The Crime Code

Lionel Hipwell begins as the polished son of a country politician: a young barrister, Foreign Office man, and secret fiancé of Joan Gell, with Parliament in his sights and a quiet contempt for London's glittering nightlife. But a single wet November night shatters that secure future. After losing heavily at a gambling house, he intervenes in a street assault in Bloomsbury, only for the struggle to end in a fatal pistol shot. Suddenly accused by the victim's companion and fearing a murder charge that could ruin his career, engagement, and name, Lionel flees into the Tube and out into the rain. What follows is a tense, darkly comic flight through disguise, deception, and class masquerade as he hitches north, changes clothes, and returns to London under a false identity. Hiding in shabby Camberwell lodgings, he reads newspaper accounts that seem to identify him at every turn. Meanwhile, the search for the missing Joan pulls others into a wider web of clubs, criminals, and suspicion, especially around the elusive Roddy Owen and a murdered cat-burglar. As Teddy tracks the underworld and Scotland Yard enters the case, the novel deepens into a suspenseful blend of mystery, crime, and social danger. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.