Jack o'Judgment / Captains of Souls - Edgar Wallace

JACK O’JUDGMENT

Colonel Dan Boundary runs a very efficient gang of London blackmailers. They find a business owner’s weakness—clandestine lover letters, a compromised situation--and demand to buy him out for a pittance. It’s all quite legal—money changes hands, a business moves from one name to another. And Boundary’s gang grows a little bit richer. Pinto Silva, Swell Crewe and Lollie Marsh--Boundary’s trusted accomplices--do their job well. Until the death of gang member Snow Gregory from an apparent drug overdose puts them in the spotlight. Until the disappearance of Boundary’s trusted partner, Solomon White, sparks the interest of Stafford King of Scotland Yard. And that’s when the mysterious Jack o’Judgment first makes his appearance, interrupting a Boundary meeting with fearless bravado. Who could this masked character be? A friend to the law, or a new foe, even more lawless than the Boundary Gang? 

CAPTAINS OF SOULS

Ambrose Sault has lived a rough life. He himself admits to being in a Caledonia jail for murder when he was rescued years ago by his partner, Moropulos. But inside him resides the gentle soul of a poet and philosopher. This is what draws to him the disparate lives of Christina Colebrook, cynical invalid of his landlady, and Beryl Merville, the esteemed doctor’s daughter, now under the sway of the ruthless Jan Steppe. Moropulos works for Steppe, and so too the young cad, Ronald Morelle. Steppe’s group have been manipulating the market, compromising Dr. Merville. When Christina’s sister Evie comes to the dishonorable attention of Ronnie, their lives intersect, and soon Beryl is pulled into the compromise. Will Evie allow her reputation to be ruined? Can Sault save Beryl from the callous intentions of both Steppe and Morelle? And whose life will become forfeit when a clash of wills creates murder?