The Grand Duke's Last Chance - (Scandinavian Mystery Classics) by Frank Heller (Paperback)

About the Book

Grand Duke Ramon XX of Minorca doesn't let his permanent state of near-bankruptcy interfere with the simple pleasures of life. But can gentleman-swindler Mr Collin save him from a blackmailer and avert a revolution?

Book Synopsis

On the island of Minorca some things never change: the sun shines, the breeze ruffles the Mediterranean, and the Grand Dukes are eternally in debt.

Grand Duke Ramon XX doesn't let his permanent state of near-bankruptcy interfere with the simple pleasures of life: a good lunch, a cigar and a glass of cognac. But trouble is on the horizon when the island is visited by a German businessman who will stop at nothing to get his hands on potential sulfur mines. At the same time, a moneylender in Paris threatens to expose a devastating secret, leaving Ramon on the verge of losing not only his beloved island, but his honor and reputation as well. It's not until he crosses paths with Mr Collin, gentleman thief and swindler, that a gleam of hope appears. But who is the mysterious and beautiful woman pretending to be Mr Collin's wife, and does she hold the key to solving the Grand Duke's financial problems once and for all?

Frank Heller was the first internationally famous Swedish crime writer. The son of a clergyman, to avoid arrest after a financial fraud he left Sweden for the continent. In desperate straits after losing the swindled money in a casino in Monte Carlo, he tried his hand at writing novels with immediate success, and produced forty-three novels, short stories and travelogues before his death in 1947.

"A first-rate mystery thriller...A novel every one will enjoy" - The Sketch

"A story of national bankruptcy, revolution and high adventure in the curious Grand Duchy of Minorca and elsewhere...It is all wildly impossible but none the less amusing on that account." - Westminster Gazette

Review Quotes

"With a single exception, the work of Frank Heller is the best Swedish crime fiction written during the first half of the twentieth century and is still both readable and interesting." - John-Henri Holmberg, A Darker Shade of Sweden

"A first-rate mystery thriller...A novel every one will enjoy" - The Sketch

"A fast-moving story [which]...breaks new ground and is full of thrills." - Montrose Standard

"A story of national bankruptcy, revolution and high adventure in the curious Grand Duchy of Minorca and elsewhere...It is all wildly impossible but none the less amusing on that account." -Westminster Gazette

"Mr Heller has action and to spare to enliven his ingenious plot, but he differs from the merely conventional writer in that the buoyant humour and healthy atmosphere of his pages are their greatest charm." - Irish Times

"A mystery novel of considerable interest" - Sheffield Daily Telegraph

"A clever and irresponsible story of mystery" - The Scotsman

"Let me recommend to you the works of Mr Frank Heller, a Swedish writer of capital mystery tales." - Illustrated London News