Note 1 “The job was finished on February 28th. 1932 . . . . . . . . . A friend of mine introduced me to Mr. W.P.Watt, a partner in the famous firm of literary agents . . . . . . . . . Mr. Watt very kindly agreed to have this first manuscript of mine read, and later sent me a report upon it, which in essence was as follows: ‘This story shows considerable promise but does not conform to the accepted formula for murder stories. We do not see enough of the murderer, and the construction is poor in that the heroine is not brought in early enough and plays no essential part, and that after the point at which the book should normally be concluded there is a long epilogue tacked on which is unduly loaded with bathos.’ “Very fortunately, I was so immersed in this new adventure story that I hardly looked at the criticism of Three Inquisitive People, threw the manuscript untouched into a drawer, finished The Forbidden Territory and submitted it.” ‘From Me To You’ Introduction to ‘Those Modern Musketeers’ 1939 |