 9, 1929) – became The Last Hero (1931)
9. “Number One” (February 1, 1930) – included in She Was a Lady (1931)
10. “The Second Victim” (March 15, 1930) – included in She Was a Lady (1931)
11. “The Third Victim” (April 12, 1929) – included in She Was a Lady (1931)
12. “Without Warning!” (May 24, 1930) – retitled “The Logical Adventure” in Knight Templar (1930)
13. “Treachery!” (October 11, 1930) – retitled “The Man Who Could Not Die” in Knight Templar (1930)
14. “Bumped Off!” (March 7, 1931) – retitled “The Impossible Crime” in Alias the Saint (1931)
15. “The Masked Menace” (April 25, 1931) – retitled “The Inland Revenue” in The Holy Terror (1932)
16. “Black Face” (June 6, 1931) – retitled “The Million Pound Day” in The Holy Terror (1932)
17. “The Property of the Deceased” (February 6, 1932) – included in Getaway (1932)
18. “Two Men From Munich” (June 18, 1932) – included in Getaway (1932)
19. “The Gold Flood” (October 15, 1932) – retitled “The Gold Standard” in Once More the Saint (1933)
20. “The Saint Hi-Jacker” (November 19,1932) – retitled “The Man From St. Louis” in Once More the Saint (1933)
21. “The Book of Fate” (February 10, 1934) -retitled “The Simon Templar Foundation” in The Misfortunes of Mr. Teal (1934)
22. “On the Night of the 13th” (February 24, 1934) -retitled “The Higher Finance” in The Misfortunes of Mr. Teal (1934)
23. “After the Murder” (March 24, 1934) -retitled “The Art of Alibi” in The Misfortunes of Mr. Teal (1934)
24. “The Man Who Knew” (June 16, 1934) – retitled “The High Fence” in The Saint Goes On (1934)
25. “The Race Train Crime” (July 28, 1934) – retitled “The Elusive Ellshaw” in The Saint Goes On (1934)
26. “The Return of the Saint” (February 13, 1937) – retitled “The Spanish War” in The Ace of Knaves (1937)
27. “The Z-Man” (March 27, 1937) – retitled “The Beauty Specialist” in The Ace of Knaves (1937)
28. “The Saint on Parade” (December 10, 1938) – retitled “The Affair at Hogsbotham” in Follow the Saint (1938)
Leslie Charteris continued writing Simon Templar stories after 1938, largely for Frederic Dannay at Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. In 1953 the Saint received his own magazine and Charteris would produce stories for that publication monthly, just as he had for The Thriller years before.
Great retrospective