''Mysterious Mr. Sabin'' is a 1898

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

thriller novel Thriller is a genre of fiction with numerous, often overlapping, subgenres, including crime, horror, and detective fiction. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving their audiences heightened feelings of suspe ...

by the British writer E. Phillips Oppenheim. It was the first spy novel by Oppenheim, a genre which he came to dominate during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

interwar era In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ...

. Revolving around a plot of a Frenchman selling British military secrets it became a bestseller, establishing him as a popular writer. It has been described as the novel "that launched Oppenheim's career of

xenophobic Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

espionage fantasy".Sutherland p.460 It contains elements of

invasion fiction An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives o ...

, a common genre theme at the time.

Synopsis

A ruthless French

criminal mastermind A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is ...

, Sabin plots to restore the

French monarchy France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...

and place his niece Hélène on the throne. To accomplish this he steals various military secrets in a complex plan that involves a German invasion of Britain. He is thwarted by a young Englishman Lord Wolfenden who eventually ends up marrying Hélène.

References

Bibliography

* Miskimmin, Esme. ''100 British Crime Writers''. Springer Nature, 2020. * Panek, LeRoy. ''The Special Branch: The British Spy Novel, 1890-1980''. Popular Press, 1981. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. * Wark, Wesley K. ''Spy Fiction, Spy Films and Real Intelligence''. Routledge, 2013. * Server, Lee. ''Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers''. Infobase Publishing, 2014. * Sutherland, John. ''The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction''. Routledge, 2014. 1898 British novels Novels by E. Phillips Oppenheim British thriller novels British spy novels Ward, Lock & Co. books Novels set in England {{thriller-novel-stub