Mr. Philip Kirkwood, a not so successful painter, receives a visitor from his home town in America, who wants him to do him an unspecified favor, but Kirkwood doesn''t trust him and sends him away. That night, he sees the stranger dine with his beautiful daughter. In order to protect the girl, the stranger confesses to Kirkwood, that he will be arrested upon leaving the restaurant. Kirkwood agrees to take care of the girl, but when he brings her home, he knows that she is in danger and that there is a mystery attached. He decides to protect the girl?
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?
Summary by Roger Melin.
English romantic adventure starring a young American in London and inspired by the personal ads (agony columns) in the London papers. In this treacherous tale of murder and intrigue young American Geoffrey West tracks a killer from the posh dining room of the Carlton Hotel to the opium dens of London's Limehouse district in search of the truth and the heart of his true love only to find the culprit all too close to home.
"I was, perhaps, the plainest girl in the room that night. I was also the happiest—up to one o'clock. Then my whole world crumbled, or, at least, suffered an eclipse. Why and how, I am about to relate." Thus begins this mystery told by Anna Katharine Green, one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and renowned for writing well plotted, legally accurate stories.
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.
When Ken Holt's father, the famous newspaper writer, comes home for a Christmas visit, one of the gifts he brings is an antique iron box. Soon after he arrives a serious of unexplained events occur, including an attempted burglary. A hunch that the iron box is at the center of these occurrences sends Ken Holt and his friend Sandy Allen on an exciting adventure to solve the mystery!
Ken Holt was the central characters in a series of 18 mystery stories for boys written by Sam and Beryl Epstein under the pseudonym Bruce Campbell.
A family celebrates Christmas and its flaws are gently exposed by the house guest Mrs. Parry. Giles is engaged to the wealthy Daisy, yet is clearly in love with the governess Anne Denham. Things come to a head when Daisy is murdered. Who would murder her? Perhaps the governess who told her she would kill her and made it clear she wanted to exchange places with her? After all the governess ran away with a mysterious man right after the murder and was not seen again. Or did someone frame the governess? Perhaps it is Mr. Morley, Daisy's guardian, who wanted her money? Or perhaps someone else? After all, Daisy was not popular in the village. Giles, bent on saving the woman he loves, and the detective Mr. Steel go to investigate. This is a detective story in the traditional sense, but it is a host of other things. It is a very strong love story, a story about class and how it influences people's choices, a story about greed, and much more.
On the evening before his marriage, Sinclair loses a precious curiosity from his collection: an amethyst box, containing a tiny flask of deadly poison. He suspects that this poison is in the possession of either his betrothed or her cousin, the girl his best friend Worthington loves. Turning to Worthington for help, they try to recover the box before the poison can be administered...
A valuable ruby is lost during a disturbance in the snow before a ball at The Evergreens. A detective is called for right away to recover it, but who, of the few guests, might have the jewel, and how to solve the mystery without causing a scandal?
"I was married to-day in Grace Church. At the altar my bride--you probably know her name, Miss Georgian Hazen--wore a natural look, and was in all respects, so far as any one could see, a happy woman, satisfied with her choice and pleased with the éclat and elegancies of the occasion. Half-way down the aisle this all changed. I remember the instant perfectly. Her hand was on my arm and I felt it suddenly stiffen. I was not alarmed, but I gave her a quick look and saw that something had happened....
...I should have passed the matter over as a mere attack of nerves, if I had not afterwards detected in her face, through all the hurry and excitement of the ensuing reception, a strained expression not at all natural to her. This was still more evident after the congratulations of a certain guest, who, I am sure, whispered to her before he passed on...
...She entered the office with me and was standing close at my side all the time I was writing our names in the register; but later, when I turned to ask her to enter the elevator with me, she was gone..." (Excerpts from Chapter 1)
Edward Royle is the head of a well-known chemical manufacturer in England, which he has inherited. He is engaged to the daughter of his father’s former partner, Phrida Shand, who lives with her mother. One night he is asked by his friend, Sir Digby Kemsley – a very famous railroad engineer, to come to his flat to discuss something although Kemsley is quite mysterious on the telephone. Royle visits, then returns home only to be summoned again by Kemsley, this time imploring him to return at once. Royle finds a gentleman in Kemsley’s place who is clearly not Kemsley, or is he? Kemsley asks Royle to trust him but that night, a young woman is murdered at Kemsley’s flat. Kemsley has disappeared. Royle discovers that his fiancé was in Kemsley’s flat at the time of the murder and is obviously hiding something. Once again, Le Queux takes us through a maze of intrigue and locations in Europe.
