The Mystery of the Crystal Skull

I wanted to check this story because I am interested in the various crystal skulls that have been found, and all the controversy that goes with them, and I wanted to see if this story would have anything related to those skulls, or if it was something entirely different.

The story starts off with a man named Benedict Wade who is obviously a villain. He has in his possession a skull made of crystal quartz. I really like the description of Wade: “His were the eyes of a human leech who bled men of their wealth and the skull was the amulet that made such practice possible!”

Lamont Cranston and Artemus Glenfield visit Wade. Glenfield leaves, and Wade uses the crystal skull to hypnotize Cranston.

Wade talks to Thornton and wants Lamont killed. Wade thinks Cranston is either the Shadow, or is working for him. There is also some main crook they call the Big Skull.

Margot Lane is in this story, taking a fairly active part. Before long Wade dies of an apparent heart attack. There's another group of valuable items, and an agent of the skull who is passing as a servant, Nebo Thurling.

The trail of death continues as two more crooks involved in switching fakes for real items die; another person dies as he's talking to Joe Cardona and confessing his part in what has happened.

An incredibly strange thing happens when roomfuls of furniture are somehow stolen and spirited away, all in a period of less than fifteen minutes.

Lamont, Margot, Harry Vincent and Joe Cardona all go on a “vacation” to and find out exactly who is the skull, and to prevent yet another death. Lamont, though, is caught and in danger of being killed by the master mind.

There's hidden passages, strange crystal rooms, a cliff-side that looks like a skull, and lots of action yet to happen in the story. I really enjoyed it; the writing makes the things happen very easy to picture in one's mind.

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