Edward Phillips Oppenheim (October 22, 1866 – February 3, 1946), was an English novelist, in his lifetime a major and successful writer of genre fiction

Genre fiction

Genre fiction, also known as popular fiction, is a term for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre....

 including thrillers.

Life

Oppenheim was born 22 October 1866 in Leicester, the son of a leather merchant, and worked in his father's business for almost twenty years. He went to Wyggeston Grammar School

Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College

Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College, or "Q.E" is a sixth form college in Leicester, England.-Admissions:There are 1,865 full-time 16-18 year-old students and 140 teaching staff. More than 40 subjects are offered at A Level. Somewhat against the national trend Mathematics and Sciences account...

. In 1892 he married Elise Clara Hopkins. They lived in Evington

Evington

Evington is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It used to be a small village centred around Main Street and the Anglican church of St Denys but was close enough to Leicester to become one of the outer suburbs in the 1930s...

, Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

 until the First World War,and had one daughter. During the war he worked for the Ministry of Information. His literary success enabled him to buy a villa in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and a yacht, then a house in Guernsey

Guernsey

Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

, though he lost access to this during the Second World War. Afterwards he regained the house, le Vanquiédor in St. Peter Port, and he died there on 3 February 1946.

Background

Oppenheim featured on the cover of Time

Time (magazine)

Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

magazine on September 12, 1927, he was the self-styled "prince of storytellers." He composed some one hundred and fifty novels, mainly of the suspense and international intrigue nature, but including romances, comedies, and parables of everyday life. He was the earliest writer of spy fiction as understood today, and invented the "Rogue Male" school of adventure thrillers that was later exploited by John Buchan and Geoffrey Household

Geoffrey Household

Geoffrey Edward West Household was a prolific British novelist who specialized in thrillers. He is best known for his novel Rogue Male .-Personal life:...

.

Undoubtedly his most renowned work was The Great Impersonation: it was filmed thrice, the last time as a strong piece of wartime propaganda. Perhaps Oppenheim's most enduring creation is the character of General Besserley, the protagonist of General Besserley's Puzzle Box and General Besserley's New Puzzle Box (one of his last works). Much of Oppenheim's work possesses a unique escapist charm, featuring protagonists who delight in Epicurean

Gourmet

Gourmet is a cultural ideal associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterised by elaborate preparations and presentations of large meals of small, often quite rich courses...

 meals, surroundings of intense luxury, and the relaxed pursuit of criminal practice, on either side of the law.

Further reading

• Autobiography, The Pool of Memory (1941)
• The sole biography of Oppenheim is Prince of Storytellers: The Life of E. Phillips Oppenheim by Robert Standish, pseudonym of Digby George Gerahty
  Digby George Gerahty
  Digby George Gerahty , who wrote under the pen-names of Robert Standish and Stephen Lister, was an English novelist and short story writer most productive during the 1940s and 1950s. He was also a featured contributor to the Saturday Evening Post...
  
  . London: Peter Davies 1957.