A true “whodunit” with as many twists and turns as an English country road. Old man Courtenay is found murdered in his bed. Dr. Ralph Boyd is summoned to Courtenay Manor to examine the slain man and discovers a clue that might solve the case. But, he decides to keep the clue private for personal reasons. In the meantime, Scotland Yard has no clues as the culprits or the motive. Dr. Boyd, because of his new found clue, is sure he knows who is the murderer. Or, is it a murderess? His intimate acquaintance, Ambler Jevons, is also investigating the crime but Dr. Boyd does not share his discoveries with him. Sure of his findings, a bizarre midnight encounter turns all Boyd's judgments upside down and the case becomes more peculiar than when it started. What are the seven secrets needed to decode this murder, or is it a conspiracy? One needs to listen to the end to discover the truth.
“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, including himself, seemingly rock solid alibis begin to fall apart, expanding the list of potential suspects, and Hastings must rely on subtle expressions and the scant evidence at hand to try to solve the murder.
Lord Loudwater is found murdered in his house one evening. Unfortunately for Detective Flexen, who is to investigate the case, Lord Loudwater was not a very agreeable sort of fellow and almost every person in his vicinity had a motive for the crime. Was it his young wife or her lover, his former fiance or even one of the servants?
This murder mystery, written in 1903 by Richard Dallas (pseudonym), describes a fictional crime that took place in the New York City of 1883. A fine period piece as well as a clever detective story.
E. W. Hornung was an English author and poet best known for writing the A. J. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th-century London. Some of Hornung's novels, including The Thousandth Woman, are notable for "portraying women in a rather modern, favorable light", according a critic. In The Thousandth Woman, the title character staunchly stands by the man she loves after he is accused of murder. This novel, published shortly before the outbreak of World War I, is one of Hornung’s final works of fiction. ( Lee Smalley)
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. (summary adapted from Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, 1908)
A shot rings out in the middle of the night in a quiet Chicago neighborhood. Patrolman Murphy is directed to an apartment where a man says the shot came from. The apartment is locked and apparently empty. Was there a murder here? And if so, where is the victim?
Davy's Bend was a dying, lonely, uncared-for river town. So when a stranger showed up one day and bought the old unoccupied house called 'The Locks' one dreary day, the inhabitants of the town were naturally very curious about the stranger, and very curious about his reasons for buying the old house. The Locks had been known for years to display at nighttime a single light showing up in one room, and there was one room in the house which was strictly off-limits to anyone. What was the history behind The Locks that nobody dared to talk about? What was the reason for the stranger's unannounced arrival and purchase of The Locks? Small, dying towns tend to keep their secrets to themselves, and Davy's Bend was no exception. Nor was the stranger's.
Before he went to join the Armed Forces in World War I France, Anthony Trent had a successful secret 'career' as a master criminal in the USA, never caught by the police. The war has just ended - but now Anthony Trent seriously fears exposure. While in the trenches, an explosion buried him alive, along with an English soldier. Thinking they would never get out alive, Anthony revealed his identity to the other soldier - just before they were rescued and separated. After recovering from his injuries, all Anthony can think about is finding the English soldier - to thank him for saving his life, but also to know whether the man will betray his big secret. His search is full of adventures, including espionage, blackmail and love.
This is a great short chapter mystery book for girls. It is similar to Nancy Drew. Bobs is one of the four sisters whose parents die, leaving them with the responsibility of caring for themselves. They have to work together to be cheerful through the hard time and a long the way have many adventures! Let's start decoding the clues!
Ashton-Kirk, who has solved so many mysteries, is himself something of a problem even to those who know him best. Although young, wealthy, and of high social position, he is nevertheless an indefatigable worker in his chosen field. He smiles when men call him a detective. "No; only an investigator," he says.
