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

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?

Book cover Incredulity of Father Brown (Version 2)

These eight Father Brown mysteries depart from Chesterton’s two earlier Father Brown collections – The Innocence of Father Brown, and The Wisdom of Father Brown – in that most take place in America and/or centrally feature American characters. Father Brown is a nondescript, shy, poorly clad and clumsy Catholic priest – and an exceptionally talented detective. He shines not despite, but because he is a humble, quiet, commonplace, Catholic priest. Because of his personal attributes he is frequently underrated and even ignored by professionals, by those with higher status or less reticent personalities...

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 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 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: George Sidney Paternoster (1866-1925)

Book cover Motor Pirate

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...

By: Georgette Heyer

The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer The Black Moth

Jack Carstares, oldest son of the Earl Wyncham, has been disgraced by his brother. Gone for six years, living the life a highwayman he meets the woman he will fall in love with. Saving her from being kidnapped by a dastardly blackguard he is injured and must stay with her family until he is able to return to his life…will she discovery his true identity? Will he be able to leave her when the time comes? Mystery and humor follow this intriguing cast of characters until the very end. (Summary by Terra Mendoza)

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.

Book cover Mrs. Balfame

Enid Belfame: 42 years old, 22 of them as a married woman; eminently respectable; founder of The Friday Club; small town dignitary; a paragon of virtue. But does she have what it takes to commit murder? And will the young and handsome Dwight Rush benefit if she does?

By: Gladys Edson Locke

Book cover House on the Downs

Mark Brandon, a writer from Australia is in England to visit an old friend, Sir Quenton Rotherdene. However, while walking across the Downs on his way there, he sees a mysterious woman and then finds a murder victim with a moonflower clasped in his hand. More mysterious happenings, shocks and surprises ensue! - Summary by J M Smallheer

Book cover That Affair at Portstead Manor

An English country home during a house party becomes the scene of a double mystery. One of the three detectives employed on the case is a woman whose common sense, calm, and plain logic are skillfully employed in straightening the tangle. - NY Times Book Review, Aug 16, 1914.

By: Grace and Harold Johnson

Roman Collar Detective by Grace and Harold Johnson Roman Collar Detective

A shot penetrates the still night air and one of Galton's leading citizens is a victim of a desperate killer's gun. Murder becomes entangled with politics and it takes a parish priest to discover "whodunit" in this thriller by a husband and wife novelist team.

The Broken Rosary by Grace and Harold Johnson The Broken Rosary

County Prosecutor Wally Brighton was found shot to death one evening, a broken rosary in one hand and a .32 automatic inches away from the other. Was it murder or suicide? It takes two sharp-eyed reporters, who combine romance with amateur sleuthing, to find the surprising solution to this baffling and thrilling murder mystery.

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: Guy Boothby (1867-1905)

Book cover Doctor Nikola Returns

Guy Boothby’s character Doctor Antonio Nikola was one of the first great diabolical criminal masterminds. He was a Victorian forerunner to Fu Manchu and a sometime literary rival to Sherlock Holmes. He was ruthless in his pursuit of his objectives which range from world domination to cheating death. Irrespective of his villainy and moral turpitude he was bound by a self imposed code of chivalry, He was generous in both victory and defeat which made him a character you want to like rather than hate...

Book cover Dr. Nikola’s Experiment

Guy Boothby's fourth novel of five about the svelte mysterious anti-hero Dr Nikola sees him progress further on his search for immortality. Here we find him deep in the wilds of Northumbria conducting an experiment of longevity and restoration of youth with another somewhat naive assistant. He is pursued by his Chinese enemies who will stop at nothing to achieve his demise. In this novel he displays a slight hint of emotion regarding his assistant's love affair with a beautiful Spaniard. Once again you are left wondering whether you like him or detest him, his relentless pursuit of arcane knowledge at all cost continues.

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. 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: 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.


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