The Saint's Lady

infobox Book |
name = The Saint's Lady
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Joy Martin
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series = The Saint
genre = Mystery
publisher = NA
release_date = Unpublished; written 1979
english_release_date =
media_type = Manuscript
pages =
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Saint's Lady" is the title of an unpublished novel by Joy Martin featuring the character of criminal-turned-detective Simon Templar (alias "The Saint") who had been created by Leslie Charteris in 1928.

According to the book "The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Film and Television 1928-1992" by Burl Barer, Martin sent her manuscript to Leslie Charteris as a present in 1979. On its own, this would qualify the novel as no more than fan fiction. However Charteris, who at the time was editing a series of continuation books featuring The Saint (he had stopped writing the character full time in 1963) was impressed enough by the manuscript to offer it to the British publishers of the Saint series, Hodder & Stoughton, for publication as the next book in the series.

Barer writes that Hodder & Stoughton rejected the manuscript, apparently on the grounds that Martin had made Templar sound too Scottish.

The manuscript is presently in the archives at Boston University.

Although Barer does not describe the plot of "The Saint's Lady", he does quote from the book, and it is notable that the novel would have seen the return of Templar's longtime girlfriend/partner Patricia Holm after an absence from the Saint series of more than 30 years. (It is not known, however, if the title is a direct reference to Holm.) Martin would have also become the first woman to publish an English-language Saint novel, although it is not known whether she would have received author credit on the cover as at this time the practice was for the books to be credited to Charteris (with the collaborative authors credited inside).

This is not the only "Saint" novel to remain unpublished.

Barer also provides an outline of "Bet on the Saint", a 1968 collaboration between Charteris and Fleming Lee based on a "Saint" comic strip storyline, which was rejected by Doubleday (Charteris' American publishers).

Also, according to "The Saintly Bible", Ian Dickerson was at one time developing a novel out of an unrealized film project entitled "Son of the Saint". As of 2007 this book as yet to see print. [http://www.saint.org/faq.htm#q21]

References

* Burl Barer, "The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Film and Television 1928-1992". Jefferson, N.C.: MacFarland, 2003 (originally published in 1992), pp. 213-215 (2003 edition).