A titokzatos ház

by Edgar Wallace, Gábor Házsongárdy (Translator)

Poltavónak átvillant az agyán, hogy ez a szék oda van erősítve a padlóhoz. Vajon miért? Abban a pillanatban kétfelől megragadták, és belenyomták a karosszékben.
– Mit akarnak velem? – kérdezte Poltavo halálsápadtan.
– Majd meglátja!
Ügyesen és gyorsan odakötözték a székhez. Két keze a karfához, lába a szék lábához feszült moccanni sem tudott.
Farrington szemben ült áldozatával. Mint valami kőarc, olyan érzéketlen és mozdulatlan volt minden vonása. A szempillája sem rebbent, amint szembenézett az árulóval.
Fall hirtelen letérdelt. Poltavo olyanféle hangott hallott, mintha valami szövetet hasítanának ketté.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Classics, Thriller, Adventure, Detective, Fiction

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1917

About the author

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was a prolific British crime writer, journalist and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and countless articles in newspapers and journals.

Over 160 films have been made of his novels, more than any other author. In the 1920s, one of Wallace's publishers claimed that a quarter of all books read in England were written by him.

He is most famous today as the co-creator of "King Kong", writing the early screenplay and story for the movie, as well as a short story "King Kong" (1933) credited to him and Draycott Dell. He was known for the J. G. Reeder detective stories, The Four Just Men, the Ringer, and for creating the Green Archer character during his lifetime.

Reviews

[Katerina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Δεν μπορώ να πω πως ενθουσιάστηκα... λίγο η χάλια μετάφραση, λίγο η προβλέψιμη υπόθεση και τέλος πως η ιστορία έμοιαζε να είναι σκόρπια από δω και από κει χωρίς κάποια δεμένη συνοχή με έκαναν να μην ευχαριστηθώ την ανάγνωση αυτού του βιβλίου!

[Tim Orfanos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ο Ουώλλας ανήκει στους συγγραφείς αστυνομικής λογοτεχνίας που αποτυπώνουν στα βιβλία τους με εύστοχο τρόπο την ατμόσφαιρα και τα ήθη της εποχής τους, και αυτός είναι ένας από τους λόγους, ίσως, που θεωρείται ξεπερασμένος ή παρωχημένος. Μόνο που δεν ισχύει σε αυτή τη περίπτωση - το συγκεκριμένο μυθιστόρημα (1917) αντικατοπτρίζει αρκετά πειστικά τη τάση της βρετανικής κουλτούρας να καλύπτει την δολοφονική της ματαιοδοξία με το 'προσωπείο' των προσχημάτων και της βικτωριανής νοοτροπίας, ακόμα, καί κατά το τέλος του Α' Παγκόσμιου Πολέμου.

Εντυπωσιάζουν οι ίντριγκες και τα παιχνίδια δύναμης μεταξύ των βασικών χαρακτήρων του μυθιστορήματος, το επικίνδυνο 'μονοπάτι' της πλαστοπροσωπίας, ο χειριστικός ρόλος των εφημερίδων, αλλά, κυρίως, οι κατασκευές ασφαλείας προηγμένης τεχνολογίας που διέθεταν, εκείνη την εποχή, εξοχικά σπίτια, όπου τα εσωτερικά ασανσέρ τους μπορούσαν να κάνουν κατάβαση, ακόμα, καί στη... κόλαση, μέσα από δαιδαλώδεις χώρους και κρυψώνες.

Στο 1ο μέρος του βιβλίου, η διαχείριση της πλοκής γίνεται με αρκετά 'σκόρπιο' τρόπο που χαώνει τον αναγνώστη, αν και τον εξιτάρει, ενώ στο 2ο μέρος, τα κομμάτια του παζλ τοποθετούνται με 'αγωνιώδη' τρόπο για να οδηγήσουν στην εύρεση της ταυτότητας του εγκληματικού 'μυαλού' ονόματι Μόνταγκ Φάλοκ, ο οποίος σπέρνει τον τρόμο επί χρόνια κινούμενος σαν 'αόρατος' άνθρωπος.

