The pioneering creator of the inverted detective story, R. Austin Freeman was a popular Edwardian author of novels and short stories featuring Dr. Thorndyke, a pathologist-detective. Freeman’s detective and mystery tales offered an innovative approach to the genre, selling thousands of copies on both sides of the Atlantic. Robert Hawke is a man on the run. After returning from business in London...

A daring daylight art theft from a crowded museum, a secret document centuries old, and a hidden treasure, these are the elements of the title story in this collection of tales by R. Austin Freeman. Though best known for his famous forensic sleuth, Dr. John Thorndyke, Freeman also on occasion wrote stories featuring other characters. In addition to „The Great Portrait Mystery”, this collection features four more of these tales which show a more...

Richard Austin Freeman, the doyen of the scientific division of detective writing is best known for his character Dr. John Thorndyke. A close and careful investigator and the outstanding medical authority in the field of detective fiction, R. Austin Freeman not only tested the wits of the reader but also inspired many modern detective forensic methods. „Shuttlebury Cobb” is a completely different sort of book...

Richard Austin Freeman, the doyen of the scientific division of detective writing is best known for his character Dr. John Thorndyke. A close and careful investigator and the outstanding medical authority in the field of detective fiction, R. Austin Freeman not only tested the wits of the reader but also inspired many modern detective forensic methods. „Shuttlebury Cobb” is a completely different sort of book...

Originally written in 1907, „The Red Thumb Mark” opens the series by R. Austin Freeman featuring Dr. Thorndyke, who is a sort of Sherlock-Holmes type character. A single fingerprint is found at the scene of a crime. When the police are able to identify that fingerprint, the case seems closed. But Dr. Thorndyke, the detective/barrister/medical doctor who takes on defense of this suspect, thinks he can disprove the prosecution’s case...

What would you do if your doppelganger were committing crimes and making the police believe you were the perpetrator? In Danby Croker’s case, he decides to retaliate! But that is only one of the problems besetting him in this set of interlinked stories. Given a job as an antique dealer, can he resist the temptations of earning some easy money through a bit of fencing and counterfeiting? And what on earth is he doing going round London dressed...

„Masterpieces of Mystery” is a scintillating collection of suspenseful stories of murder and mayhem from pioneering American detective-story writer Anna Katharine Green, one of the first female writers of detective fiction. Green’s many thrillers were characterized by logical construction and a knowledge of criminal law. Her stories are full of mystery and written in an elegant manner, true to the time period in which the story is set...

One of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century, Edgar Wallace was an immensely popular author, who created exciting thrillers spiced with tales of treacherous crooks and hard-boiled detectives. „The Double” is a story about a man who encounters his unknown double and the trouble that arises. When Dick Staines joined the police force the big case of the day had been the Staines murder...

Working name of UK author Ernest Brammah Smith (1868-1942) for all his writing; he is best-known for two series, the Max Carrados books about a blind detective, all of whose Perceptions are enormously enhanced, and a series of tales in which the Chinese Kai Lung tells stories often to stave off some unpleasant fate, like Scheherazade. At the height of his fame, Bramahs mystery tales, featuring the blind detective...

„The Eye of Osiris”, published in 1911, was the second of R. Austin Freeman’s many Dr. Thorndyke mystery novels. Here the great expert in medical jurisprudence will encounter the mysteries of ancient Egypt – without ever leaving London. The cast of characters is rich in Egyptologists. A wealthy old man, John Bellingham, collector of Egyptian antiquities, has disappeared without a trace. His brother is also an Egyptologist...

E. Phillips Oppenheim was a popular 20th century writer best known for penning suspenseful thriller novels like „The Mystery of Mr. Bernard Brown”. Many of his more than 100 novels are still read today. His novels and short stories have all the elements of blood-racing adventure and intrigue and are precursors of modern-day spy fictions. „Nicholas Goade, Detective” is a collection of short mysteries about a Scotland Yard detective on holiday...

One of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century, Edgar Wallace was an immensely popular author, who created exciting thrillers spiced with tales of treacherous crooks and hard-boiled detectives. In total Wallace is credited with over 170 novels, almost 1,000 short stories, and 18 stage plays. This comprehensive work presents a collection of nine short stories, primarily detective fiction of Edgar Wallace...

Arthur Morrison, who was English novelist, short story writer and journalist, wrote pioneering realistic narratives about working-class life in London’s East End. He is also celebrated for his exciting mystery stories, featuring the detective Martin Hewitt, who served as a natural successor to Sherlock Holmes. This comprehensive book presents Morrison’s collection of short stories. The collection includes: „Chance of the Game”...

1931 Edgar Wallace novel. The story begins with following the Arranway family and various people that touch their life. Sketchley, where the Coat of Arms roadhouse stands, is a place of strange happenings. A complicated trail of theft, arson and blackmail culminates in murder at the Coat of Arms roadhouse and T. B. Collett, the crack Scotland Yard detective, must cope with a cast of stock company suspects and an incompetent local detective...

In „The House in the Mist,” weary traveler Hugh Austin happens upon a house in a village whilst seeking shelter on a misty night. The house is open, and initially the reception he gets is quite strange to him, he then realizes that he was taken for the relative of a dead man and that the gathering he encounters is a meeting of relatives regarding an inheritance that was left. By the time they find out the deceased had long-held vengeance on...

In this second volume of all the collected works that feature Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. John Watson, the reader gets reacquainted with the great detective and his friend through 33 short stories and 2 novels with the added bonus of two Doyle written parodies as well as two essays by the author. Volume 2 begins with „The Hound of the Baskervilles”, a haunting novel of murder on eerie Grimpen Moor...