He has never courted notoriety; indeed, his life has been more or less secluded. However, let a man do remarkable work in any line and, as Emerson has observed, "the world will make a beaten path to his door."
Those who have found their way to Ashton-Kirk's door have been of many races and interests. Men of science have often been surprised to find him in touch with the latest discoveries, scholars searching among strange tongues and dialects, and others deep in tattered scrolls, ancient tablets and forgotten books have been his frequent visitors. But among them come many who seek his help in solving problems in crime.
"I'm more curious than some other fellows, that's all," is the way he accounts for himself. "If a puzzle is put in front of me I can't rest till I know the answer." At any rate his natural bent has always been to make plain the mysterious; each well hidden step in the perpetration of a crime has always been for him an exciting lure; and to follow a thread, snarled by circumstances or by another intelligence has been, he admits, his chief delight.
There are many strange things to be written of this remarkable man--but this, the case of the numismatist Hume, has been selected as the first because it is one of the simplest, and yet clearly illustrates Ashton-Kirk's peculiar talents. It will also throw some light on the question, often asked, as to how his cases come to him.
Justin Blake receives an invitation from his old school-fellow Tom Temple to join him and his family for the Christmas holidays in Yorkshire. Having no other plans, he decides to go. Though he is normally much the opposite of what would be called a lady's man, he falls instantly in love with Miss Forrest, one of the guests, who had already shared his train compartment on the way. When he meets the mysterious Herod Voltaire and finds that he must protect the girl from him and his weapons of mystery, the adventure begins.
A series of murders occur at the remote seaside mansion of a millionaire in Florida. The mystery is heightened via local lore of pirates and hidden treasure, not to mention a fabled ancient octopus said to have a taste for the local black population. It's up to grad student Ned Killdare, a budding naturalist and detective, to solve the case, aided by the rich man's pretty niece, Edith.
The Bluebird Books is a series of novels popular with teenage girls in the 1910s and 1920s. The series was begun by L. Frank Baum using his Edith Van Dyne pseudonym, then continued by at least three others, all using the same pseudonym. Baum wrote the first four books in the series, possibly with help from his son, Harry Neal Baum, on the third.
The books are concerned with adolescent girl detectives— a concept Baum had experimented with earlier, in The Daring Twins (1911) and Phoebe Daring (1912). The Bluebird series began with Mary Louise, originally written as a tribute to Baum's favorite sister, Mary Louise Baum Brewster. Baum's publisher, Reilly and Britton, rejected that manuscript, apparently judging the heroine too independent. Baum wrote a new version of the book; the original manuscript is lost.
The title character is Mary Louise Burrows. In this, the third book of the series, Mary Louise and her Grandfather happen upon a mysterious pair of Americans whilst travelling in Italy. Jason Jones is a failed artist, and his companion is his daughter, Alora, an heiress. When the girl is kidnapped, truths stemming back to the time of her parents' marriage are brought to light by Mary Louise and her friend Josie O'Gorman.
The account of some adventures in the professional experience of a member of the Imperial Austrian Police.
The Adventures of the Eleven Cuff-Buttons: Being one of the Exciting Episodes in the Career of the Famous Detective Hemlock Holmes as Recorded by his Friend Dr. Watson is a parody of the Sherlock Holmes stories. "...there in the same old den, at 221-B Baker Street, in the city of London, we were domiciled on that eventful April morning in 1912 that saw us introduced to what turned out to be positively the dog-gonedest, most mixed-up, perplexing, and mysterious case we ever bumped up against in all our long and varied career in Arthur Conan Doyle's dream-pipe. It completely laid over "The Sign of the Four" and "The Study in Scarlet," and had "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" all beaten to a frazzle." That case is hereby related.
Hugh Gabriel has recently been repatriated from the war and has rejoined his old firm as an electrical engineer. On the way to visit his uncle one night, he is asked by a servant if he would be willing to meet with his wealthy master who is in some distress. Hugh becomes witness to, and directly involved with, a dastardly murder. Or has he? Who is this mysterious millionaire Oswald De Gex he has been asked to meet with? Is Doctor Moroni an honest physician or a diabolical monster? And what about the fair Gabrielle - but then, is there more than one Gabrielle? Le Queux, the Master of Mystery once again weaves an intricate plot which takes Hugh Gabriel to locations throughout Europe as he tries to unravel a scheme that he does not understand, nor why he is involved.
