The Seven Conundrums

"The Seven Conundrums" by E. Phillips Oppenheim is a story set in the early 1900s that follows three down-on-their-luck entertainers—Maurice Lister, Leonard Cotton, and Rose Mindel—as they struggle with failing careers and financial desperation. Their lives dramatically change after meeting the mysterious Richard Thomson, who offers them help while harboring secret motives related to a dangerous criminal, Mountjoy, the theft of a valuable minute book, and some pretty big revolutionary conspiracies. The story begins with their desperate situation, then throws in a stormy night, a chance meeting, and a fancy dinner, quickly escalating into a world of intrigue and danger as these performers find themselves caught up in Thomson’s complex plans to catch a criminal and stop a revolution.