Ο επίλογος της ιστορίας βρίσκεται κυριολεκτικά στην τελευταία πρόταση του βιβλίου.

Προτείνεται για καλοκαιρινό διάβασμα, και όχι μόνο.

Συνολική βαθμολογία: 3,8/5 ή 7,6/10.

Βαθμολογία για τα παραπάνω πρωτότυπα στοιχεία της πλοκής: 4,2/5 ή 8,4/10.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting historical mystery novel about blackmailers; this story didn't really hold any mystery, just a lot of confusion at the start whilst the characters and scenes were set in play. The book became clearer towards the end but it really was a bit "meh!" for me.

[Gerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is a scandalous periodical entitled 'The Gossip's Corner' which runs scurrilous tales of anybody and everybody and it is run by a supposed blackmailer whose identity has baffled the police. He makes plenty of money at his game, that is until T.B. Smith, a singularly astute Assistant Commissioner from Scotland Yard gets involved.

Somehow there is a so-called Secret House involved and Smith is determined to find the place and expose the man responsible. There is a prologue that sets the scene but from then on in the tale wanders all over the place. In addition the characters are very bland and it is difficult to empathise with any of them and any excitement (and I am not sure there is any) is extremely muted.

I kept on reading thinking that it would improve; it didn't, so two-thirds of the way through I abandoned the book. Why waste precious reading time on things that do not have much appeal and I am afraid 'The Secret House' didn't and I will never know who the mysterious person was and what significance the house itself had.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in the original English. Not sure why Goodreads has only the German title... The English title is The Secret House. Classic Wallace. Not awfully shocking surprises.

[İlkim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bence kimin yaptığına dikkat edilmeksizin tüm çeviri güncel Türkçe ile revize edilmeli. Zaten dağınık bir kurgu, cümleleri anlamak için de çaba gösterince iyice zor oldu okumak.

[The Phoenix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnf. I couldn't get into it.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting mystery involving a mechanical house, powered by its own electrical generator and with entire rooms that can move to other places. The house really only plays a large part in the second half of the book; for the first half, it’s mostly about blackmail and a man who wants to utterly control the lives of others. The villain is very creepy and hard to figure out!

Listened on Librivox.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this is pure Wallace and has a slam and bang finish, I never really got into it, at least not until the last few chapters.

[James Hold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Blackmailer hides in a mechanized house. Despicable assistant tries to double-cross him. Good abrupt ending.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Edgar Wallace: an intriguing title, a clever villain with (for the time) state-of-the-art technology, a calmly determined police detective who ends up in deadly danger, an appealing couple who have Troubles, a secondary villain who is up to no good but charming (in a foreign way; foreigners are, of course, automatically suspect and a bit strange), blackmail, murder, faked suicide, financial skullduggery, the mysterious house of the title with its secret panels and tunnels and lifts, the search for a missing heir under an unusual will, it's all here.

The ending is a bit abrupt and doesn't fully resolve everything, but I don't think it absolutely needs to. It's a strong point at which to end.

Wallace wasn't always that strong on continuity in his more quickly-written books, and the opening chapter of this one seems to be contradicted in minor ways in subsequent chapters, but if you don't think about it too hard and just imagine the well-described characters and their conflicts, it's fine.

Wallace's solidly written pulp novels consistently hit the Silver tier of my annual recommendation list. They don't have the depth of reflection or emotion to take them up to Gold, but they seldom have serious enough faults to drop them into Bronze. They're reliably good for the genre, and if you're in the mood for a pulp adventure, not written to a formula or leaning too hard into the silly tropes, but definitely right in the middle of what a pulp adventure is, picking up a Wallace is a sound move.

