Sax Rohmer was the pseudonym used by Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward. Ward was a British novelist born in 1883. He is most remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr Fu Manchu. Fire-Tongue was published in 1921. This Paul Harley mystery begins, "Some of Paul Harley's most interesting cases were brought to his notice in an almost accidental way. Although he closed his office in Chancery Lane sharply at the hour of six, the hour of six by no means marked the end of his business day. His work was practically ceaseless. But even in times of leisure, at the club or theatre, fate would sometimes cast in his path the first slender thread which was ultimately to lead him into some unsuspected labyrinth, perhaps in the underworld of London, perhaps in a city of the Far East."