A man is found shot dead and the man to whom all evidence points insists he is innocent.
Old Broadbrim, the famous Quaker detective listened as one of the richest men in New York continued "......I want you to guard my person for one year, and if at the end of that time I am still in the land of the living, why, your work ceases."
A mystery and adventure story for girls set in Alaska.
Colonel Ashley is confronted with a difficult case: The proprietor of a jewelry shop is found murdered, and a valuable diamond cross is stolen. Whodunnit, and how can the Colonel's expertise in fishing help to solve the case?
As wealthy financier, Hugh Mainwaring dictates his last will and testament to his private secretary, it would be impossible for him to imagine the shocking chain of events that he is about to set into motion. This best-selling mystery novel was first published in 1901 and remains an entertaining mix of detective work, courtroom drama and family intrigue.
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. What secrets are both Jacqueline and Paul unaware of? What will they uncover following their northbound journey? Who is Jacqueline?
H. M. Egbert was one of multiple pseudonyms used by author Victor Rousseau Emanuel.
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?
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.
There are an unusual number of deaths, by murder and in self-defence, as the story unfolds, and we are left in total suspense until the very end of the very last chapter. The person who works out where the treasure must be, and how it got there, does not come on the scene until almost the last chapter, and even then he has to go on business to America
before he can come in and explain his theory, which proves to be right.
The Bluebird Books is a series of novels popular with teenage girls in the 1910s and 1920s. The series was begun by L. Frank Baum using his Edith Van Dyne pseudonym, then continued by at least three others, all using the same pseudonym. Baum wrote the first four books in the series, possibly with help from his son, Harry Neal Baum, on the third.
The books are concerned with adolescent girl detectives— a concept Baum had experimented with earlier, in The Daring Twins (1911) and Phoebe Daring (1912). The Bluebird series began with Mary Louise, originally written as a tribute to Baum's favorite sister, Mary Louise Baum Brewster. Baum's publisher, Reilly and Britton, rejected that manuscript, apparently judging the heroine too independent. Baum wrote a new version of the book; the original manuscript is lost.
The title character is Mary Louise Burrows.In this volume, Mary Louise and Gran'pa Jim take a house for the summer in a quiet place called Cragg's Crossing. There, they meet with any number of peculiar people - and one very peculiar mystery!!
Jewelry thefts, society parties, clairvoyance, and romance marks this mystery, which is set in England and the US in the early 20th century.
The Bluebird Books is a series of novels popular with teenage girls in the 1910s and 1920s. The series was begun by L. Frank Baum using his Edith Van Dyne pseudonym, then continued by at least three others, all using the same pseudonym. Baum wrote the first four books in the series, possibly with help from his son, Harry Neal Baum, on the third.
The books are concerned with adolescent girl detectives— a concept Baum had experimented with earlier, in The Daring Twins (1911) and Phoebe Daring (1912). The Bluebird series began with Mary Louise, originally written as a tribute to Baum's favorite sister, Mary Louise Baum Brewster. Baum's publisher, Reilly and Britton, rejected that manuscript, apparently judging the heroine too independent. Baum wrote a new version of the book; the original manuscript is lost. The title character is Mary Louise Burrows.
In this, the fourth book of the series, Mary Louise and friends form a group dedicated to supporting the soldiers in World War I, and she brings Josie O'Gorman in to spoil a treasonous plot against the government.
The desolate, treacherous Devon moors. A bloodcurdling legend of a ghastly hound from hell, haunting the Baskerville family for generations. Such is the setting for the most horrific Sherlock Holmes story ever written, where the celebrated sleuth's brains are pitted against those of a most diabolically cunning and elusive villain.
The Sign of the Four (1890), also called The Sign of Four, is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 stories starring the fictional detective.
The story is set in 1888. The Sign of the Four has a complex plot involving service in East India Company, India, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a stolen treasure, and a secret pact among four convicts ("the Four" of the title) and two corrupt prison guards. It presents the detective's drug habit and humanizes him in a way that had not been done in the preceding novel A Study in Scarlet (1887). It also introduces Doctor Watson's future wife, Mary Morstan.
