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By: Fergus Hume

Madame Midas by Fergus Hume Madame Midas

Madame Midas is a murder mystery, In the early days of Australia, when the gold fever was at its height. Fergus Hume was born in England, the second son of Dr James Hume. At the age of three his father emigrated with his family to Dunedin, New Zealand. He was admitted to the New Zealand bar in 1885. Shortly after graduation he left for Melbourne, Australia where he obtained a post as a barristers’ clerk. He began writing plays, but found it impossible to persuade the managers of the Melbourne theatres to accept or even read them...

The Silent House by Fergus Hume The Silent House

A mystery about a “locked door” murder committed in a house that has a reputation for being haunted. In the first half of the book, the murderer appears to be easy to figure out. The second half of the book, however, is filled with plot twists and mistaken identities and thus complicates the mystery much more.

Book cover The Green Mummy
Book cover Bishop's Secret
Book cover Lady Jim of Curzon Street

Faced with bankruptcy and trapped in an unhappy marriage, Lady Jim Kaims has to solve her problems alone. After every decent way fails her, and with no friend to assist, she resorts to committing crimes. Fergus Hume delves into the mind of an extremely clever criminal with humor, understanding and even compassion. This book is a roller coaster ride which would keep you guessing from start to finish. - Summary by Stav Nisser.

Book cover Silver Bullet

Dr. Jim Herrick and his friend Robin are on a walking tour in the English countryside when they come across a large house where all the lights in the house are on and all of the doors are open. While trying to find someone at home, they discover the body of Colonel Carr, dead from a gunshot wound. After reporting their discovery to the authorities, Dr. Jim decides he would investigate the murder. Suspects abound as the Colonel was an intensely disliked person. A classic “who done it” written by a well respected British mystery writer will hold the attention of a listener throughout the tale.

Book cover Clock Struck One

Fergus Hume was a prolific writer of Victorian murder mysteries and The Clock Struck One is another great example of his inventive plots. Julian Edermont living in near seclusion for the last 20 years fearful of an unknown assailant is beaten to death in his study following an argument with his ward's fiance Dr. Allen Scott. The secret revealed to Allen during this argument is such that he breaks off his engagement to Dora refusing to reveal the cause. Since those around her seem unwilling to share what they know it is up to Dora to discover the truth and unmask the murderer of her guardian. - Summary by Celine Major

Book cover Turnpike House

A prolific writer of crime and detective stories Fergus Hume is known for his clever plots. The Turnpike House is another wonderful example of his many intriguing mysteries. EXCERPT: "Suddenly there was the cry of a human being in pain. The light was extinguished, and the mists closed thicker round the ruined building; it might be to hide the sight within the room. Could the walls only have spoken they would have shouted "Murder!" with most miraculous voice. But the age of miracles being past, the walls were dumb, and there was no clamour to greet the horror of this deed done in darkness." - Summary by Celine Major

Book cover Sacred Herb

A rich playboy comes home from travels abroad and is bully-ragged by his eccentric aunt into finding meaning for his life. This he does by helping a school chum save his fiancée from the gallows and the playboy falls head over heels in love with the fiancée. A web of deception and lies is revealed and also a long list of who loves who filled with how much each is willing to accept. The colorful cast includes a south sea captain, a fortuneteller, and a colorful doctor who is an authority on the inhabitants and customs of Easter Island. Then, of course, there is the sacred herb!—Enjoy!!

Book cover Lost Parchment

Murder and mayhem turn a quiet English village on its head. Complete with twists and turns that will keep you entertained til the very end. Fergus Hume never fails.

Book cover Sealed Message

A mysterious message on a record is found sealed in a cylinder. A heroine straight out of a fairy-tale is kept secluded by a guardian with questionable motives. Add a murder, a gallant and fearless hero to the rescue and you have all the ingredients necessary to make this a very entertaining little mystery by acclaimed British author Fergus Hume! - Summary by Celine Major

Book cover Amethyst Cross

Things look bleak for Lesbia Hales. Her father does not let her marry the man she loves. Her mother is dead. She has to keep secrets in order to promote what she wants for herself. One day, her lover, George Walker, is injured in her home and someone stole the expensive amethyst cross. Who could have done that and why? - Summary by Stav Nisser.

Book cover Third Volume

A widely publicized and unsolved murder of five and twenty years is brought to the forefront in a best-selling novel entitled “A Whim of Fate". While Spencer Tait is looking forward to reading it, his best friend Claude Larcher, learns of the tragic death of his father which mirrors every detail of the new book. Not believing it to be a coincidence the two friends resolve to discover what truly happened so many years ago and who committed the vile act. As they delve deeper into the past, the motives, the evidence, and the list of potential suspects becomes so confusing that a solution to the mystery seems impossible...