Novels

• Expiation (1887)
• The Peer and the Woman (1895)
• A Daughter of the Marionis (1895)
• False Evidence (1896)
• A Modern Prometheus (1896)
• The Mystery of Mr. Bernard Brown (1896)
• The Wooing of Fortune (1896)
• The Postmaster of Market Deighton (1897)
• The Amazing Judgment (1897)
• Mysterious Mr. Sabin (1898)
• A Daughter of Astrea (1898)
• As a Man Lives (1898)
• Mr. Marx's Secret (1899)
• The Man and His Kingdom (1899)
• The World's Great Snare (1900)
• A Millionaire of Yesterday (1900)
• The Survivor (1901)
• Enoch Strone [aka A Master of Men] (1901)
• A Sleeping Memory [aka The Great Awakening] (1902)
• The Traitors (1902)
• A Prince of Sinners (1903)
• The Yellow Crayon (1903)
• The Betrayal (1904)
• Anna the Adventuress (1904)
• A Maker of History (1905)
• The Master Mummer (1905)
• A Lost Leader (1906)
• The Tragedy of Adrea [aka A Monk of Cruta] (1906)
• The Malefactor [aka Mr. Wingrave, Millionaire] (1906)
• Berenice (1907)
• The Avenger [aka The Conspirators] (1907)
• The Great Secret [aka The Secret] (1908)
• The Governor (1908)
• The Distributors [aka Ghosts of Society] (1908) (as Anthony Partridge)
• The Missioner (1908)
• The Kingdom of Earth [aka The Black Watcher] (1909) (as Anthony Partridge)
• Jeanne of the Marshes (1909)
• The Illustrious Prince (1910)
• Passers By (1910) (as Anthony Partridge)
• The Lost Ambassador [aka The Missing Delora] (1910)
• The Golden Web (1911) (as Anthony Partridge)
• The Moving Finger [aka A Falling Star] (1911)
• Havoc (1911)
• The Court of St. Simon (1912) (as Anthony Partridge)
• The Lighted Way (1912)
• The Tempting of Tavernake (1912)
• The Mischief Maker (1913)
• The Double Life of Mr. Alfred Burton (1913)
• The Way of These Women (1914)
• A People's Man (1914)
• The Vanished Messenger (1914)
• The Black Box (1915)
• The Double Traitor (1915)
• Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo (1915)
• The Kingdom of the Blind (1916)
• The Hillman (1917)
• The Cinema Murder [aka The Other Romilly] (1917)
• The Pawns Count (1918)
• The Zeppelin's Passenger [aka Mr. Lessingham Goes Home] (1918)
• The Wicked Marquis (1919)
• The Box with Broken Seals [aka The Strange Case of Mr. Jocelyn Thew] (1919)
• The Curious Quest [aka The Amazing Quest of Mr. Ernest Bliss] (1919)
• The Great Impersonation (1920)
• The Devil's Paw (1920)
• The Profiteers (1921)
• Jacob's Ladder (1921)
• Nobody's Man (1921)
• The Evil Shepherd (1922)
• The Great Prince Shan (1922)
• The Mystery Road (1923)
• The Wrath to Come (1924)
• The Passionate Quest (1924)
• Stolen Idols (1925)
• Gabriel Samara, Peacemaker (1925)
• The Golden Beast (1926
• Prodigals of Monte Carlo (1926)
• Harvey Garrard's Crime (1926)
• The Interloper [aka The Ex-Duke] (1927)
• Miss Brown of X. Y. O. (1927)
• The Light Beyond (1928)
• The Fortunate Wayfarer (1928)
• Matorni's Vineyard (1928)
• The Treasure House of Martin Hews (1929)
• The Glenlitten Murder (1929)
• The Million Pound Deposit (1930)
• The Lion and the Lamb (1930)
• Gangster's Glory [aka Inspector Dickens Retires] (1931)
• Up the Ladder of Gold (1931)
• Simple Peter Cradd (1931)
• The Man from Sing Sing [aka Moran Chambers Smiled] (1932)
• The Ostrekoff Jewels (1932)
• Murder at Monte Carlo (1933)
• The Ex-Detective (1933)
• Jeremiah and the Princess (1933)
• The Gallows of Chance (1934)
• The Man without Nerves [aka The Bank Manager] (1934)
• The Strange Boarders of Palace Crescent (1934)
• The Spy Paramount (1934)
• The Battle of Basinghall Street (1935)
• Floating Peril [aka The Bird of Paradise] (1936)
• The Magnificent Hoax [aka Judy of Bunter's Buildings] (1936)
• The Dumb Gods Speak (1937)
• Envoy Extraordinary (1937)
• The Mayor on Horseback (1937)
• The Colossus of Arcadia (1938)
• The Spymaster (1938)
• And Still I Cheat the Gallows (1939)
• Sir Adam Disappeared (1939)
• Exit a Dictator (1939)
• The Strangers' Gate (1939)
• Last Train Out (1940)

Short story collections

Of these 37 collections of short stories, 26 of which have been issued in book form in the United States, most of the volumes are series with sustained interest in which one group of characters appear throughout the various stories.

