Ann Radcliffe is the founder of the gothic novel. This novel is no exception. The wicked baron murdered the good earl's father twelve years before the novel began. Only twelve years later, free from his mother's wishes, can the earl seek revenge. Meanwhile, Mary, the earl's beautiful sister is falling in love with a peasant. Yet her brother was abducted by the baron and he wants to marry her. She may have to wed him in order to secure his return. We see Mary's conflict along with a description of her brother's captivity...

Call Mr. Fortune is a collection of short stories which introduce Reginald Fortune. Reggie, like his father, is a physician. The son applies his diagnostic skills to crime-solving. As he is not a civil servant, he is free to represent the government, the accused, or the injured.

Miss Cora Parkhurst is an irresponsible and flighty Sunday school teacher for a group of young ladies. She has simply no time to prepare the lessons, nor any knowledge of what it means to be a sincere Christian. Mr. Robert Hammond is an earnest, dedicated Sunday school teacher for a group of young men. Mr. Hammond invites Miss Parkhurst to the weekly teachers' meeting to spur her on, only to discover how much spiritual help and encouragement she needs! Meanwhile, Miss Parkhurst's fiance, Mr. George Tracy, is ambivalent towards any religious activities that interfere with his and Cora's relationship, and despises Mr. Hammond.

William Elliot Griffis born in Philadelphia in 1843, was an educator, author and Congregational minister. In 1870 he was invited to go to Japan in order to modernize the school system and became the Superintendent of Education in the Province of Echizen. Whilst there he became interested in the folk lore, legends and stories of the East and began to collect tales from the story tellers that he met with and the literature that he found there. The thirty four wonderful stories in this collection are some of the ones that he found and fortunately decided to share with us...

This story is an honest record of what we, who are all writers, and all very intimate friends, have seen and heard as we looked on at the lives of certain people in whom we are deeply interested. We used to talk about these people when we sat together after the day's work was done."They don't understand one another," said one of the ministers, "else there wouldn't be much trouble.""I think the little girl means better than she is supposed to," said Grace."And I know the two boys are not half so mean as they are made out to be," declared Paranete...

In this suspensful whodunit a mean-spirited and wealthy dowager is found murdered in her boudoir supposedly killed once by poison and also by a blow to the head. Most bizarre is the fact that she is found sitting in front of her mirror lavishly dressed wearing a fortune in pearls and gems. Her niece, her social secretary, her cousin managing her finances, a mysterious count and a maid acting rather suspiciously are the suspects. The police are getting nowhere so famous criminologist Fleming Stone is called in. However is it possible he is so taken with the primary suspect that she could prevent him from solving the mystery??? - Summary by Celine Major

Published in 1917, this is a collection of a novella and seven short stories by one of the cleverest authors of the early twentieth century. ‘In Queen's Quorum , a survey of crime fiction, Ellery Queen listed Bennett's The Loot of Cities among the 100 most important works in the genre. This collection of stories recounts the adventures of a millionaire who commits crimes to achieve his idealistic ends. Although it was "one of his least known works," it was nevertheless "of unusual interest, both as an example of Arnold Bennett's early work and as an early example of dilettante detectivism".’ - Summary by David Wales

Subtitled, "Being an account of the problems solved by Astro, seer of secrets, and his love affair with Valeska Wynne, his assistant." Classic detective stories, with an atypical solver of them. Note, the book itself is published with no author name, which explains the introduction. Don't understand what I mean? Listen and find out! - Summary by TriciaG

Mildred returns home from visiting her mother's relatives. She continues to grow in wisdom and beauty and receives many proposals of marriage. She is an ever-increasing blessing to her family and community. In-laws are added to the family, and they enjoy a visit from Horace Dinsmore and his daughter Elsie. - Summary by Amy

The Black Cat was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. This is the very first issue, offering the following 7 stories: "In gold time", by Roberta Littlehale: in wild-west days, when two rivals love the same woman, tragedy ensues "The unturned trump", by Barnes MacGreggor, pseudonym of H. D. Umbstaetter : to while away the...

Inspector Hanaud is a member of the French Sûreté. He is said to have been the model for Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, as well as the opposite of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. The Affair At The Semiramis Hotel , a novella, is the second Hanaud mystery. Did the robbery/murder really happen or was it the mescal-induced hallucination of the witness? The first novel is At The Villa Rose . The third is The House Of The Arrow . In 1910, Mason undertook to create a fictional detective as different as possible from Sherlock Holmes, who had recently been resuscitated after his supposed death by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1903...

