The Sign of Silence (1915) is a mystery novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the height of Le Queux’s career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Sign of Silence is a story of stolen identity, mystery, and international crime. Using his own research and experience as a journalist and adventurer, Le Queux crafts an accessible, entertaining for readers in search of a literary escape. Known for his works of fiction and nonfiction on the possibility of Germany invading Britain―a paranoia common in the early twentieth century―William Le Queux also wrote dozens of thrillers and adventure novels for a dedicated public audience. Although critical acclaim eluded him, popular success made him one of England’s bestselling writers. In The Sign of Silence, a man named Royle receives a late night telephone call from his friend Sir Digsby Kemsley, a wealthy socialite and renowned engineer. When he arrives at his mansion in Harrington Gardens, a strange air of secrecy and fear has taken over Digsby. Talking in a hurried manner, he asks his old friend to adopt a disguise in order to deliver a sealed envelope to a mysterious woman, then to await a call. Before he allows Royle to leave, he makes him promise to remain loyal to him at all costs, which the novel’s hero agrees to immediately. The next day, however, a man claiming to be Digsby reaches out via telephone, acting as though nothing had happened. As the story unfolds, a manhunt is launched for the shadowy figure whose friendship has been essential to Royle’s life in London, and whose disappearance will shock the world. This edition of William Le Queux’s The Sign of Silence is a classic thriller reimagined for modern readers.
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.
With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.
William Le Queux (1864-1927) was an Anglo-French journalist, novelist, and radio broadcaster. Born in London to a French father and English mother, Le Queux studied art in Paris and embarked on a walking tour of Europe before finding work as a reporter for various French newspapers. Towards the end of the 1880s, he returned to London where he edited Gossip and Piccadilly before being hired as a reporter for The Globe in 1891. After several unhappy years, he left journalism to pursue his creative interests. Le Queux made a name for himself as a leading writer of popular fiction with such espionage thrillers as The Great War in England in 1897 (1894) and The Invasion of 1910 (1906). In addition to his writing, Le Queux was a notable pioneer of early aviation and radio communication, interests he maintained while publishing around 150 novels over his decades long career.