• The Long Arm of Mannister [aka The Long Arm]. 1908
• Peter Ruff and the Double-Four [aka The Double Four]. 1912
• For the Queen. 1912
• Those Other Days. 1912
• Mr. Laxworthy's Adventures. 1913
• The Amazing Partnership. 1914
• An Amiable Charlatan [aak The Game of Liberty]. 1915
• Mysteries of the Riviera. 1916
• Aaron Rodd, Diviner. 1920
• Ambrose Lavendale, Diplomat. 1920
• Hon. Algernon Knox, Detective. 1920
• The Seven Conundrums. 1923
• Michael's Evil Deeds. 1923
• The Inevitable Millionaires. 1923
• The Terrible Hobby of Sir Joseph Londe. 1924
• The Adventures of Mr. Joseph P. Gray. 1925
• The Little Gentleman from Okehampstead. 1926
• The Channay Syndicate. 1927
• Mr. Billingham, the Marquis and Madelon. 1927
• Madame and Her Twelve Virgins. 1927
• Nicholas Goade, Detective. 1927
• The Exploits of Pudgy Pete. 1928
• Chronicles of Melhampton. 1928
• The Human Chase. 1929
• Jennerton & Co. 1929
• What Happened to Forester. 1929
• Slane's Long Shots. 1930
• Sinners Beware. 1931
• Crooks in the Sunshine. 1932
• The Ex-Detective. 1933
• General Besserley's Puzzle Box. 1935
• Advice Limited. 1936
• Ask Miss Mott. 1936
• Curious Happenings to the Rooke Legatees. 1937
• A Pulpit in the Grill Room. 1938
• General Besserley's Second Puzzle Box. 1939
• The Grassleyes Mystery. 1940

Film adaptations

• The Black Box
  The Black Box (serial)
  The Black Box is a 1915 drama film serial directed by Otis Turner. This serial is considered to be lost.-Cast:* Herbert Rawlinson - Sanford Quest* Ann Little - Lenore MacDougal * William Worthington - Prof...
  
   (1915)
• Mr Grex of Monte Carlo (1915)
• The Master Mummer (1915)
• The Game of Liberty, filmed as Under Suspicion (1916)
• The World's Great Snare (1916)
• Master of Men (1917)
• The Hillman, filmed as In the Balance (1917); The Hillman (1924)
• Seeing Life, filmed under its American title The Court of St Simon (1917)
• The Great Awakening, filmed under its American title A Sleeping Memory (1917)
• Mr Wingrave, Millionaire, filmed under its American title The Malefactor (1919)
• The Illustrious Prince (1919)
• The Long Arm, filmed under its American title The Long Arm of Mannister (1919)
• The Other romilly, filmed under its American Title The Cinema Murder (1920)
• The Plunderers, filmed under its American title The Golden Web (1920); and again as The Golden Web
  The Golden Web
  The Golden Web is a 1926 drama film directed by Walter Lang and featuring Boris Karloff.-Cast:* Lillian Rich - Ruth Rowan* Huntley Gordon - Roland Deane* Jay Hunt - John Rowan* Lawford Davidson - George Sisk* Boris Karloff - Dave Sinclair...
  
   (1926)
• The Mystery of Mr Bernard Brown (1921)
• The Mystery Road (1921)
• Jeanne of the Marshes, filmed as Behind the Mask - Silent 1921, Behind the Masks Sound 1931
• The Great Impersonation - Silent Movie 1921; Sound Movie (1935); Sound Movie (1942)
• A lost leader (1922)
• The Missioner (1922)
• Expiation (1922)
• False Evidence (1922)
• The Great Prince Shan (1924)
• The Ex-Duke, filmed as The Prince of Tempters (1926)
• The Inevitable Millionaires, filmed as Millionaires (1926)
• The Passionate Quest (1926)
• The Temptation of Tavernake, filmed as Sisters of Eve (1926)
• The Lion and the Lamb
  The Lion and the Lamb
  -Cast:* Walter Byron as Dave* Carmel Myers as Inez* Raymond Hatton as Muggsy* Montagu Love as Professor Tottie* Miriam Seegar as Madge* Charles K. Gerrard as Bert * Will Stanton as Ruebin* Charles Wildish as First Lascar...
  
   (1931)
• The Strange Boarders of Palace Crescent, filmed as Strange Boarders (1936)
• The Amazing Quest of Mr Ernest Bliss, filmed as Amazing Adventure (1937) also released as Romance and Riches, and Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (starring Cary Grant)

External links

• 1927 Time cover featuring Oppenheim
• E. Phillips Oppenheim, Prince of Story Tellers Contains extensive lists of writings by Oppenheim.
• The Free Library