archibald

Some year and a half ago, my friend and erstwhile neighbour. Dr. Archibald More d’Escombe, died suddenly, and shortly after his decease I received from his solicitors a sealed packet addressed to me in his handwriting, with instructions that it was not to be opened until after his death.

Written in 1925, the novel opens with three gentleman friends – lawyer Sir Edward Leithen, banker John Palliser-Yeates, and Cabinet member Charles Lord Lamancha – discovering that they all suffer a common and debilitating malady, a loss of zest for life, all desperate to relieve the ennui that has engulfed them. The solution can only be something devilish, with a dash of daring. Enlisting the aid of...

Archibald Hunter was spending his annual vacation in Cruden Bay, Scotland when he sees two women and a man walking abreast. Suddenly, he has a vision of the man carrying a coffin and the two women walking behind. Just as suddenly, he sees the three walking normal again. As this was happening, Archie was being watched by an old woman, Gormala. She had seen Archie’s shocked look at what he had just seen...