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Mysterious Mr. Sabin

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Mysterious Mr. Sabin
1905 Little Brown edition
AuthorE. Phillips Oppenheim
LanguageEnglish
GenreThriller
PublisherWard, Lock
Little, Brown (US)
Publication date
1898
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint

Mysterious Mr. Sabin is a 1898 spy thriller novel by the British writer E. Phillips Oppenheim. It was the first spy novel by Oppenheim, a genre which he came to dominate during the First World War and interwar era.[1][2][3] Revolving around a plot of a Frenchman selling British military secrets it became a bestseller, establishing him as a popular writer.[4] It has been described as the novel "that launched Oppenheim's career of xenophobic espionage fantasy".[5] It contains elements of invasion fiction, a common genre theme at the time.

Synopsis

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A ruthless French criminal mastermind, Sabin plots to restore the French monarchy and place his niece Hélène on the throne. To accomplish this he steals various military secrets in a complex plan that involves a German invasion of Britain. He is thwarted by a young Englishman Lord Wolfenden who eventually ends up marrying Hélène.

References

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  1. ^ Panek p.18
  2. ^ Reilly p.1133
  3. ^ Wark p.43
  4. ^ Miskimmin p.46
  5. ^ Sutherland p.460

Bibliography

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  • Miskimmin, Esme. 100 British Crime Writers. Springer Nature, 2020.
  • Panek, LeRoy. The Special Branch: The British Spy Novel, 1890-1980. Popular Press, 1981.
  • Reilly, John M. Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers. Springer, 2015.
  • Wark, Wesley K. Spy Fiction, Spy Films and Real Intelligence. Routledge, 2013.
  • Server, Lee. Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers. Infobase Publishing, 2014.
  • Sutherland, John. The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction. Routledge, 2014.