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The Viaduct Murder
by Ronald KnoxWhen four friends stumble across the body of a fellow club member during a game of golf they suspect murder. The police aren't so sure, and when it looks as though the official verdict will be suicide the men are outraged. Convinced that there had been 'dirty work' and that 'the police aren't very good at following up clues', they undertake their own investigation. A classic Golden Age whodunit that involves the reader in a charming game of detection as the protagonists use Sherlockian methods to unravel the mystery.
50 Mystery and Detective masterpieces you have to read before you die vol: 1
by Mark Twain Agatha Christie Arthur Conan Doyle Edgar Allan Poe Dorothy Leigh Sayers Charles Dickens Jules Verne Wilkie Collins Arthur Morrison C. N. Williamson E. W. Hornung Edgar Wallace Ernest Bramah Frank Froest G. K. Chesterton H. C. McNeile Isabel Ostrander J. S. Fletcher R. Austin Freeman Rober Barr Thomas W. Hanshew Victor L. WhitechurchThis book, newly updated, contains now several HTML tables of contents that will make reading a real pleasure! The first table of contents (at the very beginning of the ebook) lists the titles of all novels included in this volume. By clicking on one of those titles you will be redirected to the beginning of that work, where you'll find a new TOC that lists all the chapters and sub-chapters of that specific work. This book contains the following works arranged alphabetically by authors last names In a Grove [Ryūnosuke Akutagawa] Fantômas [Marcel Allain] The Triumphs of Eugène Valmont [Robert Barr] The Woman in Black [E.C. Bentley] The Island Mystery [George A. Birmingham] Four Max Carrados Detective Stories [Ernest Bramah Smith] The Wisdom of Father Brown, The Innocence of Father Brown [G.K Chesterton] The Secret Adversary [Agatha Christie] The Mysterious Affair at Styles [Agatha Christie] No Name [Wilkie Collins] The Woman in White [Wilkie Collins] Hunted Down [Charles Dickens] The Trial for Murder [Charles Dickens] The Mystery of Cloomber [Arthur Conan Doyle] The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes [Arthur Conan Doyle] The Spider [Hanns Heinz Ewers] The Middle Temple Murder [Joseph Smith Fletcher] Dead Men's Money [Joseph Smith Fletcher] The Red Thumb Mark [R. Austin Freeman] The Cat's Eye [R. Austin Freeman] The Honor of the Name [Émile Gaboriau] The Man Who Ended War [Hollis Godfrey] The Rome Express [Arthur Griffiths] Arson Plus [Samuel Dashiell Hammett] Desperate Remedies [Thomas Hardy] Green Tea [Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu] The Seven Secrets [William Le Queux] Eight Strokes of the Clock [Maurice Leblanc] The Phantom of the Opera [Gaston Leroux] The Lodger [Marie Adelaide Lowndes] The Affair at the Semiramis Hotel [A. E. W. Mason] The Mysterious Card Unveiled [Cleveland Moffett] The Mysterious Card [Cleveland Moffett] The Evil Shepherd [Edward Phillips Oppenheim] The Double Four [Edward Phillips Oppenheim] The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective [Catherine Louisa Pirkis] The Mystery of Marie Rogêt [Edgar Allan Poe] The Murders in the Rue Morgue [Edgar Allan Poe] The Black Cat [Edgar Allan Poe] The Fall of the House of Usher [Edgar Allan Poe] The Green Eyes of Bâst [Sax Rohmer] Whose Body? [Dorothy Leigh Sayers] The Lady, or the Tiger? [Frank R. Stockton] Catherine: A Story [William Makepeace Thackeray] Tom Sawyer, Detective [Mark Twain] An Antarctic Mystery [Jules Verne] The Daffodil Mystery [Edgar Wallace] The Angel of Terror [Edgar Wallace] The Master Criminal [Merrick White] Also Available : 50 Mystery and Detective masterpieces you have to read before you die vol: 2 50 Masterpieces you have to read before you die Vol: 1 (Golden Deer Classics) 50 Masterpieces you have to read before you die Vol: 2 (Golden Deer Classics) 50 Masterpieces you have to read before you die Vol: 3 (Golden Deer Classics)
The Amazing Chance: A Golden Age Mystery