Almost certainly the merging of two separate magazine novellas, where Scrymsour attempted to weave together the plots. In this fantasy/ science fiction novel, the two young gentlemen protagonists are transported from a company town dominated by their family coalmine into an underground cave system where an oligarchic exiled race of dwarf Israelites has lived for 3000 years and grown horns. More space and time travel follow bringing our heroes to Jupiter, where romance follows. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

A young English girl is accused in Dijon of murdering her French aunt. Hanaud to the rescue! Inspector Hanaud is a member of the French Sûreté. He is said to have been the model for Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, as well as the opposite of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. In 1910, Mason undertook to create a fictional detective as different as possible from Sherlock Holmes, who had recently been resuscitated after his supposed death by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1903. Inspector Gabriel Hanaud was...

The Black Cat was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. In this second issue are included the following 8 stories: "A Calaveras hold-up", by Roberta Littlehale: can love make a man mend his ways or are some relationships doomed from the start ? "From a trolley post", by Margaret Dodge: a boring bus-stop wait is interrupted...

Biographer Nathan Ward has called “The Tenth Clew” Dashiell Hammett’s “first real jewel of a story.” In it, Hammett’s nameless Continental Detective Agency operative survives being knocked unconscious and dumped in San Francisco Bay. This kind of action was what his Black Mask magazine editors and readers were asking for, and Hammett somewhat grudgingly obliged them with continuing stories of the Continental Op.

The Garden God: A Tale of Two Boys is Forrest Reid’s tender, bracingly tragic reflection on adolescence, pantheism, Platonism, and homoerotic desire. A classic of “Uranian” literature, it tells the story of Graham Iddesleigh, a fifteen year old boy whose early childhood is spent in cloistered seclusion. He idles his time roaming his family’s idyllic country estate, fantasizing about an imagined friendship with an ancient Greek god. But all this changes when his father sends him off to boarding school...

Sixteen Christmas stories or essays.

Miss Florence Cusack was featured as an amateur detective who assists in solving crimes in five short stories authored by L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace that appeared in Harmsworth/London Magazine. Mr. Bovey's Unexpected Will, 1899 The Arrest of Capt. Vandeleur, 1899 A Terrible Railway Ride, 1900 The Outside Ledge, 1901 Mrs. Reid's Terror, 1901 This project includes all five stories read from their original sources. - Summary by J. M. Smallheer

Fresh from school, mistreated and neglected by her father and stepmother, sixteen-year-old Dawn consents to marry a friend of her father's whom she has only met, but the wedding does not go as planned. Scared and confused, she runs away after the ceremony. Many adventures follow lovely and resourceful Dawn on her journey to becoming an independent woman. - Summary by karlkzumich

A classic with a pinch of romance, a pinch of gothic, and a dash of mystery, are you interested yet? When young Alice Maybell’ father dies she is taken in by Squire Fairfield, a widower with two handsome young sons, Charles and Harry. As Alice grows into a lovely young woman she attracts the attentions of more than one admirer, not all welcome. She marries the man she loves whilst fleeing the home she grew up in, but the blissful happiness that follows is short-lived. She finds herself pulled into the middle of the secrets of her husbands family’s past...

EXCERPT: The existence of Mrs. Barnaby , the existence of Mrs. Barnaby, up to the hour in which she pledged her vows to Major Allen, before the altar of the principal church in Sydney, had, on the whole, been a very happy one. She had, in fact, very keenly enjoyed many things, which persons less fortunately constituted might have considered as misfortunes and to the amiable and well-disposed reader a continuation of the history of such a mind can hardly fail of being useful as an encouragement and example.

Olive Schreiner was a South African writer and intellectual born in 1855 to missionary parents in the Eastern Cape. She was one of the earliest campaigners for women's rights. She was also very critical of British Imperialism in her homeland and particularly of their racist policies against the Boers, Jews, Indians and the Black races of South Africa. As a result of her public support for the Boers, all her manuscripts and her house were burned during the Anglo-Boer War and she was interned in a concentration camp for several years...

It is early in the days of radio, and amateurs are using it more and more, and using it illegally. Enter Curlie Carson, who has the job of tracking down the miscreants. Sounds boring. You wouldn't expect high speed car chases, kidnapping, double dealing, and maybe even murder.

A deserted house with a troubled past. A mysterious countess who captivates everyone with her wealth and beauty -- well, almost everyone. An equally mysterious derelict who holds a secret to the countess's past. A fresh crime that threatens to ruin a promising young doctor. A plucky young governess determined to save him. Who will prevail?