[Orçun Güzer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Polisiyenin tek bir mekânda geçmemesini, mümkünse suçluların işlerine de dönüp bakmasını tercih ederim, ama bu romanda bu git gel çok fazla olmuş. Olaylar o kadar dağınık ilerliyor, gereksiz tekrara düşüyor ki, yarısına gelmeden sıkılıyorsunuz. "Gizemli ev", "gizemli mirasçı" birdenbire konuya dahil oluyor; sanki okur zaten biliyormuş gibi açıklama olmadan giriş yapılmış. Bir de eline fırsat geçmişken suçlu niye kaçmaz ve Scotland'ın pek müthiş dedektifi baskın yapmaz, ya da en azından evi didik didik aratmaz, orası bir muamma.
Zaten daha başlarda saklı kimlikli suçlunun kim olduğunu tahmin ediyorsunuz; etmeseniz de kitabın ortasında belli oluyor. Evin elektroniği, gizli geçitleri, kötü karakterlerin kötülüğü falan hepsi bana yapmacık geldi; belki de, açık gözün tekinin aristokratların gizli ilişkilerini öğrenip onlara şantaj yapması teması yeterince çekici değil (açıkçası bir okur olarak benim umurumda değil). Yazarın satır aralarında pırtlayan ırkçı, cinsiyetçi yorumları ve kahraman dedektifin telde elektrik var mı diye zavallı tavşancığı tele fırlatması da cabası! Sonuçta, yayınevinin kullandığı gayet hoş kapak resmine ve düzgün çeviriye yazık olmuş...
NOT: Polisiyenin kurucularından kabul edilen Wallace'tan ilk okuduğum romanı beğenmiştim; bu hayal kırıklığına rağmen ileride yine okumayı düşünüyorum.

[Bria · Rating 4 out of 5]

In order to make money and curate content for his gossip magazine, an evil mastermind is born. He uses a secret identity to swindle and blackmail people by saying he will reveal their secrets.

Then that mastermind learns to love. He gains guardianship of his niece and learns to love her. With this love comes the hatching of a new evil plan: marrying her to an unknown man who is the lost heir to millions.

In order to carry out this plan, he kills the mans father, terrorizes the lover of the mans father, forces his niece to marry that man through his instructions left in the masterminds will. And finally the mastermind fakes his own death so his will was read to his niece.

Then the mastermind goes to hide in the Secret House, a place of fantastic invention with hidden doorways and elevators and hidden rooms and secrets.

Only the clever T B Smith of Scotland Yard is able to put the mystery together and capture this mastermind (Farrington/Montague Fallock).

[Tasha]

That ending sucked!

[Rick Mills · Rating 2 out of 5]

Major characters:
Montague Fallock, publisher and blackmailer
Count Ernesto Poltavo, his translator
Gregory Farrington, millionaire, uncle to Doris Gray
Lady Constance Dix, his girlfriend
Gorth, his servant
Frank Doughton, journalist
George Doughton, his late father
Doris Gray, Frank’s girlfriend
Lady Patricia Dinsmore, Doris Gray’s aunt
Jim Moole, invalid owner of The Secret House
Dr. Fall, Moole’s butler/physician
T. B. Smith, Scotland Yard

Locale: England

Synopsis: Recent immigrant Ernesto Poltavo obtains a position as translator for Montague Fallock. Fallock publishes a newsletter “The Gossip’s Corner” for the servant class. Many of the letters to the newsletter arrive in French and Italian, and Poltava translates them. Newsy items go in the newsletter, but scandalous items are reserved by Fallock for blackmail. Poltava uses his position to obtain access to society, posing as ‘Count’ Poltavo.

One blackmail victim is Lady Constance Dix. Her boyfriend, millionaire Gregory Farrington, opens his door one night to find two men shot dead. T. B. Smith of Scotland Yard investigates. Later, Farrington attends the theatre with journalist Frank Doughton, Frank's girlfriend Doris Gray, and her aunt Lady Patricia Dinsmore. An attempt is made to shoot Farrington. Farrington disappears, a suicide note is found, and a headless body with his I.D. found in the Thames. T. B. Smith suspects Farrington is still alive, and the body a substitute.

