The Stretton Street Affair

"The Stretton Street Affair" by William Le Queux is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story revolves around the character Hugh Garfield, who finds himself entangled in a complex, mysterious situation involving a wealthy man named Oswald De Gex and the sudden death of a young woman named Gabrielle Engledue. Set against a backdrop of post-war London, this tale weaves elements of intrigue, deception, and the darker side of human nature. The opening of the book introduces readers to Hugh Garfield, a 29-year-old electrical engineer, as he recalls the bizarre events that led him to become a key player in the Stretton Street Affair. After an unexpected encounter on a train with a man who turns out to be De Gex, Garfield is later summoned to De Gex's opulent home, where he is drawn into a troubling situation marked by a sudden death and a bribery attempt. Amidst the tension, Garfield experiences a strange illness and a profound loss of memory, only to awaken later in a foreign hospital, confused by the mystery surrounding the beautiful but mysterious deceased girl. The narrative quickly escalates into a gripping exploration of trust, betrayal, and the quest for truth in a world rife with deception. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

William Tufnell Le Queux was an Anglo-French journalist and writer. He was also a diplomat, a traveller, a flying buff who officiated at the first British air meeting at Doncaster in 1909, and a wireless pioneer who broadcast music from his own station long before radio was generally available; his claims regarding his own abilities and exploits, however, were usually exaggerated. His best-known works are the anti-French and anti-Russian invasion fantasy The Great War in England in 1897 (1894) and the anti-German invasion fantasy The Invasion of 1910 (1906), the latter becoming a bestseller.