The opening scene takes place in a hospital ward where two patients lie, apparently dying, when a man enters and offers a proposition to one of them. The story then shifts to another town where, years earlier, Polly Earle’s mother died of unknown causes and her father disappeared, leaving Polly, a small child, parentless and penniless. Raised by neighbors, Polly is now a beautiful young woman engaged to be married. A stranger arrives and makes an unsettling request of Polly. Doctor Izard, an intensely private person who had attended her mother, becomes involved. Anna Katherine Green, a prolific and popular mystery writer, was considered to be "The American Agatha Christie".

Join Rough and Ready for his adventure on the streets of New York City. Working as a newsboy, Rough and Ready tries to support himself and his sister on his meager earnings. Unfortunately, their stepfather is seeking to kidnap little Rose, getting an education is hard work, swindlers are trying to trick him out of his money, and thieves are planning nefarious deeds. Luckily for Rough and Ready, he makes some good friends along the way. Summary by Tori Faulder

Mysteries abound in this crime novel by Fergus Hume. Mr. Fanks, detective of Scotland Yard, is not all he seems, for when off-duty, he assumes his real identity of Octavius Rixton, well-to-do idler. When the scent of a murder reaches him, he is instantly Mr. Fanks and on the pursuit. A guilty looking innkeeper nicknamed Queen Beelzebub and a suspicious doctor named Renshaw further complicate his beginning investigation, and he finds the body is a man with a tattoo on his arm that has been partially obliterated by a knife. Where no one is as he seems the mystery can only deepen before its solution. - Summary by Don W. Jenkins

It is the third of Huysmans' books to feature the character Durtal, a thinly disguised portrait of the author. He had already featured the character of Durtal in Là-bas and En route, which recounted his conversion to Catholicism. La Cathédrale continues the story. After his retreat at a Trappist monastery, Durtal moves to the city of Chartres, renowned for its cathedral. Huysmans describes the building in great detail. - Summary by Wikipedia

A ghost story and love story all at once, set in medieval Portugal. Don Ruy is in love with Dona Leonor, but her husband has guessed his feelings and hatches a plan. Don Ruy rides right into a trap, but on the way, a dead man joins him and saves his life. - Summary by Carolin

The young Grace Livingston compiled this book using quotes from her aunt's works; Isabella Macdonald Alden . It is a quote for each day of the year from one of the "Pansy Books" plus a bit of related scripture or verse. - Summary by LikeManyWaters

In order to recover her health, Mildred Keith goes to visit her mother's extended family, the Dinsmores, in the South. Mildred makes new friends while at Roselands, learns important lessons and grows in her faith in Christ.

Vicki Barr is a popular mystery series for girls published by Grosset & Dunlap from 1947 to 1964. This book is volume 12 of The Vicki Barr Air Stewardess Series. When a shipment of priceless gold doubloons being transported on her flight from New York to Tampa goes missing, Federal Airline's stewardess Vicki Barr is unwittingly dragged into a sinister conspiracy spanning two countries. Vicki faces a determined group of criminals willing to go to any lengths to stop her from discovering their secret...

A group of young adults away on a nutting expedition is delayed in a hospitable home by a sudden rainstorm. After the storm, Marjorie insists that she must get home that night, albeit late, out of respect and care for her mother. Others want to extend the fun and stay away overnight. Ralph, the driver of their wagon and unspoken beau of Marjorie, is swayed by the teasing ridicule of Estelle to refuse to take them home that night. Unknown to the party, unexpected opportunities occur at Ralph's and Estelle's homes that same night, and their delay and subsequent actions profoundly affect the course of all three of their lives. Sequel: Overruled

A young society woman travels to the country to visit her aunt, only to end up as the unwilling guest of a neighboring family. The daughter is not so sure how to deal with this unpleasant circumstance. The young man of the household has met her before. Through them, she gains new perspectives on life, faith, and love. - Summary by LikeManyWaters

Two short stories by Pansy. In "What She Said and What She Meant," Mrs. Marks detests gossip and avoids it as much as she can. But what she does say is vague and suggestive. It is taken, added to, and passed on by others, so that it is no longer what she meant, and threatens to ruin people's reputations and lives in the process. In "People Who Haven't Time and Can't Afford It," Mrs. Leymon is awakened to the needs of the abject poor in her town and works out how to help them. But will she find anyone able and willing to give of their time and money to help her with the scheme?

