BIGGLES IN MEXICO
Book First Published on 19th January 1959 - 183 pages
I believe this Biggles book was never serialised elsewhere. If anybody knows differently then please E-MAIL ME
First edition dust jacket showing the original price of 8
shillings and 6 pence
The story starts with Biggles and
Ginger in the Mexican desert. Unusually, this time, their form of transport is
a car and they soon get stuck in some soft sand. A passing Mexican uses his
horse to pull them out and this is the picture on the dust cover of the book.
We then learn why they are there. They are heading for the remote village of Eltora, where a gang of thieves is hiding out, waiting to
sell the proceeds of a diamond robbery in London where a caretaker had been
shot dead. The thieves are Nicolas 'Ritzy' Brabinsky,
Carlos 'Corny' Cornelli and Samuel 'Nifty' Brimshawe. These three crooks are waiting to meet with a
Hugo Schultz, who is willing to buy the diamond haul off them. Before travelling
to Mexico, Biggles had been to visit his old enemy, Erich von Stalhein, who is
no longer an enemy, following his rescue (in the previous Biggles book). Von
Stalhein knows Schultz of old and is able to give Biggles some valuable
information about him. On reaching Eltora, Biggles'
car breaks down and he finds himself stranded there. He and Ginger get to know
the gang of thieves, as there are very few non-Mexicans around. Ritzy shoots Cornelli and is arrested for murder just before Schultz
arrives with two henchmen. Borrowing a car, Ginger is sent back to the USA to
get spare parts for the broken down car and to pass a message to Algy and
Bertie. Ginger has a bad time, suffering a puncture and then being caught in a
huge storm and flash flood, an event most unusual in the desert. Schultz
springs Ritzy from prison only to discover the diamonds are hidden in the car
Ginger has borrowed. The race is then on to find Ginger who has had to abandon
the car in the desert. With the help of a local Mexican called Jose, and aerial
reconnaissance by Algy and Bertie, Biggles finds Ginger, who has been captured
by Schultz and is being made to show them the whereabouts of the car. However,
the villains are in for a bit of a surprise as well as a nasty fate in the
desert.
Click here to see the story illustrations from this book
Biggles in Mexico
Publication Details - published by Brockhampton Press
Frontispiece
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The “Hampton Library” reprint – click on the above picture to
find out more details