FOUR SQUARE
JANE
BY
EDGAR WALLACE
_Author of “Angel Esquire,” “The Melody of Death,”
“The Thief in the Night,” “Elegant Edward,” etc._
CRIME SERIES
THE READERS LIBRARY
PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD.
66-66A, GREAT QUEEN STREET
KINGSWAY, LONDON, W.C. 2
Copyright Edition
(_All Rights Reserved_)
EDITOR’S NOTE
The Readers Library has recently published a large number of the
best “crook” stories of the day. Amongst famous mystery story writers
whose books have been included in the Library are Edgar Wallace,
Sydney Horler, Mrs. Belloc Lowndes, Thea von Harbou, Earl Derr
Biggers, and many others. Moreover, there is scarcely a first-class
thriller produced on the films but an excellent novelised version of
it appears in the Readers Library. Experience has shown that there
are scores of thousands of readers who cannot be supplied with too
much of this ingenious and absorbing type of fiction. The Readers
Library intends to go on selecting as many as possible of the best of
these stories, and with the present volume starts a policy of
producing them in a series of their own, with a specially designed
paper wrapper by which they can be distinguished. “Crook” story
devotees will thus be able to recognize good “crook” stories at sight.
The Crime Series will contain nothing that is second-class. It makes
an auspicious start with an entirely new book by Mr. Edgar
Wallace--“Four Square Jane.”
No publisher who has recently had the fortune to produce an Edgar
Wallace book can doubt that at the present time Mr. Wallace is easily
the best seller in the world. The sales of the Readers Library
volumes probably surpass those of any other books on earth. And
amongst Readers Library books the four Edgar Wallace volumes which
we have already published multiply their sales most phenomenally and
quickly. It is a pleasure, therefore, to follow them with yet another
of the celebrated writer’s stories, which has never appeared in volume
form before, and which cannot be procured in any other edition. It can
be said sincerely that “Four Square Jane” is amongst his best stories.
It is concerned with a most ladylike crook. She is an uncannily clever
criminal, all her female cunning being concentrated on her nefarious
work. She makes the mere male detectives and policemen who endeavour
to be on her tracks look foolish; and she and Mr. Edgar Wallace
between them will successfully baffle readers of both sexes as to her
identity. Mr. Wallace is most happy in his knack of getting his
readers interested within the first two or three pages of a story in
the particular character whom he does not intend to reveal to them
until the close of the story. He is especially successful in this
volume. Four Square Jane remains an enigmatic person until the end of
the book, though in the meantime she is responsible for a series of
risky crimes performed with a neatness and cleverness which cannot but
evoke admiration. The expression with regard to Mr. Wallace may be
becoming hackneyed, but it is undoubtedly true that he has written
another masterly mystery story in this case.
Other volumes will follow quickly in The Crime Series, until it is a
regular show gallery of clever criminals and clever detectives.
Meanwhile, it is a pleasure to introduce (though the actual formal
introduction is postponed until almost the last page of the book) the
reader to Exhibit No. 1, than whom there will be none more interesting
or charming--Four Square Jane!
The Editor.
THE CRIME SERIES
What is The Crime Series? It is a collection of many of the best
“crook,” detective and mystery stories of the day, published in handy
volumes which will look pleasant and uniform on the library shelves of
devotees of this class of fiction. They are a series within the
Readers Library, which, for a long time past, has published some of
the best “crook” fiction of the times. Famous writers whose books have
appeared in the Library include Edgar Wallace, Mrs. Belloc Lowndes,
Sydney Horler, Thea von Harbou, Earl Derr Biggers and many others. The
popularity of “crook” stories apparently never dies. In order that
readers may be able to recognize particularly good volumes coming
within this category at sight, the Readers Library proposes to make
a careful selection from amongst “crook” stories and to produce a set
of the best of them in the Crime Series, which will have a specially
designed paper wrapper by which they can be known. The Series will not
only include original stories by the most celebrated authors of
detective stories, it will also contain the novelised versions of many
of the first-class “crook” plays and films which are produced from
time to time. The Crime Series therefore promises to be a unique
collection of ingenious and thrilling stories.
Look out for volumes in The Crime Series!
CONTENTS
Chapter I