by Patricia WentworthA former soldier who's been unwittingly living another man's life is given the chance to turn back the clock Anton Blum is the strongest man in Konigswald. But the German peasant is mute; he hasn't spoken a word since he was wounded in action nearly a decade earlier. On a stormy night, he is recruited by British officers to help remove a tree that has fallen across the road. A flash of lightning strikes, and Anton is struck in the head by a branch. He opens his eyes and addresses one of the officers in English, calling him a nickname he couldn't possibly know. The truth is even more extraordinary: Anton isn't actually Anton, but a long-missing English soldier. Lookalike cousins Jack and Jim Laydon were presumed to have perished in a raid during the war. Cotterell Laydon, the present owner of Laydon Manor, is stunned to discover that one of his grandsons might be alive. But is he Jack or Jim? Now the long-lost Laydon must prove his identity before he can lay claim to the ancestral estate--and the wife who sees him as a complete stranger. Is it possible he isn't a Laydon at all?
The Bat
by Mary Roberts RinehartAn infamous thief hides in the countryside—where cunning Cornelia Van Gorder picks up the trail—in a mystery from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author. For months, the city has lived in fear of the Bat. A master criminal hindered by neither scruple nor fear, he has stolen over one million dollars and left at least six men dead. The police are helpless, the newspapers know nothing—even the key figures of the city&’s underworld have no clue as to the identity of the Bat. He is a living embodiment of death itself, and he is coming to the countryside. There, he will encounter the only person who can stop him: adventurous sixty-five-year-old spinster Cornelia Van Gorder. Last in a long line of New York society royalty, Cornelia has found old age to be a bore, and is hungry for a bit of adventure. She&’s going to find it—in a lonely old country house where every shadow could be the Bat.
The Benson Murder Case: Large Print (An American Mystery Classic #0)
by S. S. Van DineBrilliant amateur sleuth Philo Vance solves a puzzling murder in one of the most influential detective novels of the twentieth century All of Wall Street and Manhattan high society is abuzz after playboy stockbroker Alvin Benson is discovered dead in his brownstone mansion, slumped over in an easy chair with a bullet in his head. The man’s body is found in a room locked from the inside, and his head is missing the toupee that usually adorned it. Ballistics experts, detectives, and the NYPD’s top brass can’t solve the crime, but luckily they don’t have to: New York’s leading flaneur and art connoisseur, Philo Vance, is on the case, and he’s got precisely the far-flung and esoteric knowledge needed to interpret the clues and determine whodunnit. By carefully examining the crime scene and reconstructing the deadly shooting, Vance determines a number of things about the murderer, including his or her height—and this is only the first of many deductive feats that he will pull off before the investigation comes to a close. But will he be able to pierce the alibi of the true killer and prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt? The first novel in one of the most influential detective series of the early twentieth century, The Benson Murder Case introduces iconic amateur sleuth Philo Vance with a plot loosely based on the true-life murder of a famous bridge player. Its aristocratic Golden Age New York setting, obscure art cultural references, and devilishly complicated puzzle plot make this a must-read for nostalgia buffs and for anyone who appreciates a classic mystery.
Clouds of Witness
by Dorothy L SayersThe Duke of Denver, accused of murder, stands trial for his life in the House of Lords.Naturally, his brother Lord Peter Wimsey is investigating the crime - this is a family affair. The murder took place at the duke's shooting lodge and Lord Peter's sister was engaged to marry the dead man.But why does the duke refuse to co-operate with the investigation? Can he really be guilty, or is he covering up for someone?(P)2014 Hodder & Stoughton
Clouds of Witness (Sorcha Editor D L Sayers)
by Dorothy L SayersThe second book in Dorothy L Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey series - a must-listen for fans of Agatha Christie's Poirot and Margery Allingham's Campion Mysteries.The Duke of Denver, accused of murder, stands trial for his life in the House of Lords.Naturally, his brother Lord Peter Wimsey is investigating the crime - this is a family affair. The murder took place at the duke's shooting lodge and Lord Peter's sister was engaged to marry the dead man.But why does the duke refuse to co-operate with the investigation? Can he really be guilty, or is he covering up for someone?
