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The Lady in the Car
The Lady in the Car (1908) is a novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the height of Le Queux’s career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Lady in the Car is a story of romance, adventure, and international crime. Using his own research and experience as a journalist and adventurer, Le Queux crafts an accessible, entertaining world for readers in search of a literary escape. Known for his works of fiction and nonfiction on the possibility of Germany invading Britain―a paranoia common in the early twentieth century―William Le Queux also wrote dozens of thrillers and adventure novels for a dedicated public audience. Although critical acclaim eluded him, popular success made him one of England’s bestselling writers. In The Lady in the Car , the narrator reveals his firsthand knowledge of the shadowy figure known across Europe as Prince Albert of Hesse-Holstein―in addition to a number of other elaborate aliases. Renowned for his international connections, debonair attitude, and remarkable generosity, the Prince is a smooth criminal who, with the help of his trusted accomplices, runs a lucrative criminal enterprise in broad daylight. Gifted with a chameleon-like ability to change his appearance, the Prince targets wealthy men and women looking for a way to raise their influence in aristocratic society. Using his state-of-the-art Mercedes as both a symbol of his power and a powerful getaway vehicle, the Prince is more than happy to oblige the fantasies of those with wealth to spare. When an unsuspecting victim turns out to be an extremely powerful woman, the Prince and his gang of thieves find themselves scrambling to not only keep their operation secret, but to keep themselves from going to prison for the rest of their lives. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of William Le Queux’s The Lady in the Car is a classic novel reimagined for modern readers.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1908
About the author
William Le Queux
506 books31 followersNovelist William Tufnell Le Queux was born in London on 2 July 1864. His father, also William of Chateauroux, Indre, was a French draper's assistant and his mother was English.
He was educated in Europe and studied art under Ignazio Spiridon in Paris. He walked extensively in France and Germany and supported himself for a time writing for French newspapers. It was one of his sensational stories in The Petit Journal that attracted the attention of the French novelist Emile Zola and it was supposedly he who encouraged Le Queux to become a full-time writer.
In the late 1880s he returned to London where he edited the Gossip and Piccadilly magazines before joining the staff of The Globe newspaper in 1891 as a parliamentary reporter. But he resigned in 1893 and decided to abandon journalism to concentrate on writing and travelling. And his extensive travelling saw him visit Russia, the Near East, North Africa, Egypt and the Sudan and in 1912–13 he was a correspondent in the Balkan War for the Daily Mail. On his travels he found it necessary to become an expert revolver shot.
His first book was Guilty Bonds (1891), which concentrated on political conspiracy in Russia to such a degree that it was subsequently banned in that country. A series of short stories Strange Tales of a Nihilist followed in 1892 and from then on he was producing books on a regular basis until his death, and beyond, as a number of posthumous works were published.
His works mainly related to espionage activity and it was said that he was employed for a number of years as a member of the British Secret Service, where he was an expert on wireless transmission. He did claim to have been the first wireless experimenter to have broadcast from his station at Guildford in 1920/21 and he was president of the Wireless Experimental Association and a member of the Institute of Radio Engineers.
He stated at one time that he began writing to help finance his work for British Intelligence for whom he was required to undertake much travelling and to make personal contact with royalty and other high-ranking people. He recorded some of the latter meetings in his autobiography entitled Things I Know about Kings, Celebrities and Crooks (1923).
He was at one time Consul of the Republic of San Marino and he possessed Italian, Serbian and Montenegrin decorations. He was also a keen collector of medieval manuscripts and monastic seals.
However, all his activities did not stop him turning out novel after novel and at the time of his death he had well over 100 books to his credit.
After several weeks' illness, he died at Knocke, Belgium, in the early hours of 13 October 1927. His body was returned to England and on 19 October he was cremated at Golders Green with the Reverend Francis Taylor of Bedford conducting the service, which was attended by Le Queux's brother and a few intimate friends. (Gerry Wolstenholme, January 2013)
He was educated in Europe and studied art under Ignazio Spiridon in Paris. He walked extensively in France and Germany and supported himself for a time writing for French newspapers. It was one of his sensational stories in The Petit Journal that attracted the attention of the French novelist Emile Zola and it was supposedly he who encouraged Le Queux to become a full-time writer.
In the late 1880s he returned to London where he edited the Gossip and Piccadilly magazines before joining the staff of The Globe newspaper in 1891 as a parliamentary reporter. But he resigned in 1893 and decided to abandon journalism to concentrate on writing and travelling. And his extensive travelling saw him visit Russia, the Near East, North Africa, Egypt and the Sudan and in 1912–13 he was a correspondent in the Balkan War for the Daily Mail. On his travels he found it necessary to become an expert revolver shot.
His first book was Guilty Bonds (1891), which concentrated on political conspiracy in Russia to such a degree that it was subsequently banned in that country. A series of short stories Strange Tales of a Nihilist followed in 1892 and from then on he was producing books on a regular basis until his death, and beyond, as a number of posthumous works were published.