Book cover Girl From Malta

One evening as the P. and O.'s vessel "Neptune" steams away from Australia to Britain, Ronald Monteith, a young, wealthy Australian is taken into the confidence of a fellow-passenger Lionel Ventin who relates the story of his rather tragic life. When Ventin is found stabbed to death in his cabin the next morning Monteith vows to find the murderer, thinking it must surely be the vengeful wife of whom he spoke who is responsible. When arriving in London he immediately seeks the help of a barrister and a detective...

By: Florence Finch Kelly (1859-1932)

Delafield Affair by Florence Finch Kelly Delafield Affair

New Mexico's hot, dry winds are taking their toll: cattle suffer long treks to get food and water. But it is not just a hard time for them. Lucy Bancroft has sought a milder climate so she can recover from typhoid fever. She and her father stop to see Curt Conrad, a rancher, on their way to their new home. The two men discuss politics (some of it crooked) at the state level. they also talk about an easterner, a man named Delafield, who years earlier cheated Conrad's father out of his considerable wealth. Curt has vowed to seek revenge on Delafield if he can ever find the crook. thus begins a harrowing tale of determined search and blossoming love in the hot, dry climate of New Mexico.

By: Frances Burney (1752-1840)

The Wanderer by Frances Burney The Wanderer

This is the fourth and final novel by Fanny Burney, the author of Evelina, Cecilia, and Camilla. "Who is "Miss Ellis?" Why did she board a ship from France to England at the beginning of the French revolution? Anyway, the loss of her purse made this strange "wanderer" dependent upon the charity of some good people and, of course, bad ones. But she always comforts herself by reminding herself that it's better than "what might have been..." This is not only a mystery, not at all. It's also a romance which reminds readers of novels by Jane Austen...

By: Francis Worcester Doughty (1850-1917)

Book cover The Bradys and the Girl Smuggler or, Working for the Custom House
Book cover The Bradys Beyond Their Depth The Great Swamp Mystery

By: Frank Froest (1858-1930)

The Grell Mystery by Frank Froest The Grell Mystery

Mr Robert Grell, millionaire and socialite, is found murdered in his study on a stormy evening. It’s up to Heldon Foyle, the detective, to unravel the mystery.

By: Frank L. Packard (1877-1942)

The Adventures of Jimmie Dale by Frank L. Packard The Adventures of Jimmie Dale

Frank Lucius Packard (February 2, 1877 – February 17, 1942) was a Canadian novelist born in Montreal, Quebec. He worked as a civil engineer on the Canadian Pacific Railway. He later wrote a series of mystery novels, the most famous of which featured a character called Jimmie Dale. Jimmie Dale is a wealthy playboy by day, with a Harvard education and membership to New York City’s ultra-exclusive private club St. James. But at night he puts on a costume and becomes The Grey Seal, who enters businesses or homes and cracks safes, always leaving a diamond shaped, grey paper “seal” behind to mark his conquest, but never taking anything...

The White Moll by Frank L. Packard The White Moll

Frank Lucius Packard (February 2, 1877 – February 17, 1942) born in Montreal, Quebec, was a Canadian novelist. Packard is credited with bridging the gap from the “cozy” style mysteries to the more gritty, hard-boiled style of such writers as Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler. Packard also wrote a series of novels, beginning in 1917, featuring Jimmie Dale. A wealthy playboy by day, at night, Jimmie becomes a crimefighter “The Gray Seal” complete with mask and secret hide-out, “The Sanctuary”...

By: Frank Pinkerton

Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective by Frank Pinkerton Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective

Dyke Darrel investigates an audacious train robbery that included the murder of a friend, and embarks on a man-hunt. High Victorian serial melodrama at its best!

By: Frank V. Webster

Book cover The Boy Scouts of Lenox Or The Hike Over Big Bear Mountain
Book cover The Boy from the Ranch Or Roy Bradner's City Experiences

By: Fred M. White (1859-?)

The Mystery of the Four Fingers by Fred M. White The Mystery of the Four Fingers

A fabulously rich gold mine in Mexico is known by the picturesque and mysterious name of The Four Fingers. It originally belonged to an Aztec tribe, and its location is known to one surviving descendant. Surprises, strange and startling, are concealed in every chapter of this completely engrossing detective story. And through it runs the thread of a curious love story.

