''The Secret Search'' by E. R. Punshon (d. 1956), public domain. The story follows Commander Bobby Owen as he navigates a dark, post-WWII London underworld. Notorious gangster Cy King is released from prison and seeks revenge against Bobby, who originally put him away. Someone impersonating Bobby is spotted snooping around Southam, a remote London suburb. In that exact suburb, a newly arrived Canadian woman named Elizabeth Smith vanishes, and a respectable old man is found dead in his bathtub. Bobby must unravel these connections while caught in a gritty, violent feud between Cy King's crew and a rival gang led by Tidy Garden.