The Devil's Guard
by Talbot MundyJimgrim and his reckless companions side with mystic forces to confront the powers of darkness
Nameless Acts of Cruelty
by Julie CameronDecades after the loss of his younger sister, a man haunted by horrific memories returns to the sleepy English village where she died Jeremy Horton is a man denying his past, haunted by a dysfunctional childhood full of dark secrets—including the suspicious death of his younger sister. Married to lawyer Sarah and with children of his own, Jeremy keeps his eyes firmly focused on the present, never daring to glance in the rear-view mirror for fear of what he might see there. But when a chance encounter awakens the memories he’s fought so hard to suppress, and the death of his estranged mother takes Jeremy back to his sleepy hometown and the scene of the family tragedy, he determines to finally uncover the truth behind his sister’s death. Villages hold long memories, and Jeremy’s presence quickly becomes an unwelcome reminder of nameless cruelties and shameful secrets. The more he learns, the more the stories from his past take on a sinister significance, leading him to question his own innocence. Meanwhile, someone desperately wants him gone, and their efforts to drive him out escalate as Jeremy’s anxiety spirals out of control. Do they fear him for what he knows—or for what he’s done?
Stoner's Boy: A Seckatary Hawkins Mystery (The Seckatary Hawkins Mysteries)
by Robert F. Schulkers“Scholars, teachers, and general readers of To Kill a Mockingbird will find Stoner’s Boy and The Gray Ghost of real interest.” —George Ella Lyon, formerKentucky poet laureate and author of Back to the Light: PoemsMr. Stoner is bad, and it seems his son is turning out just the same. Masked and dressed all in gray, Stoner’s Boy moves like a ghost up and down the river, stealing and causing mischief. Seckatary Hawkins and his club have crossed this dangerous lad, and (to make matters worse) Briggen and the Pelham gang across the river won’t leave the ruthless thief alone: They know that he’s hidden his treasure hoard somewhere in his cliff cave lair, and they’re dead set on having it for themselves. Still, it doesn't seem that anyone can stand up to this clever foe—except maybe another newcomer in town, sharpshooter Robby Hood, who is the only person that Stoner’s Boy seems to fear.Before Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, Seckatary Hawkins and his friends from the Fair and Square Club were solving mysteries and thrilling readers with tales of adventure, loyalty, and courage. One of the biggest fans of the series was author Harper Lee, and Stoner’s Boy makes a prominent appearance in her masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird. Now, the tales of the Fair and Square Club’s encounters with the river renegade known as the Gray Ghost are back in print and ready to ignite the imaginations of devoted fans and new readers of all ages.“Think Our Gang meets Treasure Island along a Kentucky riverbank . . . The wholesome stories espouse morals and tolerance.” —Cincinnati Enquirer
Tish Plays the Game (The Letitia "Tish" Carberry Novels #4)
by Mary Roberts RinehartWhen a friend comes to her with a problem, Tish springs into action—no matter how much trouble it&’s going to causeIn the title tale of this collection by Mary Roberts Rinehart, after a long, chaotic life, Tish Carberry retires to her apartment, hoping for a bit of peace and quiet. But why, her friends wonder, does it sound like someone&’s practicing riflery in her living room? No one would be surprised if Tish had converted her parlor into a shooting gallery, but her friends suspect something far more sinister: She may be playing golf. Tish took an interest in the game last summer when she met a befuddled young man whose beloved was too preoccupied with the sport to even glance in his direction. Soon afterward, a mysterious old woman appeared to challenge the girl—and since then, Tish has never been quite the same.Here are five of Rinehart&’s famous Tish stories—rollicking tales of madcap humor starring one of the most fascinating older women in literary history.