Book cover The Crimson Blind
Book cover The Slave of Silence
Book cover Mystery of the Ravenspurs

The Ravenspurs have for generations resided quietly in prosperity and comfort at their seaside castle. But the clan is suddenly besieged with strange happenings which are dwindling the population of the family to only a few which remain, and those few find themselves in fear of becoming the very last of the powerful family if the cause of their untimely deaths and disappearances is not uncovered soon. It will take a great deal of detective work and a touch of travel to help unravel the mystery of the Ravenspurs.

By: Frederic Arnold Kummer (1873-1943)

Book cover The Ivory Snuff Box

By: Frederick Arnold Kummer (1873-1943)

Book cover Film of Fear

(Written under the pseudonym, Arnold Fredericks.) Ruth Morton is a world-renowned film actress who seems to have it all: youth, beauty, wealth, and a viable career. But she soon becomes the target of a malicious stalker who begins sending her a series of cryptic threats. Dismissed at first, the stalker soon emerges as a legitimate -- and mysterious -- threat. She soon must call for the services of Richard and Grace Duvall, a husband and wife detective team who soon find themselves ensnared in a mystery where everyone soon becomes a target.

By: Frederik Pohl (1919-2013)

Book cover Plague of Pythons

In a post-apocalyptic world where every government in the world has been overrun by its own military machinery, only to see that military machinery self-destruct, people are randomly being affected by a plague that seemingly takes over their brains and forces them to commit heinous crimes. Chandler is one of these unfortunate victims, the perpetrator of rape and murder. He is driven out of his community as a Hoaxer , branded on his forehead with the letter H. But he is not feigning. In his travels, he finds the source of the plague, and it's not what people think. It's up to him to deal with it, and he does. But to what end? - Summary by Nick Bulka

By: Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805)

Book cover Criminal from Lost Honour

"In the whole history of man there is no chapter more instructive for the heart and mind than the annals of his errors. On the occasion of every great crime a proportionally great force was in motion. If by the pale light of ordinary emotions the play of the desiring faculty is concealed, in the situation of strong passion it becomes the more striking, the more colossal, the more audible, and the acute investigator of humanity, who knows how much may be properly set down to the account of the mechanism...

By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881)

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Crime and Punishment

A mysterious crime is being plotted in a tiny garret above a dilapidated apartment building in St Petersburg in Russia. The plotter, Rodion Raskolinikov, is a poor student who has delusions of ridding the world of “worthless vermin” and counter balancing these crimes with good deeds. He commits a murder to test his own theories and prove that crime comes naturally to the human species. Crime and Punishment is a path-breaking novel of ideas that changed the course of novel writing in the 20th century...

By: G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

The Man Who was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton The Man Who was Thursday

Two poets in a London park at sunset, debating on the attributes of poetry and whether it's really a metaphor for anarchy. A group that meets in secret, planning to overthrow the world order. Disguises and deceptions, ideals and ideology. A medley of themes and genres makes this a great read for anyone who's a fan of Chesterton and his iconic Father Brown. The Man Who Was Thursday includes Chesterton's favorite theme of Christianity with touches of delightful humor to enliven the twists and turns that abound throughout the book...

The Man Who Knew Too Much by G. K. Chesterton The Man Who Knew Too Much

Robbery, murder and treason. Strange happenings in quiet English villages. A book critic who happens to find a corpse with its head crushed, an Irish freedom fighter framed for a crime, the disappearance of a valuable coin, a strange dispute over a property claim and a host of other intriguing situations make up the contents of G K Chesterton's collection of short stories The Man Who Knew Too Much. For fans of Chesterton's immortal clerical sleuth, Father Brown, these stories are equally delightful and intricately wrought...

The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton The Innocence of Father Brown

A Chief of Police hosts a dinner party for an American millionaire wishing to will his entire fortune to the Church of France. Jewels that have been stolen and recovered so many times that they're known colloquially by thieves as The Flying Stars. A murder committed by an invisible man. These and many others are the mysteries that are presented to the lovable, bumbling, stumpy Man of God, Father Brown. The Innocence of Father Brown, by G.K. Chesterton is a collection of eleven stories which marks the debut of this most unusual detective...

The Wisdom of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton The Wisdom of Father Brown

The Wisdom of Father Brown explores many characters and fascinating themes such as the following. An eminent criminologist is persuaded by the mild yet persistent Father Brown to sort out a family matter. Also, a Tuscan poet fancies himself as the King of Thieves. A famous French philosopher and atheist holds the key to a new invention called “Noiseless Powder.” A corpse is discovered in a dark passage backstage at London's Adelphi Theater. Finally there is Psychometric testing of criminals in Chicago...

The Club of Queer Trades by G. K. Chesterton The Club of Queer Trades

A collection of six wonderfully quirky detective stories, featuring the ‘mystic’ former judge Basil Grant. Each story reveals a practitioner of an entirely new profession, and member of the Club of Queer Trades.

