Simon Templar Books In Order

Publication Order of Simon Templar Books

Simon Templar is the name of the fictional character from the famous British thriller series of the same name. Simon is often called as The Saint throughout the series. The series is a very long-running series of novels written by the famous author Leslie Charteris and published between the years 1928 and 1963. After that, the author collaborated with some of the other famous authors and continued to write till 1983. The character of Simon Templar is so famous that it has been portrayed in a number of radio dramas, television series’, motion pictures, comic books and strips. He is characterized by the author as a Robin Hood type of criminal and is often referred as The Saint, although the actual reason behind this is not known. Simon uses many aliases with the initials S.T., and is blessed with a boyish humor, often making humorous remarks. His typical habit of leaving a calling card at the crime scenes, which is a figure made of sticks and a halo, is used as the logo of most of the books of the series as well as the movies and TV series’. No one is aware of his origin, however, it is believed that he British, although there are some references that show that he has spent time in the U.S. Simon often derives his income by looting the wealthy people. Preferably, he keeps 10 percent of the lootings as the collection fee and returns the rest to the rightful owners, gives to charity or shares among his colleagues.

The main targets of Simon Templar include the corrupt politicians, government officials and the warmongers. His character is inspired by Robin Hood and even has a dark side due to which he tries to ruin the lives of the ones who are not afraid of God. Simon does not hesitate to kill them if he thinks that he can save many innocent lives by doing so. Even though it is considered as murder, it is not so in the views of his colleagues, partners and himself. He thinks that his actions are righteous and justified. In the initial novels of the series, The Saint tries to fight against the drug runners, arms dealers and the slavers in London. During the 1940s, he is depicted as an operative of the government of America during the Second World War for fighting against the Nazis. However, he becomes a global adventurer in the later books of the series. Simon is depicted to have partnered with a number of female characters throughout the series, however, none of them last till the end. Initially, it was Patricia Holm, who was with Simon until the 1940s. She appeared throughout the series as his girlfriend and as an adventurer just like him. Even though Simon was in a relationship with Holm, he used to flirt with other women frequently. Other recurring characters of the series include Inspector Claud Eustace Teal of the Scotland Yard and Inspector John Henry Fernack of the NYPD.

The first novel of the Simon Templar series by author Leslie Charteris was published by the Ace Books publishing house in the year 1928. The novel was titled ‘Meet the Tiger’ and features the adventures of Simon Templar as the alias The Saint. The plot of the novel introduces Simon as a 27 year old, young and wealthy adventurer, accompanied by a manservant called Horace. The two stay in a pillbox purchased by Simon in the small town Baycombe in North Devon. He had bought it from the Ministry of Defense in order to foil the plan of smuggling stolen gold by a mysterious person known by the name, The Tiger. Other than this, Simon also had the intention of settling an old score with him as he was involved in previous dealings with him, but had not met before. Simon’s intention was to return the gold to its rightful owner and obtain a reward. Throughout the novel, Simon is left guessing as to who is the real personality behind The Tiger and he continually strives to find him among the inhabitants of Baycombe.

Eventually, he meets Patricia Holm for the first time, who is introduced as a young socialite and immediately starts loving her. To his surprise, Sion sees some of the qualities of The Saint in her, such as the taste for dangerous adventures, and this makes him to love her even more. At one point in the novel, Holm takes up the role of protagonist in foiling the plans of The Tiger as it is shown that Simon is dead. Another character named Detective Carn, who is a police officer disguised as a professor in Boycombe, is also in the pursuit of The Tiger. Soon, he forms an alliance with Simon Templar and the two begin their hunt for the Tiger together. The novel went on to become a commercial success, after which author Charteris decided to turn it into a series and began working on its second novel. The character of The Saint was adapted into a number of radio series’ between the 1940s and the 1950s as well as in several Hollywood films. The most notable adaptation of the character was in a television series of the same name during the 1960s, featuring actor Roger Moore as Simon Templar. The novel was made into a movie in the year 1934 titled ‘The Saint Meets the Tiger’, starring Hugh Sinclair as Simon, Jean Gillie as Holm and Clifford Evans as the Tiger.

The second novel of the series was published in the year 1930 under the title ‘Enter the Saint’. It was published by the Hodder and Stoughton publishing house and continues to feature Simon Templar or The Saint as the anti-hero inspired by Robin Hood. The novel shows three interconnected novellas, which depict the character of Scotland Yard Inspector Claud Teal for the first time. In the first part of the novel, Simon strives to stop a drug smuggler and bring him to justice. He works with a team of mysterious men to establish himself as the crime buster. Simon is also followed by his love interest Patricia Holm. The second part of the novel shows how the reputation of Simon as The Saint grows. He forms an alliance with a character named Roger Conway to investigate a couple of kidnappings related to some stolen diamonds. He deals directly with Inspector Claud Teal for the first time in this part, who goes on to become his regular ally throughout the series. The third part of the novel shows Simon briefly and manly focusses on one of his agents named Dicky Tremaine. In this story, Simon is shown killing someone for the first time.