The Verdict of You All (Murder Room #763)
by Henry WadeGeoffrey Hastings is doing very well for himself: having survived the Great War, he is not only working for wealthy financier Sir John Smethurst but is engaged to his daughter, Emily. Hastings has a rival for Emily's affections in the form of Samuel McCorquodale, a successful businessman and both friend and rival of Sir John, and there is no love lost between the two men.Then Sir John is found murdered, and suspicion falls on Hastings until an unexpected alibi sets him free.But who did murder Sir John? Layer after layer of deception is peeled away until the shocking truth emerges . . .
The Verdict of You All
by Henry WadeGeoffrey Hastings is doing very well for himself: having survived the Great War, he is not only working for wealthy financier Sir John Smethurst but is engaged to his daughter, Emily. Hastings has a rival for Emily's affections in the form of Samuel McCorquodale, a successful businessman and both friend and rival of Sir John, and there is no love lost between the two men.Then Sir John is found murdered, and suspicion falls on Hastings until an unexpected alibi sets him free.But who did murder Sir John? Layer after layer of deception is peeled away until the shocking truth emerges . . .
Anne Belinda: A Golden Age Mystery
by Patricia WentworthA woman vanishes without a trace--and her relations are forbidden to speak her name In 1917, after he's released from the hospital, John Waveney is headed back to the trenches in France when he decides to visit the land of his ancestors dating back to the Crusades. There, he meets a young girl who, upon learning he's all alone in the world, tells him she'd be sorry if anything happened to him at the front. Nine years later, John returns to Waveney Hall to claim his legacy--and encounters an extended family of relatives he never knew about. But Anne Belinda, a distant cousin--the mysterious young girl he never forgot--has disappeared. No one at his ancestral estate will discuss her or explain why her father altered his will, leaving his entire estate to her twin sister, Jenny. Feeling a debt of loyalty to the girl who sent him off to battle with a kind word, John embarks on a search for Anne--but does the missing woman want to be found? This 1928 novel from one of Britain's most beloved crime authors tells a shocking story of crime and sacrifice that can destroy lives--or redeem them.
The Big Four: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries #5)
by Agatha ChristieFamed private eye Hercule Poirot tackles international intrigue and espionage in this classic Agatha Christie mystery.Framed in the doorway of Hercule Poirot's bedroom stands an uninvited guest, coated from head to foot in dust. The man stares for a moment, then he sways and falls. Who is he? Is he suffering from shock or just exhaustion? Above all, what is the significance of the figure 4, scribbled over and over again on a sheet of paper? Poirot finds himself plunged into a world of international intrigue, risking his life—and that of his "twin brother"—to uncover the truth.
The Canary Murder Case: Large Print (Philo Vance #2)
by S.S. Van DineAmateur sleuth Philo Vance returns in the bestselling Golden Age mystery that &“lifted the detective story on to the plane of a fine art&” (Bloody Murder). Let us begin by promising that no actual birds are harmed in this story. The Canary of the title is Margaret Odell, once a showgirl in the Ziegfeld Follies, more recently an occasional nightclub singer and professional good time. When she is murdered, there are any number of suspects, all of the male variety. The police, of course, are baffled—it was ever thus—but happily, Philo Vance is on the scene, ready to apply his brilliance, his erudition, his astonishingly nuanced grasp of human nature to the solving of the crime. British crime writer and critic Julian Symons once noted that &“It is difficult to grasp the extent of Van Dine&’s success,&” but a success he surely was: Canary stayed on bestseller lists for months and was filmed with William Powell and Louise Brooks. Will you cozy up to Philo Vance? Unlikely. But you&’ll have a dandy time.Praise for the Philo Vance series &“With his highbrow manner and his parade of encyclopedic learning, Philo Vance is not only a detective; he is a god out of the machine.&” —The New York Times &“The Philo Vance novels were well-crafted puzzlers that captivated readers . . . the works of S.S. Van Dine serve to transport the reader back to a long-gone era of society and style of writing.&” —Mystery Scene &“Outrageous cleverness . . . among the finest fruits of the Golden Age.&” —Bloody Murder
Clouds of Witness: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery (warbler Classics Annotated Edition) (The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries #2)