The action moves to The Secret House, a mansion built by an eccentric American, invalid Jim Moole; known friend of Farrington. Smith arrives to look for Farrington. Moole’s butler/physician, Dr. Fall, allows Smith to look around. The house has many electrical gadgets and trick rooms which can change places. Lady Constance Dix disappears and is held captive in the Secret House.

Review: The setup with the scandalous newsletter scheme is interesting, and the job offer made to Poltavo by Fallock (wearing a bag over his head) reminds me of Sherlock Holmes' Red Headed League. This book gets pretty much everything thrown at the reader: blackmailers, a woman (Doris Gray) forced into a marriage she doesn't want, a henchman (Poltavo) after her himself, and a dead body in the river with the head missing and a suicide note attached (figure that one out!)

Once we get to the Secret House, it begins to look like a classic James Bond adventure: the beautiful woman held captive, the master criminal in his elaborate refuge full of booby traps, into which the hero (T. B. Smith) finds his way; capture by the master criminal who spends a lot of time (and pages) in taunting repartée before doing away with him. They never learn - all that added delay allows the hero to be rescued every time!

Overall, a good first half is diminished by the fantastic science-fiction of the second half.

If you are a fan of mansions with elaborate built-in electrical gizmos, you may also enjoy Spider House by Van Wyck Mason (1932).

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

În faţa portalului impunător al palatului Cainbury stătea nehotărât un individ. În acea clădire îşi aveau sediul vreo treizeci de întreprinderi diferite după cum se putea vedea pe firmele de la uşă. Îmbrăcămintea uzată şi ghetele scâlciate ale omului dovedeau cu prisosinţă sărăcia lui. Părea să fie străin. Faţa complet rasă, cu trăsături aspre, era cam negricioasă iar deasupra ochilor întunecaţi avea două sprâncene drepte şi foarte negre.

După ce urcă cele câteva trepte ce duceau în holul clădirii, rămase gânditor, cercetând cu atenţie firmele. Dar iată că găsi ceea ce căuta. Sus de tot, pe lista locatarilor de la etajul al cincilea era trecută şi firma ziarului Bârfa.

Scoţând din buzunarul vestei un anunţ decupat dintr-un alt ziar îl confruntă cu firma, apoi intră satisfăcut în clădire, aşteptând liftul.

Îşi încheiase paltonul până la ultimul nasture de sus căci gulerul îi era cam ros, cămaşa de pe el era neschimbată de aproape o săptămână, pălăria îi era veche iar dacă cineva s-ar fi hotărât să-l privească mai cu atenţie ar fi văzut că ambele mănuşi erau pentru mâna stângă.

Când ajunse la etajul cinci, liftierul îi arătă cu o mutră acră sediul ziarului pe care-l căuta. Omul rămase pe loc uitându-se o vreme la uşa cu pricina. Pe partea de sus, din sticlă mată, era scris simplu: „Redacţia ziarului BÂRFA. Bateţi în uşă!”

Bătu la uşa care se deschise ca şi cum ar fi fost manevrată de o mână nevăzută. Se miră deşi în fond nu era nimic extraordinar în faptul că o uşă se deschisese în mod automat. Intrând, se trezi într-o încăpere mobilată destul de sumar: o masă pe care se aflau câteva ziare şi alături de masă, un scaun; pe perete atârnau o hartă a Angliei şi un desen de Landseer. Se îndreptă spre uşa din partea cealaltă a camerei şi după o nouă şovăire, ciocăni cu discreţie.

― Intră! strigă o voce.

