“The Scarlet Pimpernel” by Baroness Orczy

Let me tell you something from a lot of years of handling books: the ones that last are the ones that are simply fun to read. “The Scarlet Pimpernel” is one of those, and it has been fun to read since 1905.

It’s Paris in the Reign of Terror, and the guillotine is busy. Somebody keeps snatching the doomed French aristocrats from under the noses of the Republic, leaving behind only a small scarlet flower as his calling card. Nobody knows who he is. All anyone can say is that he is clever, daring, and always one step ahead.

Meanwhile, back in England, Sir Percy Blakeney is a rich, foppish dandy whose chief interests seem to be fashion and a witty remark. His wife, Marguerite, once the cleverest woman in Paris, is beginning to wonder what happened to the man she married. When a ruthless French agent arrives with orders to unmask the Pimpernel, she becomes caught in the middle.

I won’t tell you more. That’s the whole mystery, and it’s a good one. Orczy was a Hungarian-born baroness who came to London as a girl, and she may have invented the secret-identity hero, long before Zorro or Batman. Every one of them owes her a debt.

This hardcover is part of “The Best Mysteries of All Time” series, a fitting home for a book that is as much a puzzle as an adventure. It’s in good condition and fits nicely on a shelf.

If you’ve never read it, you’re in for a treat. If you have, you already know. Come see it at Dead Tree Dreams.