Manalive by G. K. Chesterton Manalive

The flying blast struck London just where it scales the northern heights, terrace above terrace, as precipitous as Edinburgh. It was round about this place that some poet, probably drunk, looked up astonished at all those streets gone skywards, and (thinking vaguely of glaciers and roped mountaineers) gave it the name of Swiss Cottage, which it has never been able to shake off. At some stage of those heights a terrace of tall gray houses, mostly empty and almost as desolate as the Grampians, curved...

The Trees of Pride by G. K. Chesterton The Trees of Pride

Three trees, known as the Peacock trees, are blamed by the peasants for the fever that has killed many. Squire Vane scoffs at this legend as superstition. To prove them wrong, once and for all, he takes a bet to spend the night in the trees. In the morning he has vanished. Is he dead, and if so who has killed him? The poet? The lawyer? The woodsman? The trees?

By: G. Sidney Paternoster (1866-)

Book cover The Motor Pirate

By: Gaston Leroux (1868-1927)

The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux The Mystery of the Yellow Room

One of the first locked room mysteries, The Mystery of the Yellow Room focuses on a supposedly impossible crime which has been committed within a locked room. The novel was initially published in the French periodical L’illustration, and was later published as a book in 1908. It is the first of a series of novels featuring the famous fictional reporter Joseph Rouletabille. The mystery begins when Joseph Rouletabille, a reporter and amateur sleuth is sent to investigate a crime scene at the Château du Glandier, home to renowned chemist Joseph Stangerson...

The Secret of the Night by Gaston Leroux The Secret of the Night

Gaston Leroux, perhaps best known as the author of The Phantom of the Opera in its novel form, was also the author of a popular series of mystery novels featuring a young journalist cum detective named Joseph Rouletabille. It is most likely that Leroux styled his hero after himself. Rouletabille was in the tradition of other great detectives who solved their cases by pure deductive reasoning. Much as Sherlock Holmes, who eliminated the impossible and concluded that whatever remained, however improbable must be the truth, Rouletabille included the known facts about the case and eliminated everything that was not a known fact, no matter how much it appeared to relate to the case...

By: George Alfred Henty (1832-1902)

Book cover Colonel Thorndyke's Secret

Intrigue, murder, highwaymen... A British soldier serving in India has stolen a diamond bracelet from a Hindu idol. The bracelet comes into the possession of Colonel Thorndyke, who is subsequently sent home to England, where he dies of wounds received and bequeaths the bracelet to his relatives, having told his brother about it, but not its location. Meanwhile, the theft has caused a stir in India, and the Hindu faithful regard it as their religious duty to reclaim the jewel at any cost. Also published under the title: "The Brahmin's Treasure".

By: George Barr McCutcheon

Graustark by George Barr McCutcheon Graustark

The Graustark novels are stories of court intrigue, royal disguise, and romance similar to Anthony Hope’s 1894 novel, The Prisoner of Zenda, and its sequels. They were popular best-sellers at the time they were published and the original editions are still readily available in used book shops. The novels gave their name to a fictional genre called Graustarkian: this genre contains tales of romance and intrigue usually featuring titled characters in small, fictional, Central European countries...

Beverly Of Graustark by George Barr McCutcheon Beverly Of Graustark

Beverly Of Graustark is the second book in the Graustark series. Lorry and his wife, the princess, made their home in Washington, but spent a few months of each year in Edelweiss. During the periods spent in Washington and in travel, her affairs in Graustark were in the hands of a capable, austere old diplomat–her uncle, Count Caspar Halfont. Princess Volga reigned as regent over the principality of Axphain. To the south lay the principality of Dawsbergen, ruled by young Prince Dantan, whose half brother, the deposed Prince Gabriel, had been for two years a prisoner in Graustark, the convicted assassin of Prince Lorenz, of Axphain, one time suitor for the hand of Yetive...

Book cover Anderson Crow, Detective
Book cover Yollop

Mr. Crittenden Yollop makes friends with the man who came to burglarize his home and sets out to help him return to where he really wants to be...prison. This humorous satire takes a somewhat different look at prisons, criminals, the law and reformers.

By: George Eggleston (1839-1911)

Book cover Man of Honor

New Yorker Robert Pagebrook travels to Virginia to visit relatives. The Civil War has ended and family ties are in order to be re-established. All goes well; the family relationships are as they should be, perhaps even better than expected. Unique character studies develop as Pagebrook finds himself in a financial predicament, becoming indebted and with no resources available, as his bank back home has dissolved. It is up to Robert Pagebrook to find a way to prove to his kin that he is still a Man of Honor.