His works mainly related to espionage activity and it was said that he was employed for a number of years as a member of the British Secret Service, where he was an expert on wireless transmission. He did claim to have been the first wireless experimenter to have broadcast from his station at Guildford in 1920/21 and he was president of the Wireless Experimental Association and a member of the Institute of Radio Engineers.
He stated at one time that he began writing to help finance his work for British Intelligence for whom he was required to undertake much travelling and to make personal contact with royalty and other high-ranking people. He recorded some of the latter meetings in his autobiography entitled Things I Know about Kings, Celebrities and Crooks (1923).
He was at one time Consul of the Republic of San Marino and he possessed Italian, Serbian and Montenegrin decorations. He was also a keen collector of medieval manuscripts and monastic seals.
However, all his activities did not stop him turning out novel after novel and at the time of his death he had well over 100 books to his credit.
After several weeks' illness, he died at Knocke, Belgium, in the early hours of 13 October 1927. His body was returned to England and on 19 October he was cremated at Golders Green with the Reverend Francis Taylor of Bedford conducting the service, which was attended by Le Queux's brother and a few intimate friends. (Gerry Wolstenholme, January 2013)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 1, 2025
‘Prince Albert of Hesse-Holstein’ is a kind of old-fashioned James Bond, whose specialties are espionage (for His Britannic Majesty’s government, naturally), women and above all, burglary on a grand scale.
‘Prince Albert of Hesse-Holstein’ is just one of his noms-de-guerre as he trundles around the Balkans in William le Queux’s 1908 novel, or rather, his collection of pre-first world war adventures, ‘The Lady in the Car.’ The stories describe the international tensions existing between the European big powers (Russia, Great Britain, Austria, Turkey and France, and their “spheres of influence") and the lesser Balkan principalities. As well as the joys of driving for the fun of it, with reckless disregard for fossil fuels and non renewable sources of energy, the Prince has a great time flirting with pretty girls who, as often as not, turn out to be as great villains as the Prince himself. And the Prince is generally good natured, but on one occasion, he exacts a dreadful revenge from a girl. And on another, we feel very uncomfortable about an elderly, obese lady with ambitions to become a princess…
On the whole, very dated, very sexist, very imperialistic, but light hearted reading for all its faults.
‘Prince Albert of Hesse-Holstein’ is just one of his noms-de-guerre as he trundles around the Balkans in William le Queux’s 1908 novel, or rather, his collection of pre-first world war adventures, ‘The Lady in the Car.’ The stories describe the international tensions existing between the European big powers (Russia, Great Britain, Austria, Turkey and France, and their “spheres of influence") and the lesser Balkan principalities. As well as the joys of driving for the fun of it, with reckless disregard for fossil fuels and non renewable sources of energy, the Prince has a great time flirting with pretty girls who, as often as not, turn out to be as great villains as the Prince himself. And the Prince is generally good natured, but on one occasion, he exacts a dreadful revenge from a girl. And on another, we feel very uncomfortable about an elderly, obese lady with ambitions to become a princess…
On the whole, very dated, very sexist, very imperialistic, but light hearted reading for all its faults.
August 9, 2025
Librivox Edition: a light, entertaining adventure tale (not horribly believable) but wonderfully narrated.
August 15, 2018
Fun story collection about an upper-class conman who seduces rich women by taking them for a drive in his flashy motors.
A polished frequenter of the most exclusive hotels and known variously as 'his Highness Prince Albert of Hesse-Holstein, alias Charles Fotheringham, alias Henry Tremlett,' as well as other names besides, the phony prince and his cronies, including the Rev. Thomas Clayton, are always on the look out for a suitable mark.
Their elaborate grifts take shape in a bevy of exotic settings such as Belgrade, Florence, Rome, Sofia, San Remo and, er, Stamford in Lincolnshire (it's very pretty you know!) However, they are not the only crooks on the scene, the continent turns out to be a veritable hornet's nest of swindlers.
The best stories were probably the third one, which was highly representative of most of the rest, and the ninth, where the Prince adopted his Tremlett persona to fleece five City businessmen and a corrupt Italian politician after a fine line of double-dealing.
I had read one of Le Queux's novels before and it was woefully bad. These short stories were a whole lot better.
A polished frequenter of the most exclusive hotels and known variously as 'his Highness Prince Albert of Hesse-Holstein, alias Charles Fotheringham, alias Henry Tremlett,' as well as other names besides, the phony prince and his cronies, including the Rev. Thomas Clayton, are always on the look out for a suitable mark.
Their elaborate grifts take shape in a bevy of exotic settings such as Belgrade, Florence, Rome, Sofia, San Remo and, er, Stamford in Lincolnshire (it's very pretty you know!) However, they are not the only crooks on the scene, the continent turns out to be a veritable hornet's nest of swindlers.
The best stories were probably the third one, which was highly representative of most of the rest, and the ninth, where the Prince adopted his Tremlett persona to fleece five City businessmen and a corrupt Italian politician after a fine line of double-dealing.
I had read one of Le Queux's novels before and it was woefully bad. These short stories were a whole lot better.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews