Searching for the source of a lost detective novel — 13 (The Thirteenth Guest), Bucharest 1941

Hello everyone,

   I’m conducting research on a Romanian detective novel published in Bucharest in 1941 under the title 13 (The Thirteenth Guest).

   The book was attributed to Edgar Wallace, but after careful comparison, it doesn’t match any known Wallace work.

   The novel includes the following characters and elements:

– Edgar Paragon, owner of Paragon Motors
– Rolster, Windover, Kirstone
– Villa Alice, a country mansion near a large factory
– An invitation numbered 13, an automobile accident, an inheritance, and several murders.

   Structurally, it has 13 chapters (111 pages), no chapter titles, and reads like a 1930s–early 1940s European or Anglo-German pulp mystery or industrial crime story.

   Below are the opening lines of Chapter I from the Romanian text (translated):

   On the green hill before the dark wall of fir forest, in the middle of a wide park with old trees, stood Villa Alice. From the flowerbed, bright with thousands of blossoms, a terrace rose toward the glass doors of the house. The large arched windows of the upper floor looked out across the fields toward the chimneys and rooftops of Paragon Works — one of the largest machine factories in the world. On the gatepost, a brass plate simply read “Edgar Paragon.”

   I am looking for any pre-1940 English or German novel, serial, or pulp story with similar characters or plot elements.

   Has anyone seen a story or serial featuring Edgar Paragon, Villa Alice, or an “invitation numbered 13”?

   Any lead — author name, magazine title, or publisher — would be deeply appreciated.

   Thank you in advance,

         Doru-Calin Ciobanu