The Innocence of Father Brown (1911) is the first of five collections of mystery stories by G. K. Chesterton starring an unimposing but surprisingly capable Roman Catholic priest. Father Brown's ability to uncover the truth behind the mystery continually surpasses that of the "experts" around him, who are fooled into underestimation by the priest's unimpressive outward appearance and, often, by their own prejudices about Christianity. Combining captivating stories and insightful commentary, The Innocence of Father Brown is a delightful read.
Author A. A. Milne is best known to the world as the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh. Yet Milne was versatile, having written dozens of plays, humorous articles, books and – The Red House Mystery. In which…
Mark Ablett is the massively narcissistic owner of The Red House, a beautiful English country mansion. The estate is managed mostly by Mark’s side-kick and younger cousin, Cayley. As a wealthy artiste, Mark has chosen his handful of guests both to pander to his self-image and to allow him near-total control of virtually all aspects of his luxurious country house “show,” as it were.
In the novel’s first eight hours, Milne presents a literary tour-de-force: first, the unexpected arrival (after 15 years’ absence) of Robert, Mark’s n'ere-do-well brother from Australia; second, Robert’s murder; and third, Mark’s own disappearance. Enter Antony Gillingham, our brilliant but modest gentleman sleuth. He arrives on a passing visit to his young friend Bill, one of Mark’s house guests, who later becomes the faithful “Watson” to Antony’s Holmes. Follows the juxtaposition of three distinct theories of the crime (or perhaps, given Mark’s disappearance, crimes) as put forward by Antony, by Mark’s confidant, Cayley, and by local police Inspector Birch. It is of course Antony, with Bill’s help, who solves this this delightful and extremely well-crafted mystery.
The story of an exciting test of wits between world-class thief Arsène Lupin and master detective Herlock Sholmes. Translated from the French.
Quoting from a "teaser" on the flyleaf:
The well-known authority on criminology, Dennis Holt, inherited a house in a remote village, the sort of place in which, to quote himself, “nothing ever happens.” One night at fifty-three minutes past eleven (he was always meticulously accurate about time), his attention was attracted by a peremptory tapping on the window pane. A moment later, the lower sash was slowly pushed up and a young girl appeared.
“Let me in!” she whispered. “Please—I have hurt myself.”
That was the beginning of a bewildering series of happenings in the life of Dennis Holt. Suddenly he found himself precipitated into the midst of a bewildering mystery, which at one time seemed to threaten even his own liberty. Patiently piecing together the ascertained facts, Holt eventually presented a remarkable reconstruction of what had taken place on that dramatic night.
Trent's Last Case (US title The Woman in Black) is actually the first novel in which gentleman sleuth Philip Trent appears. The novel is a whodunit whose unique place in the history of detective fiction is because it is at the same time the first major send-up of that very genre: Not only does Trent fall in love with one of the primary suspects — usually considered a no-no — he also, after painstakingly collecting all the evidence, draws all the wrong conclusions. Convinced that he has tracked down the murderer of a business tycoon who was shot in his mansion, he is told by the real perpetrator over dinner what mistakes in the logical deduction of the solution of the crime he has made. On hearing what really happened, Trent vows that he will never again attempt to dabble in crime detection.
Hunted by the police ... framed for robbery and murder by the Eye, master fiend and vicious ruler of the underworld ... loathed by Barbara Sutton the girl who loves him ... the BLACK HOOD had to face the blazing purgatory of this murder master's guns to win back Barbara's love and clear himself of the framed charges
Detective mystery story set in London, with some romance, and intriguing plot.
As usual, gentleman thief Arsène Lupin finds himself wrongfully accused of murder, and must find the real killer to clear his coloured name.
A habitual late night stroll down Markendale Square plunges Viner into the middle of things most mysterious and most perplexing. A murder, an imposter, secret papers, all combine to mystify even the police themselves. Is Hyde as innocent of the crime as he claims? What is the clue of the veiled woman and the diamond ring? Things are not what they seem to be and how can Viner prove the man's innocence?