By: George F. (George Frank) Worts (1892-)

Book cover Peter the Brazen A Mystery Story of Modern China

By: George MacGregor

Book cover History of Burke and Hare, And of the Resurrectionist Times

From the preface: ".....of all the criminal events that have occurred in Scotland, few have excited so deep, widespread, and lasting an interest as those which took place during what have been called the Resurrectionist Times, and notably, the dreadful series of murders perpetrated in the name of anatomical science by Burke and Hare. In the preparation of this work the Author has had a double purpose before him. He has sought not only to record faithfully the lives and crimes of Burke and Hare, and...

By: George Manville Fenn (1831-1909)

The Dark House by George Manville Fenn The Dark House

An extremely wealthy but reclusive man has died, leaving an eccentric will which hints at great riches hidden somewhere in the house. Most of the people at the reading of the will did not know the deceased in person, but had received kindnesses from him, for instance by the payment of school and university fees. The principal beneficiary, a great-nephew, also did not know him. The only two people who really knew him were the old lawyer who dealt with his affairs, and an old Indian servant. Yet when the will had been read, and they all went to where the treasure–gold, jewels and bank-notes–were supposed to be hidden, nothing could be found.

By: Gertrude Atherton (1857-1948)

Book cover Avalanche

Price Ruyler has been sent to San Francisco from New York to salvage the family business after the 1906 earthquake. His success makes him one of the city's most eligible bachelors but he resists the machinations of the local girls (and their mothers). Then he meets the beautiful and captivating Helene. He proposes within a week. Into the fourth year of their marriage, he realizes something has changed. He still loves his wife and he believes she loves him but he begins to wonder about her mysterious past and questions whether family secrets were buried in the rubble left by the earthquake.

By: Grace Isabel Colbron (1869-1943)

The Case of the Golden Bullet by Grace Isabel Colbron The Case of the Golden Bullet

Joseph Muller, quiet mannered detective, tries to solve the mystery of a man who died in his study, by a bullet hole in the chest. But all windows and doors were locked, from the inside.

The Case of the Pool of Blood in the Pastor’s Study by Grace Isabel Colbron The Case of the Pool of Blood in the Pastor’s Study

Joseph Muller, police detective, travels to a remote Hungarian village to discover the truth behind the murder of a beloved village Pastor. (Introduction by Dawn)

By: Grant Allen (1848-1899)

Hilda Wade, A Woman With Tenacity of Purpose by Grant Allen Hilda Wade, A Woman With Tenacity of Purpose

In this early detective novel, the detective is Hilda Wade. She is a very capable nurse, but there is something mysterious about her from the moment she arrives at the hospital. Upon meeting her, Dr. Hubert Cumberledge greatly admires her and becomes a devoted friend. It turns out that Hilda has one purpose in life, and in pursuit of that purpose she will travel across the world, from London to South Africa, Rhodesia, India, Nepaul, Tibet and back. With Cumberledge's support, her extraordinary logic and clear thinking lead her on through deadly perils. But will that be enough to accomplish the secret purpose which has driven her so long and so far?

By: H. Beam Piper

Murder in the Gunroom by H. Beam Piper Murder in the Gunroom

The Lane Fleming collection of early pistols and revolvers was one of the best in the country. When Fleming was found dead on the floor of his locked gunroom, a Confederate-made Colt-type percussion .36 revolver in his hand, the coroner’s verdict was “death by accident.” But Gladys Fleming had her doubts. Enough at any rate to engage Colonel Jefferson Davis Rand—better known just as Jeff—private detective and a pistol-collector himself, to catalogue, appraise, and negotiate the sale of her late husband’s collection.

By: H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile (1888-1937)

Book cover Mufti

By: H. L. (Harry Lincoln) Sayler (1863-)

Book cover On the Edge of the Arctic or, An Aeroplane in Snowland

By: H. M. Egbert (1879-1960)

Book cover Jacqueline of Golden River

Jacqueline seems to have contracted a touch of amnesia, as she is found in an apartment with a dead man, and with a weapon in her hand. But she remembers nothing of any incident, remembers not her name nor where she comes from, not even why she is where she was found. She only remembers her father, and that he is in danger. Action and adventure soon follow, as Paul Hewlett and Jacqueline attempt to get answers to her questions, taking them on a journey into Quebec and points northward, and Paul knows that they are being followed during their trip...

