William Le Queux 
Stolen Souls 

Russian nihilists, dangerous dames, exotic poisons, deception, hypnotism and murder are just some of the elements in this collection of short stories, published early in Le Queux’s career. Most of the plots involve pre-Hitchcockian heroes being duped by a various cast of cosmopolitan femme fatales with different agendas, not always iniquitous in nature. The storytelling is fast and fun. (Goodreads)