While visiting their friend, Florence, at her home in Mexico, Jo Ann and Peggy noticed a barred window which has no opening into any of the rooms of an ancient adobe house. Curious to find out what it is, the girls tried to investigate but no one seems eager to help them. Undaunted, the girls made plans to get there only to encounter dangers and find a thrilling discovery. - Summary by Mary Escano

Two shorter stories in one book. In "Miss Priscilla Hunter," the church has been carrying debt for years. It's an embarrassment, and it is hindering them from doing necessary work. They've tried to chip away at it in the past with festivals and fundraisers, but it seems like it will never go away. Miss Hunter, a poor seamstress, finally takes matters into her own hands and works to KILL that debt once and for all! In "My Daughter Susan," we tag along with Susan in what is apparently a typical day for her, seeing how she works for others and her Lord, within the context of temperance.

In this sketch, called by Korolenko “a psychological study,” the author has attempted to analyze the inner life of the blind. He has undertaken to lay before the reader not only the psychological processes in the mind of the blind, but their suffering from the lack of sight as well, uncomplicated by any untoward circumstances. To accomplish this he has placed his hero in most favorable, nay, almost exceptional conditions. The subjects for this study are a blind girl, whom the author had known as a child; a boy, a pupil of his, who was gradually losing his sight; and a professional musician, blind from his birth, intellectually gifted, scholarly, and refined.

Of course every one has heard of the Motor Pirate. No one indeed could help doing so unless he or she, as the case may be, happened to be in some part of the world where newspapers never penetrate; since for months his doings were the theme of every gossip in the country, and his exploits have filled columns of every newspaper from the moment of his first appearance until the day when the reign of terror he had inaugurated upon the roads ended as suddenly and as sensationally as it had begun. Who...

A stone age romance. Deh-Yun of the Little Moon comes across Pul-Yun of the Sun Disc, who has broken his leg while in search of a woman to kidnap and take as wife. Deserting her tribe, Deh-Yun nurses him back to health and as their adventures proceed she proves to be the more resourceful of the two. - Summary by Phil Benson

The Black Cat was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. The ninth issue offers the following 5 stories: "The House across the Way", by Leo Gale: after measuring the length of two adjacent rooms, the horrible mystery of a walled-up space is revealed "Mrs Sloan's Curiosity", by Mabell Shippie Clarke: what unusual name is hidden behind the initials G...

Nick Carter is a fictional detective who first appeared in 1886 in dime store novels. Over the years, different authors, all taking the nom de plume Nicholas Carter, have penned stories featuring "America's greatest detective". Nick is only visited by the rich and famous, and in this swashbuckling story, it is Nick's friend Maxwell Kane who asks for help, after his yacht has been boarded by pirates while at anchor. Max and his guests are dicombobulated, but Nick will get to the bottom of the case.

The Black Cat was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. This is the tenth issue, offering 5 more stories: "On the last trail", by H. W. Phillips and Rupert Hughes: witness the final showdown between the marshall and his friend ''A message from where ?", by L. Francis Bishop: a boy's imagination is kindled by a mysterious beautiful woman in an old picture "The man with the box", by George W...

The House of Mystery is based upon the complicated plot involving two women who look exactly alike, one rich and one poor, and so mistaken identities bring about comic and tragic madness.

The five-volume work chronicling the adventures of father Gargantua and son Pantagruel is a vehicle for Rabelais' satire of sixteenth-century European society. It is lively, outrageous, and, at times, bawdy. This the third of the five volumes--all are translated by Thomas Urquhart and Peter Motteux

In its original form, this book was published with the title, "The Singing Bone." It was later republished as "The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke." This book has historical significance as it contains the first example of the inverted detective formula used in The Case of Oskar Brodski , along with several other examples.

Nick Carter is a fictional detective who first appeared in 1886 in dime store novels. Over the years, different authors, all taking the nom de plume Nicholas Carter, have penned stories featuring "America's greatest detective". It is time for Nick to take a much-earned vacation, but Chick is disconcerted to see him continuing to read the newspaper. Who know what mystery will catch his eye? Suddenly, he notices the announcement of the death of his old adversary 'Green-Eye Gordon'.

Nick Carter is a fictional detective who first appeared in 1886 in dime store novels. Over the years, different authors, all taking the nom de plume Nicholas Carter, have penned stories featuring "America's greatest detective". In this story, Nick has been contacted by his old friend, Chief Weston, of the Boston Police Department. When he arrives, he is shown a photograph, depicting a crime in progress and is informed there has been a spate of holdups on local highways. Something has to be done but Nick doesn't usually resort to consulting a fortune teller!

