The golden hades by Edgar Wallace

Nothing special, but a pleasant reading, with captivating characters. The title refers to the cult at the centre of the story, and its symbol put on money that cause trouble to whoever comes in contact with it, once even death. Investigating this case are chief of police Flint, and detectives Wilbur Smith and Peter Correlly. I liked these two men a lot.
To the story: very rich professor Cavan is really an English con-man who calls himself Rosie, who uses his intellect to fraud people. We're in New York and banker George Bertram is very, very, very rich, and the perfect victim. Rosie convinces Bertram that the God Hades speaks to him and wants him to use his money to help poor people in need... and Bertram believes it all, his faith is unshakable, not even his beloved daughter Jane can bring him back to reason. Bertram hides money in a book he sends back to the book shop, or throws it in the air, or whatever he's told to do by the "God". Giving voice to the statue of Hades was Tom Scatwell, the evil mastermind. Together with Sam Featherstone the three men planned to take from Bertram all his money... but they weren't real professionists, just thugs. When a woman bought the book with the money Tom killed her to get it, after having almost destroyed the bookshop to find it. They beated Wilbur Smith almost to death and  abducted his friend the actor Frank Alwin. Basically, they were a real disaster: what use is a con if you use all this violence??
The end was almost pathetic: Tom sees a worker that only speaks Italian who resembles Peter Correlly so much he has the idea of using him to lure Jane into a trap and convince her to marry him. Rosie and Sam escape with all of Tom's money, while he risks again: he goes to Jane saying: you can't have me arrested or you and your father will be involved in a homocide case, but if you marry me, so that you won't be able to testify against me, I will declare here and now in front of Correlly himself that you two have nothing to do with it.
Of course Tom thinks the man with him is poor Italian worker Giuseppe Gatti, and in front of him he confesses dMrs Laste's murder, Mr Alwin's abduction and Wilbur's aggression, sure as he is that "Giuseppe" doesn't know a word of English. Surprise surprise (only for Tom, not for the reader) it was Peter all along, undercover... Tom then tries to escape but both Smith and Alwin, hidden nearby, shoot him dead. Happy ending for Peter and Jane, the happy couple that has fallen in love :-)
So cute, those two. :-)
Well , the story is what it is, but after all it was written in 1919, or 1929 according to wiki, and religious cults were a much bigger story then, probably. Anyway it's a very pleasant reading and I like Peter very much.