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Edna Gray is a young pretty English girl who has been living in Argentina. At the age of twenty-two she has suddenly become a very rich young woman and she has returned to England to take possession of a rather large but run-down country estate. She intends to live in Longhall, a large rambling neglected old house which forms part of her inheritance.
On the ship she had met a Mr Luke and they had struck up something of a friendship (although not at this stage a romance).
What she doesn’t know is that Mark Luke in a Scotland Yard Detective Inspector. She also doesn’t know why he’s so interested in Gillywood Farm (which she now owns) or why he has the idea that she might be in danger. It has something to do with her tenant, Mr Goodie. Mr Goodie leases Gillywood Farm for his business which is training racehorses. He has turned the farm into a kind of fortress.
Edna does not like Mr Goodie and she cannot imagine why he wants to buy Longhall or why he is offering her fifty thousand pounds for it, which is at least five times what the property is worth.
Luke also has no idea why Goodie is interested in Longhall but he feels that it is one of the things he needs to find out.
Luke is investigating Mr Trigger’s Transactions. This is a racing racket run by a Mr Trigger. Luke knows this, and he knows that Mr Goodie and a Dr Blanter are involved. Also involved is Arthur Rustem, Edna’s lawyer. Although he’s not really her lawyer now. Since he had an unfortunate misunderstanding with the Law Society he is no longer allowed to practice law but he still manages Edna’s estate.
Luke therefore knows the identity of those involved in the crooked gambling racket and he knows roughly how the swindle is worked. His problem is that it’s not clear that this racket is actually illegal. It’s certainly unethical and dishonest but Mr Trigger has come up with an incredibly profitable operation that remains technically within the law. Or at least it appears to be technically legal. Luke is sure that if he digs deeply enough he will discover something for which the conspirators can be prosecuted.
The scheme is very clever and provides an exceptionally interesting and original driving force for Wallace’s plot. It also adds a bit more suspense. Luke is convinced that Edna is in danger but he can’t protect her by arresting those who endanger her, and he can’t even figure out exactly why she is in danger. There’s also the mysterious behaviour of Mr Garcia, an old family friend of Edna’s who suddenly disappeared and then turned up in Constantinople.
The estate provides a perfect setting for Wallace’s purposes. There may not be any secret passageways in Longhall but there is an elaborate cave system nearby which is just as much fun. And there are plenty of classic Wallace ingredients. There is murder. There is racetrack skullduggery. There are Mr Goodie’s huge savage dogs. There are odd mysteries - why did Mr Goodie suddenly have to move all his stables? There’s a collapsible aeroplane. There are car chases. There are exotic poisons. There are hints of sexual depravity, and drug-taking. And there’s some romance.
Edna is a personable heroine. She’s no fool but she has no idea how she managed to find herself in the middle of such a complex and dangerous situation. Mr Luke is also a likeable hero, intelligent without being brilliant and confident without being arrogant.
And there are plenty of villains. Some of the bad guys are truly twisted and malevolent, others are just greedy and short-sighted and some are slightly ambiguous. You don’t know which of the villains are the ones to really worry about until late in the story.
A great racetrack mystery thriller and although the criminal scheme is complicated Wallace gives us enough racing background to make it perfectly comprehensible once the details are revealed.
The Green Ribbon is top-tier Wallace. Highly recommended.
What she doesn’t know is that Mark Luke in a Scotland Yard Detective Inspector. She also doesn’t know why he’s so interested in Gillywood Farm (which she now owns) or why he has the idea that she might be in danger. It has something to do with her tenant, Mr Goodie. Mr Goodie leases Gillywood Farm for his business which is training racehorses. He has turned the farm into a kind of fortress.
Edna does not like Mr Goodie and she cannot imagine why he wants to buy Longhall or why he is offering her fifty thousand pounds for it, which is at least five times what the property is worth.
Luke also has no idea why Goodie is interested in Longhall but he feels that it is one of the things he needs to find out.
Luke is investigating Mr Trigger’s Transactions. This is a racing racket run by a Mr Trigger. Luke knows this, and he knows that Mr Goodie and a Dr Blanter are involved. Also involved is Arthur Rustem, Edna’s lawyer. Although he’s not really her lawyer now. Since he had an unfortunate misunderstanding with the Law Society he is no longer allowed to practice law but he still manages Edna’s estate.
The scheme is very clever and provides an exceptionally interesting and original driving force for Wallace’s plot. It also adds a bit more suspense. Luke is convinced that Edna is in danger but he can’t protect her by arresting those who endanger her, and he can’t even figure out exactly why she is in danger. There’s also the mysterious behaviour of Mr Garcia, an old family friend of Edna’s who suddenly disappeared and then turned up in Constantinople.
The estate provides a perfect setting for Wallace’s purposes. There may not be any secret passageways in Longhall but there is an elaborate cave system nearby which is just as much fun. And there are plenty of classic Wallace ingredients. There is murder. There is racetrack skullduggery. There are Mr Goodie’s huge savage dogs. There are odd mysteries - why did Mr Goodie suddenly have to move all his stables? There’s a collapsible aeroplane. There are car chases. There are exotic poisons. There are hints of sexual depravity, and drug-taking. And there’s some romance.
Edna is a personable heroine. She’s no fool but she has no idea how she managed to find herself in the middle of such a complex and dangerous situation. Mr Luke is also a likeable hero, intelligent without being brilliant and confident without being arrogant.
And there are plenty of villains. Some of the bad guys are truly twisted and malevolent, others are just greedy and short-sighted and some are slightly ambiguous. You don’t know which of the villains are the ones to really worry about until late in the story.
A great racetrack mystery thriller and although the criminal scheme is complicated Wallace gives us enough racing background to make it perfectly comprehensible once the details are revealed.
The Green Ribbon is top-tier Wallace. Highly recommended.
Cool, thanks for the recommendation - I'll give this a try. Sounds like it's right up my street.
ReplyDeletePretty good! There's a lot of stuff about horse-racing and gambling, some of which went a bit over my head, but a lot of great Wallace ideas, and some decent twists. You can follow the characters pretty easily, although the plot is competently hidden for as long as necessary. I'd also highly recommend this.
ReplyDeleteMy one reservation was that there are so many references to various characters backstories that at times I wondered if it was a sequel.
I find Wallace to be pretty consistent and by the 20s he really had the formula humming along nicely.
DeleteI stopped reading him for a while, because some of his novels, while brilliant, had endings where an upstanding Anglo-Saxon type is completely forgiven for killing a dirty foreigner (in one case, as blatant murder). Maybe I'm overreacting lol
DeleteSomething else that struck me about Green Ribbon is that most of the police investigation is a matter of routine procedure, like in a standard police procedural, rather than genius/impossible detective work.
most of the police investigation is a matter of routine procedure, like in a standard police procedural, rather than genius/impossible detective work.
DeleteWallace tended to like detectives who were dogged and thorough. Even Mr J.G. Reeder is basically a highly skilled investigator who knows his job and carries it through with iron determination. I don't think Wallace was overly fond of the talented amateur detective who relies on instinct.
But I've still only scratched the surface of his vast output so maybe he did feature some talented amateurs.
I'm currently reading one that I've watched as a krimi, where the incredibly talented amateur detective turned out to be the villain, so maybe he just didn't like them lol
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