By: Harlan Page Halsey (1839?-1898)

Book cover Two Wonderful Detectives Jack and Gil's Marvelous Skill
Book cover Oscar the Detective Or, Dudie Dunne, The Exquisite Detective
Book cover A Successful Shadow A Detective's Successful Quest

By: Harold L. Goodwin (1914-1990)

Book cover Smugglers' Reef

Seventh entry in the Rick Brant Science Mystery Adventure series has Rick and buddy Scott using infrared technology on the trail of smuggling no-goodniks in the vicinity of Spindrift Island, Rick's home and location of his dad's laboratory, off the New Jersey & New York coast.

By: Harold MacGrath (1871-1932)

The Pagan Madonna by Harold MacGrath The Pagan Madonna

The Pagan Madonna, one of Harold MacGrath's numerous novels, set in Shanghai, tells a story of intrigue, murder, and illicit art “collecting.” The paths of Jean Norman, a Red Cross nurse from the United States, Ling Foo, a shifty pawn shop keeper, and Anthony Cleigh, millionaire art collector, cross and recross in growing intrigue over a string of beads. It is a world where “. . . every move you make is governed by Chance--the Blind Madonna of the Pagan . . . .” (Introduction by Don Jenkins)

Book cover The Voice in the Fog

By: Harrington Strong (1883-1958)

The Brand of Silence – A Detective Story by Harrington Strong The Brand of Silence – A Detective Story

Harrington Strong was a pseudonym used by author Johnston McCulley, creator of the character Zorro and many others. The Brand of Silence – A Detective Story finds Sidney Prale returning to New York after ten years during which he sought his fortune. But he finds New York a very changed place, and even more distressing, he finds that his old friends are now turning their backs on him, his old haunts no longer welcome him, and there seems to be a conspiracy against him.Why can’t he receive service...

By: Henry Augustus Hering (1864-1945)

Book cover Burglars' Club: A Romance in Twelve Chronicles

'He's one of us,' the burglar explained. 'You see, we are men who have pretty well exhausted the pleasures of life. We've all been in the Army or the Navy, all of us are sportsmen, and we are bachelors; so there isn't much excitement left for us. We've started a Burglars' Club to help things on a bit. The entrance fee is a town burglary, the subject to be set by our president, and every other year each member has to keep up his subscription by a provincial line.' Humour, crime and adventure in Victorian London. - Summary by Rapunzelina

By: Henry Curties (1860-)

Book cover A Queen's Error

By: Henry James (1843-1916)

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James The Turn of the Screw

Christmas Eve. Guests round a fireside begin telling each other ghost stories. One of them relates a true incident involving the governess of his little nephew and niece. Strange events begin to take place, involving the housekeeper, a stranger who prowls round the grounds, a mysterious woman dressed in black and an unknown misdemeanor committed by the little nephew. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James was published in 1893 and it remains one of the best-known and admired works of this great American writer...

By: Herbert George Jenkins (1876-1923)

Book cover Malcolm Sage, detective

A collection of short stories that chronicles the first year of the Malcolm Sage Detective Bureau.

John Dene of Toronto; a Comedy of Whitehall by Herbert George Jenkins John Dene of Toronto; a Comedy of Whitehall

John Dene comes to England with a great invention, and the intention of gingering-up the Admiralty. His directness and unconventional methods bewilder and embarrass the officials at Whitehall, where, according to him, most of the jobs are held by those "whose great-grandfathers had a pleasant way of saying how-do-you-do to a prince." Suddenly John Dene disappears, and the whole civilised world is amazed at an offer of £20,000 for news of him. Scotland Yard is disorganised by tons of letters and thousands of callers...

By: Herman W. Mudgett (1861-1896)

Book cover Holmes' Own Story

An account written by the infamous serial murderer H. H. Holmes in an attempt to exonerate himself while being tried for numerous crimes in Moyamensing Prison, Philadelphia. - Summary by Autumn

By: Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850)

Book cover An Historical Mystery

By: Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-1899)

Book cover Timothy Crump's Ward

A poor family is surprised with an infant on their doorstep on New Year’s Eve with a note and monetary support requesting them to raise the child. Eight years later, the child is stolen and the family is put into more trouble trying to find her. This is a story of how love and good morals are reward with a fairy tale “happily ever after” ending.

By: Hulbert Footner (1879-1944)

Book cover The Woman from Outside [on Swan River]

By: International Military Tribunal

Book cover Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946: Vol. I

Recognizing the importance of establishing for history an authentic text of the Trial of major German WWII war criminals, the International Military Tribunal, consisting of members from Great Britain, the USA, Russia, and France, directed the publication of the Record of the Trial. This volume contains basic, official, pre-trial documents together with the Tribunal’s judgment and sentence of the defendants.

