The Thirty-Nine Steps Author:Joseph Conrad Richard Hannay calls himself an ordinary man, albeit in an extraordinary time. Returning to England after making his fortune in South Africa, he does his best to stay entertained, though he only feels boredom and a desire to return to his African veldt. On the eve of his departure an American journalist named Scudder is murdered in Richard’s... more » London flat and he immediately becomes the prime suspect. Forced to flee, he ventures north to Scotland, the police in pursuit, as he searches for a way to clear himself. He has only his wits and a small notebook handed him by the American before he died. A small notebook containing a code that must be broken not only to find the true murderer, but to prevent a devious plan to plunge all of Europe into a great war.« less