by Dorothy L. SayersLord Peter Wimsey is shocked by the news that his own brother has been arrested for murder: &“First-rate&” (Chicago Sun-Times). After three months in Corsica, Lord Peter Wimsey has begun to forget that the gray, dangerous moors of England ever existed. But traveling through Paris, he receives a shock that jolts him back to reality. He sees it in the headlines splashed across every English paper—his brother Gerald has been arrested for murder. The trouble began at the family estate in Yorkshire, where Gerald was hunting with the man soon to be his brother-in-law, Captain Denis Cathcart. One night, Gerald confronts Cathcart with allegations about his unsavory past, leading the captain to call off the wedding. Just a few hours later, Cathcart is dead, with Gerald presumed to be the only person who could have fired the fatal shot. The clock is ticking, and only England&’s premier sleuth can get to the bottom of this murky mystery. Clouds of Witness is the 2nd book in the Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, but you may enjoy the series by reading the books in any order. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dorothy L. Sayers including rare images from the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College.
The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 1
by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleVolume 1 of the 2-volume Complete Sherlock Holmes starts with Holmes's first appearance, A Study in Scarlet, a chilling murder novel complete with bloodstained walls and cryptic clues, followed by the baffling The Sign of Four, which introduces Holmes's cocaine problem and Watson's future wife.
The Demon Lover
by Dion FortuneA secretary finds herself psychically bound to her boss in this supernatural thriller from one of the leading luminaries of twenieth-century esoteric thought.The Demon Lover was first published in 1927, the same year as H.P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu. Dion Fortune was among a generation of occult horror writers that formed popular culture’s obsession with secret societies, vampires, demons, ritual magic, and dark powers lurking in the shadows. What sets Fortune apart from so many of her contemporaries is her deep knowledge of the inner workings of magical orders, rites, and practices, and her own freethinking on occult subjects, demonstrated in the classic Psychic Self-Defense and The Mystical Qabalah.When young Veronica Mainwaring is hired by Justin Lucas as his secretary, she has no idea that she will soon find herself being used as his own personal trance medium. With an invisible collar keeping her bound to Lucas, her every attempt at escape is foiled by a yank on the unseen chain. Veronica soon finds herself trapped in Lucas’ quest for power and knowledge beyond the earthly plane as a story of past lives, hidden evils, and a twisted love affair come to life in this occult thriller.“A convincingly unsettling book. Fortune evokes a world of powers that can threaten you; that are both part of a coherent moral mythology, and also cloaked in mystery. Things are unpredictable, though there is an order to them . . . It’s not a book for every taste, maybe. But it’s worth a look, for a distinctive handling of magic and its overlap with the everyday world.” —Black Gate
The Documents in the Case
by Dorothy L SayersThe bed was broken and tilted grotesquely sideways. Harrison was sprawled over in a huddle of soiled blankets. His mouth was twisted . . .Harrison had been an expert on deadly mushrooms. How was it then that he had eaten a large quantity of death-dealing muscarine? Was it an accident? Suicide? Or murder?The documents in the case seemed to be a simple collection of love notes and letters home. But they concealed a clue to the brilliant murderer who baffled the best minds in London.'She combined literary prose with powerful suspense, and it takes a rare talent to achieve that. A truly great storyteller.' Minette Walters(P)2015 Hodder & Stoughton
Gilded Cage
by Denise RobinsHandsome and brilliant, Pierre Boucheron is the darling of glamorous Parisian high society. Casually cruel, he leaves a score of lovelorn women behind, until he meets Madeleine, the young Countess de L'Orme, and discovers a love so pure it makes a mockery of his past affairs.Zélie du Chaumet, until that moment his mistress, is now cast aside like all the others. But she has the perfect instrument of revenge – his past.Her thirst for vengeance haunts Pierre through the streets of Paris, from the height of luxury to the despair of poverty, dragging him further and further into the gutter. Shunned by polite society, rejected by the underworld he was once a part of, his future with Madeleine seems an impossible dream – can he escape his nemesis before it destroys him completely…?