By: Isabel Ostrander (1883-1924)

Book cover The Fifth Ace

By: Israel Zangwill (1864-1926)

The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill The Big Bow Mystery

Regarded as the first full-length locked room mystery, the novel focuses on a murder that has occurred inside a locked room, with no clear indication as to the weapon used, the perpetrator of the horrendous crime, or a possible escape route. Needless to say, The Big Bow Mystery has all the elements necessary to engage its audience and encourage them to look between the lines in an attempt to unravel the complex murder. Set in Bow, east London, the novel opens when Mrs. Drabdump, a widow who rents out rooms, panics when one of her lodgers does not respond to her fervent attempts to wake him...

By: J. S. Fletcher (1863-1935)

Book cover Markenmore Mystery

After seven years of silence, Guy Markenmore returns to his family home at Markenmore Court. Knowing his father Sir Anthony to be close to death, he is anxious to reassure his younger siblings that he will not make any claim to the family money even if he can't help inheriting the old man's title. Sir Anthony dies later that evening, but the question of the inheritance becomes academic when Guy is murdered whilst crossing the downs. It is now up to detective Blick to track down the person responsible for Sir Anthony’s death. - summary by Sharon Kilmer

Book cover Charing Cross Mystery

Here's another intriguing mystery by J. S. Fletcher, centering on why a former high-level police official was murdered, and on whether - and if so how - the murder was linked to two glamorous and high-profile sisters, one of whose photo was found in the dead man's pocket. As usual, Fletcher creates a number of different detectives -- a lawyer, his assistant, several policemen, a police spy, and even the dead man's granddaughter -- following various lines of inquiry. These lines converge rapidly in the last few chapters, when the author lets the reader weave them together into a coherent whole: the solution to the mystery. Summary by Kirsten Wever

By: J. W. Buel (1849-1920)

Book cover Border Bandits

''An authentic and thrilling history of the noted outlaws Jesse and Frank James and their bands of highwaymen.compiled from reliable sources and containing the latest facts in regard to these desperate freebooters.'' The James brothers emerged from the Confederate guerrillas to become notorious outlaws of the American west rising to legendary status. J.W. Buel chronicles their path of robbery and murder across the West in short vignettes. - Summary by Larry Wilson

By: Jack Steele

Book cover A Husband by Proxy

By: James H. Collins (1873-1957)

Book cover Great Taxicab Robbery

In 1912, $25,000 was stolen during a bank transfer in New York City in broad daylight. In what may appear astonishing in today's world, the transfer occurred in a New York City taxicab. This factual account brings true crime of the early twentieth century to life. The various methods used by the detectives and police in their attempts to solve the mystery behind the robbery, and hopefully bring the thieves to justice, makes for great reading, particularly when one considers the fact that the accounts occurred over a century ago, and are quite authentic...

By: James Hay (1881-1936)

No Clue!  A Mystery Story by James Hay No Clue! A Mystery Story

“No Clue! A Mystery Story” finds detective Jefferson Hastings at the home of wealthy but eccentric Arthur Sloane one hot summer night, when two other guests at Sloanehurst stumble across the body of young Mildred Brace lying dead on the lawn. Sloane’s daughter Lucille asks Hastings to help solve the crime, but Hastings gets surprisingly little help from anybody he interviews, including Mr. Sloane himself and even the mother of the victim. With few clues to aid him and nobody beyond suspicion,...

Book cover The Winning Clue

By: James Oliver Curwood (1878-1927)

The Flaming Forest by James Oliver Curwood The Flaming Forest

A tale of mystery, romance, and honor, as David Carrigan must choose between his duty as an officer of the law and a girl who holds him captive; a girl who Carrigan thinks he may have fallen in love with no less! Who is this strange girl Jean-Marie, and why won’t she give him his freedom? And who are the people that she surrounds herself with along the great Canadian rivers and wilderness barrens and forests of the northwest?

Flower of the North by James Oliver Curwood Flower of the North

Flower of the North finds Philip Whittemore on an adventure which takes him up the Churchill River of northern Canada to a land which he thought he knew. However, tucked in among the rocks and hills lies an unfamiliar outpost which he’s been told is called Fort o’ God whose inhabitants and history are shrouded in mystery. It is Jeanne D’Arcambal and her protector Pierre who have told him of this place, but there is so much which they haven’t told him, including who they really are, where they come from, and their clouded past.

God's Country—And the Woman by James Oliver Curwood God's Country—And the Woman

James Curwood wrote many adventures of the far north. By 1909 he had saved enough money to travel to the Canadian northwest, a trip that provided the inspiration for his wilderness adventure stories. The success of his novels afforded him the opportunity to return to the Yukon and Alaska for several months each year that allowed him to write more than thirty such books. The Canadian North is often referred to as “God’s Country” God’s Country is a tale of adventure, mystery and romance!

