The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu

English language

Published Nov. 9, 2016 by Standard Ebooks.

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3 stars (1 review)

The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu, first published in the UK as The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, is the first novel to introduce the inimitable Fu-Manchu, famous not just for his moustache, but for being a nigh-unstoppable criminal mastermind and part of the “Yellow Peril.” This novel is a collection of previously-published short stories, slightly re-written by Rohmer to form a cohesive whole.

        <p>The narrator, Dr. Petrie, is a sort of Watson to Nayland Smith’s <a href="https://standardebooks.org/collections/sherlock-holmes">Holmes</a>; but Smith resembles more of a James Bond than a Sherlock Holmes as the two barrel through action scenes and near-death scenarios planned by Fu-Manchu, a master scientist, chemist, and poisoner.</p>
        <p>This novel was one of the first to popularize the trope of the “mysterious Chinaman,” an element that later became so clichéd that Ronald Knox, the famous detective story writer, declared that “no Chinaman must figure” in good detective stories.</p>
        <p>The casual …

2 editions

Subjects

  • Detective and mystery stories
  • Fu Manchu, Doctor (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
  • Criminals -- Fiction