LemonSky reviewed Call for the Saint by Leslie Charteris
Review of 'Call for the Saint' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
3 1/2 stars (I wish Goodreads would allow half-stars!)
This consists of two stories:
"The King of the Beggars" (1947) - Simon finds himself investigating the infamous King of the Beggars, a master criminal who extorts money from the beggars in Chicago - pay up or die. One beggar, a blind former actor, refused and paid for his defiance with his life. Simon is drawn into the case when he saves the life of what appears to be an elderly beggar woman - who turns out to be an old friend of the dead man.
"The Masked Angel" (1948) - a masked boxer is mowing down the opposition. No one can stand against him. Finally, he kills an opponent - or did he?
The quality of these stories is fair, but not great. "Beggars" is more interesting (at least to me) than "Angel," but I'm not a fan of boxing. …
3 1/2 stars (I wish Goodreads would allow half-stars!)
This consists of two stories:
"The King of the Beggars" (1947) - Simon finds himself investigating the infamous King of the Beggars, a master criminal who extorts money from the beggars in Chicago - pay up or die. One beggar, a blind former actor, refused and paid for his defiance with his life. Simon is drawn into the case when he saves the life of what appears to be an elderly beggar woman - who turns out to be an old friend of the dead man.
"The Masked Angel" (1948) - a masked boxer is mowing down the opposition. No one can stand against him. Finally, he kills an opponent - or did he?
The quality of these stories is fair, but not great. "Beggars" is more interesting (at least to me) than "Angel," but I'm not a fan of boxing. Simon has an interesting sidekick, "Hoppy" Uniatz, a rather stupid, but loyal American ex-con that the Saint picked up somewhere. Despite Simon's relationship with Patricia "Pat" Holm, he flirts with Monica Varing in "Beggars" and Connie Grady in "Angel." In fact, I think a lot more than flirting goes on in "Beggars." Monogamy is not Simon's strong point. The stories were fairly entertaining, but not up to the Saint's usual quality.