The Valley of Silent Men by James Oliver Curwood The Valley of Silent Men

Subtitled: A Story of the Three River Country. James Kent has learned that he is terminally ill with perhaps only days to live, and so decides to confess to a murder and thus save an innocent man. Nobody believes his confession, particularly Marette, a mysterious girl who had shown up at Athabasca Landing only weeks before. Kent’s illness takes a turn and his death is postponed, and he sets about to find out more about the girl, who he ends up falling in love with, although she’ll not reveal her past to him, nor what she knows about the murder...

The Wolf Hunters by James Oliver Curwood The Wolf Hunters

Follow Roderick and his friends Wabi and Mukoki on their adventures in the pristine North. They fight voracious wolves, hostile natives, and the vicious elements of nature, while on the hunt. Getting more than they bargained for, they discover a mysterious cabin, and stumble upon a secret that has lain hidden for half a century. Full of twists and turns, danger and suspense, The Wolf Hunters, the prequal to The Gold Hunters, is an excellent read. (Introduction by Brian Adey)

By: Janet Aldridge

Book cover The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea Or The Loss of The Lonesome Bar

By: Janet D. Wheeler

Book cover Billie Bradley on Lighthouse Island The Mystery of the Wreck

By: Jaques Futrelle (1875-1912)

The Diamond Master by Jaques Futrelle The Diamond Master

A perfect diamond worth millions is mailed, in a plain package, to a diamond dealer. Then he finds that identical diamonds were delivered to other diamond dealers. Where did the gems come from? Who sent them? And why? (Introduction by Dawn)

By: Jean Webster

The Four-Pools Mystery by Jean Webster The Four-Pools Mystery

In The Four Pools Mystery the tyrannical plantation owner is deemed responsible for his own murder because of his mistreatment of the former slaves who continued in his employment after the war. Jean Webster (pseudonym for Alice Jane Chandler Webster) was born July 24, 1876 and died June 11, 1916. She was an American writer and author of many books including Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy. (Wiki)

By: John Buchan (1875-1940)

The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan The Thirty-nine Steps

The typical action hero with a stiff upper lip whose actions speak louder than his words, a mysterious American who lives in dread of being killed, an anarchist plot to destabilize Greece, a deadly German spy network, a notebook entirely written in code, and all this set in the weeks preceding the outbreak of World War I. The Thirty-nine Steps, by John Buchan is a spy classic entirely worthy of its genre and will delight modern day readers with its complicated plot. It is also notable for being the literary progenitor of the spook novel that typically features the secret operative on the run, determined to unravel a world domination plot...

Greenmantle by John Buchan Greenmantle

Greenmantle is the second of five Richard Hannay novels by John Buchan, first published in 1916 by Hodder & Stoughton, London. It is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being Mr Standfast (1919); Hannay’s first and best-known adventure, The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), is set in the period immediately before the war started. – Hannay is called in to investigate rumours of an uprising in the Muslim world, and undertakes a perilous journey through enemy territory to meet up with his friend Sandy in Constantinople. Once there, he and his friends must thwart the Germans’ plans to use religion to help them win the war, climaxing at the battle of Erzurum.

Huntingtower by John Buchan Huntingtower

Dickson McCunn, a respectable, newly retired grocer, plans a walking holiday in the hills of south-west Scotland. He meets a young English poet and finds himself in the thick of a plot involving the kidnapping of a Russian princess, who is held prisoner in the rambling mansion, Huntingtower. This modern fairy-tale is also a gripping adventure story.

By: John Charles Dent (1841-1888)

The Gerrard Street Mystery and Other Weird Tales by John Charles Dent The Gerrard Street Mystery and Other Weird Tales

John Charles Dent, the author of the following remarkable stories, was born in Kendal, Westmorland, England, in 1841. His parents emigrated to Canada shortly after that event, bringing with them, of course, the youth who was afterwards to become the Canadian author and historian. Mr. Dent received his primary education in Canadian schools, and afterwards studied law, becoming in due course a member of the Upper Canada Bar. He only practised for a few years, then returned to England to pursue a literary career, writing mostly for periodicals...

By: John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922)

Book cover R. Holmes and Co.

Raffles Holmes is introduced in these stories as the son of the great Sherlock Holmes. He is also revealed to be the grandson of A.J. Raffles, a gentleman thief pursued by Sherlock Holmes many years earlier. This apparently contradictory family background sets the stage for his colorful and amusing adventures.


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