A wealthy and successful author, John Stuart King is preparing to write his next book, which includes a homeless tramp. He has done all the research and thinks he knows what he needs to on the subject. But in a sermon he hears with a friend, the minister exhorts his flock to be kind to the homeless, as if they were Jesus himself. Taking the minister’s sermon to heart, John Stuart resolves to live the life of a tramp so he can truly understand the tramp's plight. He not only finds information for his upcoming book, but he learns life lessons about truth and integrity, and finds the truth about loving Christ from the heart. - Summary by TriciaG

The Black Cat was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. The eleventh issue offers the following 5 stories: "The Mysterious Card Unveiled", by Cleveland Moffett: the long-awaited sequel has arrived and a man's dark soul is finally revealed "Mrs. Bilger's Victory", by Emma S. Jones and Geik Turner: a woman fights for justice against a big corporation "A Defender of the Faith", by John D...

Nick Carter is a fictional detective who first appeared in 1886 in dime store novels. Over the years, different authors, all taking the nom de plume Nicholas Carter, have penned stories featuring "America's greatest detective". In this story, Nick finds himself in a quandary. He must choose between helping a friend, with a dubious past or arresting a master crook, long thought dead, but now setting up a new scam. Will he save his friend or, with the help of his assistants, stop the thief in his tracks?

The first chapter of a book is often the hook to draw a reader in. It could make you eager for more or realize it isn't for you. In this, the 8th First Chapter Collection, we offer you old favorites, such as Pride and Prejudice and The Call of the Wild. We tour the world, with Mexico and The Natural History of Selbourne, contemplate philosophy with Knowing and Being and relax with a Dissertation on Oriental Gardening with a side of Cakes and Cookies.

The Black Cat was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. The twelfth issue offers the following 6 stories: "The Reapers", by Ly Batterman Lindsay: eager to start a new life, a young couple learns that they cannot run from their past "A Kindergarten Hold-Up", by Mabell Shippie Clarke: a good-for-nothing tramp finds empathy while watching the innocent play of children "The Guardian of Mystery Island", by Dr...

Ada Buisson was a Victorian novelist and short story author. This collection includes her three horror stories, all of which were published in the journal Belgravia in 1867-1869. - Summary by Newgatenovelist

Although the Sherlock Holmes canon traditionally consists of four novels and 56 short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle, there are many Sherlock Holmes stories outside the canon. Most of these noncanonical stories were written by authors other than Doyle, but there are four short stories about Holmes written by Doyle that are nonetheless excluded from the canon, for various reasons. This album consists of these four noncanonical stories. The first story, "The Field Bazaar", was first published in 1896 in a special issue of a University of Edinburgh student newspaper called The Student...

The Black Cat was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. Volume 2 starts off with the following 6 stories in the first issue: "The house that Jack built", by Harold Donovan Hilton: a young man learns the intriguing story of an uncanny old house "In the garden of a villa", by R. George Smith Jr.: a female lark sees her tragic...

The Black Cat was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. The following 6 stories are included in this third issue: "The great star ruby", by Barnes MacGreggor, pseud. of H. D. Umbstaetter : a man tells the thrilling story of the theft of a very valuable ruby "The interrupted banquet", by René Bache : at this strange dinner party, a young man is told some shocking news by the other guests "The archangel", by James Q...

"The "Mind The Paint" Girl, by Louis Tracy, is a delightful novelization of Sir Arthur Pinero's sparkling comedy now having a successful New York run.... Mr. Tracy has caught the very spirit of the drama and has told its story with much of the same vivre that has packed the theatre and made it impossible to get seats except several weeks in advance. It is the story of the meteoric rise of a lovely young musical comedy actress whose song "Mind the Paint" put London at her feet and the opportunity of placing several British coronets on her head." Note that we also have the play itself available here at. - Summary by Bookseller Magazine of 1912

Here are 10 humorous short stories by Ring Lardner , an American sports columnist and short-story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, and F. Scott Fitzgerald all professed strong admiration for his writing.

The Black Cat was a monthly literary magazine, publishing original short stories, often about uncanny or fantastical topics. Many writers were largely unknown, but some famous authors also wrote original material for this magazine. This is the fourth issue, containing the following 7 stories: "In Solomon's Caverns", by Charles Edward Barns: lost in a huge cavern, a man struggles to survive and find his way back to civilization "An angel of Tenderfoot Hill", by Frederick Bradford: can two years of...