The Sinister Strangers File

A LONE PARK RANGER UP AGAINST A CONSPIRACY TO STEAL AN OIL KINGDOM - AND AN INFURIATING YOUNG WOMAN WHO MAY BE PART OF IT!

"Clarence Budington Kelland is master of the slick, swift, entertaining yarn." –New York Times

"First Kelland book I ever read. Got me hooked." Goodreads

Another slightly off-kilter Kelland mystery, filled with unforgettable characters and pungently clever dialogue – an adroit mixture of the deadly dangerous and the dangerously funny.

 It all starts in midcentury Yosemite National Park when probationary ranger Linc Sawtell becomes suspicious of Joan Vanderlee, maid/secretary to Letitia Potwin, an outrageous Boston Blue Blood on a hunt for a real-life treasure lost in the region centuries before. Joan seems unusually independent and out-spoken for a servant. His suspicions deepen with the arrival of a highly-cultured Chinese businesman who seems to know Letitia Potwin very well. And continue to deepen with the arrival of several other larger-than-life visitors. There is Zaharados, a wily visitor from the Levantine, whose retainer makes a point of demonstrating his expertise with a blade by embedding it in a wall uncomfortably close to Linc. There is Johannes van der Poot, a millionaire with an international reputation (not all good); his gorgeous daughter Katrina, with a taste for the dangerous life, who exudes sex appeal and appears to have a passion for Park Rangers, particularly Linc. Then the equally gorgeous television wrestler "Nature Boy" Nussler, with his long golden locks and breath-taking physique, seemingly sweiping Joan Vanderlee off her feet. Adding to the mix is Haroun, Sheik el Samari, a young Arab prince fresh out of Oxford, who acts and talks just like the cliché Britisher, plus his rather large entourage. Capping everything off is Whitey, a Chicago gunman, and his cohorts, who rent a cabin just outside the park, where they seem to do nothing but play cards and wait. Every time Linc sees Joan with Nature Boy Nussler his blood boils and every time. And every time Joan sees Linc with Katrina she becomes more snippy.

 Clearly everyone is there for a reason, the same reason. But is it the treasure hunt–or something more sinister? Then Linc learns of an assassination plot and the billions of dollars In oil at stake, which if successful would create an international incident devastating to the United States – and perhaps the world!

 The Sinister Strangers is one of the Federal Agent Mysteries. Kelland was asked to write a series of novels giving people a behind-the-scenes look at what different types of federal law enforcement agents –the FBI, Postal Service, Park rangers, Secret Service, etc. – did to earn their keep. He received unprecedented access to offices, procedures, agents and files – and so the stories in this series are not only zany and compelling, but richly detailed and fascinating.

"Action steady, suspense above average." Saturday Review