William Hulbert Footner was a Canadian writer of non-fiction and detective fiction. He was once described as ‘one of the most charming men who was ever on earth.’ His love for his family, travelling and writing is reflected in his stories, many of which are in the crime fiction genre. At the same time Footner began to write detective fiction; his first series detective character being Madame Rosika Storey...

R. Austin Freeman’s character Dr. Thorndyke is considered the first modern forensic scientist in literature. This is one of the oddities of detective fiction. The first part of this story is an „autobiography” of Thorrndyke’s lab assistant Polton. Polton, Dr. Thorndyke’s lab assistant and a servant has graced every Thorndyke mystery with his mechanical ingenuity, his sumptuous meals and teas...

Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935), known as the „Mother of the Detective Novel”, is one of the first American writers of detective fiction. She was recognized for realism and well plotted story of her mystery stories. A tale of two families, betrayal, revenge, and murder, The Circular Story, written in 1902, is still an absorbing and notable work. We highly recommend this book to fans of classic detective fiction...

The master mystery-story teller presents an omnibus of his spine-chilling stories. „The Edgar Wallace Reader of Mystery and Adventure” is a collection of short stories that include „On the Witney Road”, „The Pick-Up”, „Kid Glove Harry”, and thirteen others. Edgar Wallace was a British novelist, playwright, and journalist who produced popular detective and suspense stories and was in his time „the king” of the modern thriller...

The cozy college town of Corinth, New England is the setting for this classic locked-room mystery by Carolyn Wells, author of „The Clue”. In the middle of the election of a new president of the University the favorite candidate is found dead. Is it murder or suicide? All entrances to the study where the body was found were locked from the inside. The future college president and groom-to-be had no known cause for suicide...

The adventures of Mr. Stanely Brooke, „The Deliberate Detective”. E. Phillips Oppenheim’s detective Stanley Brooke unearths the strange and criminous underbelly of London, but the greatest challenge he tackles is how to capture the heart of his beautiful but grim partner, Constance. This detective contributed to the foundation of the genre’s history. The collection also includes the following stories: „The Rescue of Warren Tyrrwell”...

The Man Who Fell Through the Earth is a traditional mystery novel by American author Carolyn Wells, set in 1920-s in New York. A lawyer is leaving his office on the top floor of an office building. He sees the shadows of two men fighting through the clouded glass of an office door followed by a shot from the office across the hall. He goes to investigate. He finds no sign of either victim or assailant despite the fact that no one could have passed...

Arthur J. Rees is a past master in the art of fashioning ingenious mystery-detective yarns and „The Moon Rock” is one of his best. The author’s many admirers will find keen enjoyment and many puzzling moments in their endeavors to solve the mystery. Robert Turold had spent his life trying to prove his claim to an ancient title. Yet, when it seems he is about to finally succeed, his body is found in a remote cottage on the Cornish coast...

Arthur Morrison, who was English novelist, short story writer and journalist, wrote pioneering realistic narratives about working-class life in Londons East End. He is also celebrated for his exciting mystery stories, featuring the detective Martin Hewitt, who served as a natural successor to Sherlock Holmes. This comprehensive book presents Morrisons collection of short stories. The collection includes: Chance of the Game...

The collection includes the famous stories about Sherlock Holmes, the brilliant detective. Sherlock Holmes, the common man, often lying around, rereading favorite books, the best detective in England. Sherlock Holmes, possessor of an incredible mind, and strength, will surprise you not once, not giving you time to realize the complexity and mystery of the crime and the quickness of its opening. There are 4 Novels and 43 Short Stories...

A best-selling author of novels, short stories, magazine articles, translations, and plays, Oppenheim published over 150 books. He is considered one of the originators of the thriller genre, his novels also range from spy thrillers to romance, but all have an undertone of intrigue. He was the earliest writer of spy fiction as understood today, and invented the „Rogue Male” school of adventure thrillers that was later exploited by John Buchan...

Another great collection of stories from the British author E. Phillips Oppenheim who achieved worldwide fame with his thrilling novels and short stories concerning international espionage and intrigue. A best-selling author of novels, short stories, magazine articles, translations, and plays, Oppenheim published over 150 books. He is considered one of the originators of the thriller genre, his novels also range from spy thrillers to romance...

Detective Inspector McCarthy is a daredevil who investigates a murder at a site in Soho. Electricity is cut off throughout London and the mysterious murder of a woman takes place on the same day. Although the corpse was not there when the detective came to the cry. However, he found a clue that would lead to the killer.

Detective Inspector McCarthy is a daredevil who investigates a murder at a site in Soho. Electricity is cut off throughout London and the mysterious murder of a woman takes place on the same day. Although the corpse was not there when the detective came to the cry. However, he found a clue that would lead to the killer.

The story begins at the Central Police Department. Where led Sheldon for the fourth time. The prisoner asked to speak with the detective, saying that he has a lead on the case, which the detective is so interested in. But is he not lying? And would a detective believe this? After all, what the prisoner will say will affect many of the detective’s decisions.

This novel is an excellent example of the inverted detective story, a modern form that R. Austin Freeman is credited with inventing. You know from the beginning who the guilty party is, but watching Dr. Thorndyke figure it out is amazing. And watching the perpetrator think that he is getting away with his crime, while watching Dr. Thorndyke close in on him is well-done literary irony. The fun comes not from being baffled...

When a woman is found dead at The Whispering Pines, not only is everyone shocked, but murder is suspected. After all, why would such a well liked young lady put an end to things, or why would anyone want to do away with her? Her vagabond of a brother is suspected, since he has every cause to wish her out of the picture. Her fiancée Elwood Ranelagh also is suspected since he no longer wished to marry her but her sister...