The House of Dr. Edwardes
by Francis BeedingA novel of psychological terror set in a mental asylum that became the basis for Alfred Hitchcock&’s Spellbound starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck. From the outset, the air that Beeding&’s characters breathe crackles with ominous electricity. This is surely what appealed to Alfred Hitchcock when he found Beeding&’s The House of Dr. Edwardes and used it as the inspiration for his unforgettable film Spellbound. The &“house&” of the title is a lunatic asylum in France and Dr. Edwardes is the head psychiatrist. While Edwardes is held in high esteem, an almost iconic figure in psychiatric circles, there is something clearly amiss. The novel opens with a puzzling, ominous episode in which a patient being transported to the asylum grows agitated as the car bringing him there approaches. The patiently suddenly screams: &“the gorge of the devil&” and then attacks and kills one of the supervisors, a promising but inexperienced psychiatrist. This opens a position that Dr. Sedgwick accepts, but on arrival, she learns that Dr. Edwardes has taken a leave of absence to calm his nerves. It doesn&’t take her long to discover that the house is hardly in order. Unlike Hitchcock&’s Spellbound, The House of Dr. Edwardes owes less to Freud, displaying much closer affinities with the brooding, psychological landscapes of Gothic novels of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, particularly Emily Brontë&’s Wuthering Heights. The result is a compelling work—part mystery, part modern Gothic.
Hue and Cry: A Golden Age Mystery
by Patricia WentworthAccused of being a thief and spy, an English governess becomes a fugitive in this cunningly plotted mystery In six months, Marion "Mally" Lee will wed the dashing Roger Mooring and become mistress of Curston, his family estate. Determined to enjoy her freedom before she becomes a married woman, Mally impulsively accepts a position as governess to the young daughter of a shipping magnate. But when she arrives at the Peterson townhouse in London, Mally has the strangest urge to flee. Sir George Peterson, whose wife left him for an itinerant artist, is an enigma. His sister, Lena Craddock, is nice enough, but Mally's young charge, Barbara, hates Lena's nephew, Paul, with a passion. When Mally is suddenly branded a thief and spy after valuable papers and a priceless diamond pendant disappear, she does the only thing she can: run away. With her fiancé believing the worst of her and private investigators hot on her trail, Mally goes on the lam, feeling like a fugitive from justice. But she's stumbled upon a dangerous criminal conspiracy led by men desperate to get back the missing documents before a critical encrypted message is decoded.
The Mammoth Book of Short Spy Novels (Mammoth Books #414)
by Bill Pronzini Martin GreenbergSpanning more than 75 years of espionage writing in USA and the UK, here are gripping tales by classic writers in the field including W. Somerset Maugham, Ian Fleming, Leslie Charteris, and Erle Stanley Gardner. They are presented complete and unabridged. Among the now legendary fictional secret agents, counterspies and double agents featured are Somerset Maugham's enigmatic operative Ashenden; Ian Fleming's legendary 007; and Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise, 'the female James Bond'. The stories include: The formula for a deadly warfare chemical propels secret agent Peter Baron on a mission through Italy - in Deep Sleep by Bruce Cassiday Agent 007 James Bond confronts military intrigue in the Caribbean - in Octopussy, by Ian Fleming International conspiracy, assassination, bombs, plot and counter-plot in Washington D.C. - in Dealers in Doom by William E. Barrett Someone is out to destroy the British Government, from the inside - in The Spoilers, by Michael Gilbert The CIA enlists a small-town policeman to track down a spy who will stop at nothing to preserve his identity - in The People of the Peacock, by Edward D. Hoch