Străinul deschise uşa şi intră. Încăperea, mult mai spaţioasă decât prima, era mobilată foarte luxos: lămpi electrice cu abajururi frumoase aşezate de o parte şi de alta a biroului masiv de stejar sculptat cu multă artă iar pe unul din pereţi o bibliotecă plină cu cărţi. Cum pe birou era dezordine străinul presupuse că se afla în încăperea principală a redacţiei. Însă ceea ce atrăgea cel mai mult atenţia era individul ce stătea la birou. Era un bărbat voinic şi judecând după voce, părea a fi de vârstă mijlocie. Obrazul nu i se vedea fiindcă şi-l ascunsese după un văl de dantelă fină de mătase, tras ca o pungă peste cap şi legat cu un şiret pe sub bărbie. Văzând mirarea celuilalt, individul râse pe înfundate.

― Ia loc, zise el şi nu te speria!

― Vă asigur domnule că nu sunt câtuşi de puţin speriat. Nimic pe lume nu m-a scos până acum din sărite decât propria-mi sărăcie şi gândul că va trebui să mor sărac.

Voalatul tăcu o vreme.

― Ai venit în urma anunţului meu? întrebă el.

[Arzu Onuklu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kesinlikle ve kesinlikle önermiyorum. Kurgu karman çorman olduğu için anlaması ilk başta zordu. Ayrıca ilk çeviri Suat Derviş yapmiş ve güncellenmediği için günümüz Türkçesinden çok uzak. Sözlüğe baktım bazı kelimeleri anlayabilmek için. Artı sonu pat diye bittiği için T.B. Smith öldü mü bayıldı mı anlayamadım. Basitçe olay şu zeki bir adamın santaj yaparak zenginleşmesi,yeğeninin parasını batırdığı için kendini borçlu hissedip zengin bir varisle evlendirmeye çalışması. Resmen beni okuyamama durumuna sokan bu kitap en sonunda bitti. Verdiğim paraya acıdım.

[Jim Puskas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A murky, complex mystery with a relentless plot, suitably evil characters and creepy atmosphere. Being set in the late 1920s, it somewhat predates that uniquely American genre called "noir" but were it not so uncompromisingly English in its setting, I would have shelved it as noir. Very dated, it may not appeal to many readers today but it held my attention right to the end and made for a satisfying read beside a warm fire on a stormy winter evening.

[Liviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another short, fast book that keeps one turning pages - the usual cast of characters, the smart and resourceful villain, its sidekicks, the even more resourceful policeman, the ingenue girl caught into all etc etc;

[Biggus · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's going to stay a secret. Only so many evil criminal genius blackmail stories I can take, and when it is read by a clown, well, I think I deserve a medal for getting 20% in. This narrator is ridiculous, laughable, and pathetic. The story didn't do a lot better. :(

[Bruce Small · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the plot, many of the characters, and indeed some of the dialogue is lifted straight from Wallace's previous The Other Man. However, despite the recycle it was a pretty good novel of good guys and devious bad guys.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even more disjointed than others of his I've recently read. So many jumps without context, so many loose ends left at the abrupt ending - I'd guess he'd reached the required number of words and just didn't bother with explanations.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard Edgar Wallace.

[Mack · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early book in Wallace’s caste output. Choppy seas.

[Andra Nicoara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as enticing as I had hoped, but a pleasant story nonetheless. The story feels quite rushed and none of the characters make a connection with the reader.

[Ashgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The storyline didn’t seem so awful but it felt so dull and uninteresting for me that I couldn’t even finish it, maybe it was just me though 🤷‍♀️

[Amanda Purdy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daunting

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edger Wallace is a great novelist, but only an okay mystery writer, not coming close to the greatness of the best of the Golden Age authors, but beating Doyle by a landslide.

[Michael Both · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good page-turner

It is a fairly straightforward plot written by one of the masters of the genre.
Easy to read but less east to put down.

[Brendan Hough · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ear read 2023
4.5/10 the first 60% is just people talking in different rooms. The later part picks up a bit and gets interesting. Only 5hrs and 49mins audio book so not a giant time sink.