


Books in series

#1
Bulldog Drummond
1920
‘Demobilised officer, finding peace incredibly tedious, would welcome diversion. Legitimate, if possible; but crime, if of a comparatively humorous description, no objection. Excitement essential... Reply at once Box X10.’
When the formidable Captain Hugh ‘Bulldog’ Drummond places this newspaper advert, hungry for adventure after the end of the First World War, he embarks on a career as the invincible guardian of his country. His first reply comes from a beautiful young woman, who sends him to investigate what at first looks like blackmail but turns out to be far more complicated and dangerous. The rescue of a kidnapped millionaire, found with his thumbs horribly mangled, leads Drummond to the discovery of a political conspiracy of awesome scope and villainy, masterminded by the ruthless Carl Peterson.
Originally published in 1920, 'Bulldog Drummond' set the standard; as Ian Fleming himself confessed, James Bond was Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer from the waist down but Bulldog Drummond from the waist up.

#2
The Black Gang
1922
Although the First World War is over, it seems that the hostilities are not, and when Captain Hugh ‘Bulldog’ Drummond discovers that a stint of bribery and blackmail is undermining England’s democratic tradition, he forms the Black Gang, bent on tracking down the perpetrators of such plots. They set a trap to lure the criminal mastermind behind these subversive attacks to England, and all is going to plan until Bulldog Drummond accepts an invitation to tea at the Ritz with a charming American clergyman and his dowdy daughter.

#3
The Third Round
1924
The death of Professor Goodman is officially recorded as a tragic accident, but at the inquest, no mention is made of his latest discovery – a miraculous new formula for manufacturing flawless diamonds at negligible cost, which strikes Captain Hugh ‘Bulldog' Drummond as rather strange. His suspicions are further aroused when he spots a member of the Metropolitan Diamond Syndicate at the inquest. Gradually, he untangles a sinister plot of greed and murder, which climaxes in a dramatic motorboat chase at Cowes and brings him face to face with his archenemy.

#4
The Final Count
1925
Robin Gaunt's new invention was terrifyingly, unimaginably powerful: a weapon of chemical warfare which caused "universal, instantaneous death". When Gaunt disappeared from his rooms, leaving no trace but a faint bitter smell, the police suspected that he had sold out to the other side.
But Bulldog Drummond believes otherwise. Convinced of Gaunt's innocence, he can think of only one man ruthless enough to use the invention to hold the world to ransom, and he is determined to track him down before it is too lake. Then he receives an invitation to a lavish dinner-dance aboard an airship that is to mark the beginning of his final battle for triump...

#5
The Female of the Species
1928
Bulldog Drummond has slain his archenemy, Carl Peterson, but Peterson's mistress lives on and is intent on revenge. Drummond's wife vanishes, followed by a series of vicious traps set by a malicious adversary, which lead to a hair-raising chase across England, to a sinister house and a fantastic torture-chamber modelled on Stonehenge, with its legend of human sacrifice.

#6
Temple Tower
1929
As the ‘Maid of Orleans' sets sail for Boulogne, two men wave goodbye to their trusting wives, who are completely unaware that their husband's intended ‘golf holiday' is a ruse. One of the men is Captain Hugh ‘Bulldog' Drummond – a demobilised officer with a fierce appetite for adventure and ale; the other is Bulldog's loyal friend, Peter, who narrates this exciting tale of a man in fear of his life and in desperate need of their help in penetrating the ill-omened Temple Tower.

#7
Bulldog Drummond Returns
1932
Eager for new adventures, Bulldog Drummond is determined to solve the mystery surrounding the terrified young man who seeks refuge at Merridale Hall. The trail leads to a gruesome murder, for which an escaped convict is blamed, but Captain Drummond's suspicions are confirmed when he encounters once again the wicked Irma Peterson. Mistress of Drummond's former enemy Carlo Peterson, who is now dead, and foiled by Drummond in the past, Irma is determined to settle the score.
She and her fellow conspirators have devised an ingenious plan to defraud a leading financier of his fortune. Plot and counter-plot are cunningly interwoven in this marvellous thriller in which Captain Drummond comes up against the most testing challenge of his career.

#8
Knock-Out
1933
Ronald Standish – the charming, occasional detective who accepts cases when they take his fancy – receives a frantic phone call from a friend, who works for the Secret Service, asking for help. But when the line suddenly goes dead, Standish rushes round to his friend’s Hampstead abode, and is horrified to find him dead, with the receiver still in his hand and a horrific wound to his eye. When Standish teams up with Bulldog Drummond, the tangled political web surrounding this murder and the fearsome risks in pursuing the perpetrators are met head on.

#9
Bulldog Drummond at Bay
1935
While Hugh ‘Bulldog’ Drummond is staying in an old cottage for a peaceful few days duck-shooting, he is disturbed one night by the sound of men shouting, followed by a large stone that comes crashing through the window. When he goes outside to investigate, he finds a patch of blood in the road, and is questioned by two men who tell him that they are chasing a lunatic who has escaped from the nearby asylum. Drummond plays dumb, but is determined to investigate in his inimitable style when he discovers a cryptic message.

#10
Challenge
1937
When Colonel Henry Talbot summons Bulldog Drummond and Ronald Standish, it is to inform them of the mysterious death of one of their colleagues – Jimmy Latimer. At the time of his death, he was on a big job, and was travelling on a boat to Newhaven when he died. But there was no sign of any wound, no trace of any weapon when they found him in his cabin. What strikes Drummond and Standish is why millionaire, Charles Burton, would have been travelling on the same boat – arguably the most uncomfortable crossing he could choose and very out-of-character.