''The Saint in Miami'' is the title of a mystery novel by

Leslie Charteris Leslie Charteris (born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.Simon Templar ''The Saint'' is the nickname of the fictional character Simon Templar, featured in a series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books un ...

, alias The Saint. As with an earlier release, '' Follow the Saint'', the order of publication for this book was changed. Instead of being published first in the United Kingdom by

Hodder and Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publishe ...

, as had been custom for most previous volumes, the first edition instead came out in 1940 in the United States, published by

The Crime Club ''The Crime Club'' was an imprint of the Doubleday publishing company, which later spawned a 1946-47 anthology radio series, and a 1937-1939 film series. Literature Many classic and popular works of detective and mystery fiction had their fi ...

. The first UK edition (by H&S) followed in 1941. Most future Charteris-written Saint books would be published in the United States first hereafter. After this publication, the frequency of Saint books decreased. Previously, Charteris would publish at least one (often more than one) volume per year, but the next Saint book would not appear until 1942, though in recent years a manuscript for a novella titled ''

The Saint's Second Front ''The Saint's Second Front'' is the title of the working typescript of a The Saint (Simon Templar) novel written by Leslie Charteris in or around the summer of 1941. It describes a (foiled) military attack by Japan on America. It was rejected fro ...

'' has been discovered, which was submitted for publication in 1941, but rejected. ''The Saint in Miami'' was the first Saint novel published after the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and is the first of several stories pitting Templar against

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

operatives. It also marks the start of Charteris phasing out the character of

Patricia Holm Patricia Holm is the name of a fictional character who appeared in the novels and short stories of Leslie Charteris between 1928 and 1948. She was the on-again, off-again girlfriend and partner of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint", and shared a nu ...

, who would not appear in print again until "The Masked Angel", one of the two novellas compiled in the 1948 release, ''

Call for the Saint ''Call for the Saint'' is a collection of two mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United States in 1948 by The Crime Club, and later the same year in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton. This book continues the adve ...

''. Beginning with this novel, Templar's adventures take place primarily in the United States, or North America. The next non-American Saint adventures would not be published until ''

The Saint in Europe ''The Saint in Europe'' is a collection of short stories by Leslie Charteris, first published in 1953 by The Crime Club in the United States and in 1954 by Hodder and Stoughton in the United Kingdom. This was the 29th book to feature the adventur ...

'' in 1953.

Plot summary

One of

's friends sends an invitation for Patricia and her friend, Simon Templar to visit

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. Upon arrival, however, The Saint, Patricia and sidekick

Hoppy Uniatz Hoppy or Hoppie may refer to: __NOTOC__ Fictional characters * Hopalong Cassidy, a cowboy in novels and films * Hoppy (The Flintstones), on the television series ''The Flintstones'' * Hoppie Groenewald, in the 1989 novel ''The Power of One'' an ...

discover Pat's friend and her husband are nowhere to be found. The trio take up residence in the friend's house. A few days later, a tanker explodes off the Florida coast, and soon after, Simon discovers the dead body of a sailor washed up on shore; attached to the wrist of the body is a lifebelt from the British submarine H.M.S. ''Triton''. Simon suspects a link between the disappearance of Patricia's friends, the explosion, and a millionaire

yachtsman A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

named Randolph March. March's yacht is moored not far from the explosion, and Templar and Hoppy launch the investigation by climbing aboard the yacht, leaving the sailor's corpse in a stateroom for the police to find, and challenging March to give up his secrets. Afterwards, Templar finds himself targeted not only by March, but by an eager local sheriff who proves to be almost as fast-witted as the Saint, himself. Soon, the Saint uncovers a

ring operating out of Florida. 1940 British novels Simon Templar books Novels by Leslie Charteris Novels set during World War II Novels set in Miami The Crime Club books {{1940s-mystery-novel-stub