Four square JaneEdgar WallaceOmniClassics · Literature
Four square Jane
Edgar WallaceA resourceful jewel thief makes fashionable wealth and confident security look surprisingly vulnerable.
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About the book
Joe Lewinstein expects a grand entertainment to strengthen his position among people whose acquaintance may help him build another fortune. His wife's concern is more immediate: the assembled jewels offer an inviting target for the elusive criminal known as Four Square Jane. Reports of her exploits already suggest that ordinary precautions have failed to account for her ingenuity. Wallace develops the pursuit through risky thefts, social performance, and uncertainty about the identity behind the name. The opening emphasis on display and ambition makes the victims' world part of the mechanism of the mystery. This Readers Library edition presents a compact crime narrative in which the central figure's concealed identity sustains the action, leaving the reader to distinguish a convincing appearance from a dependable fact.
- Theft and ingenuity
- Social display
- Concealed identity
Why read it
The criminal's access to a glittering social world turns manners and appearances into active elements of the puzzle.
English text of the Readers Library Crime Series edition