''The Valley of Ghosts'' is a

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

by the British writer Edgar Wallace which was first published in 1922. The novel was originally serialised in ''

The Popular Magazine ''The Popular Magazine'' was an early American literary magazine that ran for 612 issues from November 1903 to October 1931. It featured short fiction, novellas, serialized larger works, and even entire short novels. The magazine's subject matter ...

'', Jul 20-Sep 7, 1922, in four installments, and the first UK book edition was by

Odhams Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and the ...

Ltd., in London, in 1922.

Small, Maynard & Company Small, Maynard & Company (Small, Maynard and Company in bibliographies) is a defunct publishing house located in Boston. In its day it was a highly reputable house in literature, and several U.S. authors were published by it, including Walt Whitma ...

published the first US book edition, in New York, in 1923.

Plot

Murder comes to a quiet settlement of the English countryside, and with more than one ghost. Why was Stella Nelson with the victim in the middle of the night, shortly before the murder? Who was the mysterious blackmailer who held all England in their grasp? Why didn't the famous detective, Andy MacLeod, do his duty?

Film adaptation

In 1928 the novel was adapted into a silent film directed by

G.B. Samuelson George Berthold Samuelson (6 July 1889 – 17 April 1947) was a director and film producer. Born in Southport, Lancashire, Samuelson was the youngest son of Henschel and Bertha Samuelson, tobacconists originally from Prussia. By 1891, his mother ...

and starring

Miriam Seegar Miriam Seegar Whelan (September 1, 1907 – January 2, 2011) was an American actress in silent film and early sound films. Early life As the Seegar sisters started acting and singing, Frank Seegar left teaching to open a hardware store in effo ...

and Ian Hunter. It was one of a number of adaptations of Wallace's novels in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

References

1922 British novels British novels adapted into films Novels by Edgar Wallace British crime novels Novels set in England Odhams Press books {{1920s-crime-novel-stub