''Wanted for Murder'' is the title of a collection of six mystery

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

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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.Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...

-inspired crimefighter,

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 unt ...

, alias The Saint. ''Wanted for Murder'' holds an unusual place in the Charteris canon as this book featured the first American publication of the stories contained within the books ''

Featuring the Saint ''Featuring the Saint'' is a collection of three mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom in February 1931 by Hodder and Stoughton. This was the fifth book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The ...

'' and ''

Alias the Saint ''Alias the Saint'' is a collection of three mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom in May 1931 by Hodder and Stoughton. This was the sixth book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, also known as "The S ...

'', which were published in the United Kingdom earlier in 1931 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 publisher ...

. In most cases,

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 fir ...

, an

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

of Doubleday, simply published American editions of the Saint books (occasionally retitled), but this was the first — and only — occasion on which The Crime Club chose not to publish two of Charteris' books, instead deciding to combine them into an American-only omnibus release. The book was later republished by Sun Dial Press in 1943 and retitled ''The Saint – Wanted for Murder'';

Avon Books Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reach ...

also published a pulp paperback edition. In the 1950s, an American edition of ''Alias the Saint'' appeared in paperback, however this book (subtitled "excerpts from ''Wanted for Murder''") contained only two stories—one from ''Alias the Saint'' and one from ''Featuring the Saint''. Complete US editions of the two books did not appear until the early 1960s; once again, these books were promoted as featuring "excerpts from ''Wanted for Murder''". The collection was also published under the title ''Paging the Saint''.

Stories

''Wanted for Murder'' contains the following stories: From ''

'': *The Logical Adventure *The Wonderful War *The Man Who Could Not Die From ''

'': *The Story of a Dead Man *The Impossible Crime *The National Debt 1931 short story collections Simon Templar books Short story collections by Leslie Charteris The Crime Club books {{1930s-mystery-story-collection-stub