Fire-tongue - Tapa blanda

1922. Rohmer, prolific English mystery writer, best known for the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu and his opponents Denis Nayland Smith, Dr. Petrie, named after the Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, and the beautiful Karamaneh, the source of Petrie's daydreams. Fire-Tongue, the detective Paul Harley is the hero of the tale. The story beings: Some of Paul Harley's most interesting cases were brought to his notice in an almost accidental way. Although he closed his office in Chancery Lane sharply at the hour of six, the hour of six by no means marked the end of his business day. His work was practically ceaseless. But even in times of leisure, at the club or theatre, fate would sometimes cast in his path the first slender thread which was ultimately to lead him into some unsuspected labyrinth, perhaps in the underworld of London, perhaps in a city of the Far East.

Sax Rohmer was born Arthur Henry Ward in 1883. As a schoolboy he was interested in Egyptology and the occult; later he became fascinated by theosophy, alchemy and mysticism. After a brief stint in the City of London, Rohmer became a Fleet Street journalist. The publication of two of his stories in magazines saw the start of his career as an adventure novelist and to begin with Rohmer wrote under a variety of pen names. The sinister arch-criminal Fu Manchu was his most famous creation, appearing for the first time in The Mystery of Fu Manchu, and a hugely popular series followed. Several films were made about Rohmer's villainous creation: notably The Mask of Fu Manchu in 1932 starring Boris Karloff and featuring Christopher Lee in the Hammer productions of the 1960's.