of the "ghosts" transforms the plot into a wild goose chase of buried secrets intertwined with blackmail, love intrigues, and shady under-the-table dealings.

The mysterious murder around which the story revolves and the troubled lives of the town’s residents lend many levels of complexity and suspense to this detective tale, which is why it is perhaps not surprising to find it was later adapted into a silent movie in 1928. In fact, Wallace’s work has been adapted for film many times with actors like Jack Black, Adrien Brody and Jamie bell portraying characters from his books. Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was an English writer so prolific, that one of his publishers claimed that he was behind a quarter of all books sold in England. An author, journalist and poet, he wrote countless novels, short stories, screen plays, stage plays and historical non-fiction. Today, more than 160 films have been made from his work. He died suddenly in Hollywood in 1932, during the initial drafting of his most famous work, 'King Kong'.