EXTRACTS: The Modesty Blaise Companion Expanded Edition © 2018 The Book Palace (425 PAGES in Full edition)

T H E M O D E S T Y B L A I S E C O M P A N I O N PIECES OF MODESTY First published 1972 by Pan Books Ltd., London. A BETTER DAY TO DIE Responding to a last request from her former lieutenant Garcia, to see her once more before he dies, Modesty gets caught up in a South American revolution and is captured by bandits. Fortunately Willie is around to rescue her. THE GIGGLE WRECKER Sir Gerald Tarrant is prepared to resign rather than expose his entire East German network of agents to bring a defector across the Berlin Wall. Using identities they had established way back in the days of The Network Modesty and Willie are able to move into East Berlin and do the job for him. They are helped by a film crew and a cannon. I HAD A DATE WITH LADY JANET Willie was all set for a nice night out in town with Lady Janet Gillam when told that Rodelle, a flesh peddler The Network had closed down and thought they had killed, is still alive and has kidnapped Modesty. He wants Willie as well and with the threat of killing Modesty he has sent a man to fetch him. When Willie learns the destination is in Scotland Lady Janet flies him there and he is able to use the element of surprise to good advantage. A PERFECT NIGHT TO BREAK YOUR NECK Modesty and Willie are spending some time with their friends Dinah and Steve Collier at a villa Modesty rented on Cap d’Antibes when they become victims of one of a series of robberies being carried out along the coast. SALAMANDER FOUR Modesty’s friend and sometime lover John Dall has commissioned a sculpture of her in wood. It is being carved by Alex Hemmer, a Hungarian who fled the revolution in his own country and now lives and works in a remote area of Finland. When industrial spy Waldo turns up on his doorstep with a gunshot wound Hemmer refuses to get involved and it is Modesty who protects the wounded man from his hunters, the agents of Salamander Four. THE SOO GIRL CHARITY Modesty discovers that selling flags for charity can lead to trouble. When millionaire Charles Leybourn puts just two single pennies into Modesty’s box and then pinches her bum very hard she decides he needs to be taught a lesson. He will make a more substantial donation to her cause and she will collect it herself. Having declared an interest in Modesty’s bottom, Willie offers to help. When they break into Leybourn’s house to rob him they find themselves in the middle of a very unpleasant domestic situation. I I 408