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The Man With the Black Feather
Gaston Leroux
There is something psychological about this story. The look of one of the heroes falls on a mysterious man. He was dressed in black, his appearance was the deepest despondency. Leroux did an excellent job of creating the bad guy we all worry about, which is really not that bad when you recognize him.
Valentine Williams
If you like English adventure and spy stories, during the Great War, Valentine Williams is for you. The brothers Okewood, Desmond and Francis, will steal your heart and inspire you to mix it up with any passing Hun. Desmond Okewood is a young British officer in the First World War who goes to Germany on an important secret mission. The Kaiser has written a letter which both the British and the Germans are eager to get their hands on. Desmond has a series of misadventures and soon attracts the unwelcome attention of Dr. Adolf Grundt, known as Clubfoot. Clubfoot that sinister figure, who limps menacingly, is one of the most cunning and dangerous secret agents in Europe and he wants not only the Kaisers letter, but the capture and death of Desmond Okewood. In The Man with the Clubfoot, Valentine Williams has written a thrilling romance of mystery, love, and intrigue that in every sense of the word may be described as breathless.
E. Phillips Oppenheim
In this novel we have Oppenheims as it best, with the story of a man hunt set in an English village, and involving a well-known banker and the Lord of the Manor. The story is a thriller built on several interlaced mysteries which are suddenly thrust on the sleepy village of Sandywayes: three men committing shockingly unexpected suicides, three strangers with questionable backstories but no obvious connections simultaneously appearing in town, and large amounts of money quietly disappearing from the bank. This 1935 novel focuses on the conduct of bankers, their clients, and wealthy merchants in the English suburbs surrounding London in the interwar period. The comfortable society of tennis and golf, private cars in trains, and unspoken secrets of money and privilege are the keys to unlocking the mystery.
Carolyn Wells
In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, renowned mystery writer Carolyn Wells strays from the enclaves of the well-to-do that usually serve as the settings for her novels and introduces elements of gritty street life. When the body of Rowland Trowbridge, a successful businessman, is found in a remote corner of Van Cortlandt Park, it initially appeared to be a robbery gone wrong. The dead mans last words were Cain killed me, which leads investigators to the victims nephew Kane Landon. But was Cain a Biblical reference? Or did it mean something else entirely? With circumstantial evidence against him, Landon turns to expert detective Fleming Stone and his assistant Fibsy McGuire, young man who hails from an Irish immigrant family, to unravel the meaning of... The Mark of Cain.
The Marriage of Esther. A Torres Straits Sketch
Guy Boothby
The Marriage of Esther, surrounded by a messy community of settlers on a remote island off the coast of Australia, combines the best qualities of a classic action-adventure film with an ingeniously crafted riddle and right in the middle of all this is a heartbreaking novel.
Fred M. White
Rarely do writers make the main character intelligent villains. However, Fred M. White decided to do just that. His main character, Felix Graida, is a brilliant criminal. This is a book about incredible adventures and exciting stories by Felix Grade.
E. Phillips Oppenheim
Arnold (a writer), Allan (an artist) and Arthur (works in finance) all live together. Once their attention is caught by a middle age man and a young girl about sixteen who seems frightened. They overhear where they are eating and continue to watch the couple and Arnold even goes over to offer her assistance. Then a surprising thing happens, his acquaintance shoots the man shes with and disappears. Amid all the confusion and hospital and police, Arnold stays with the young woman and brings her home. The three men become her guardians for the next couple of years. The mysterious man comes to see them and asks them to take care of her and not let her go to anyone. Why do so many people want her? Does Arnold get his real story?
E. Phillips Oppenheim
The young handsome Mayor of Mechester, Daniel Poynton is the owner of a very successful shoe manufacturer, the major employer in the city and the mayor will soon be a Lord Mayor. Never before interested in women, or even in social affairs, he is stricken by the beauty of The Lady Ursula Manningham and falls in love. As the novel develops, Poyntons factory is threatened by foreign manufacturers who want to establish a cooperative monopoly with him. At the same time, Poyntons relationship with Violet Grey, who is a competent secretary, continues to develop and becomes more important to his business and social life. Meanwhile his infatuation with Lady Ursula progresses to the point of asking her to marry... The book shows interesting color on the interaction between socialist workers unions and managements enlightened response to worker unrest.
Anna Katharine Green
Miss Saunders is out for an adventure. One, which is full of secrets, hints, and half-lies. One, which will require all of her wits. Miss Saunders, a discreet domestic spy of some kind, is hired by Mayor Packard to look after his unaccountably abstracted wife whilst he goes out of town for a fortnight. The lady is unhappy, and the reason for her grave unhappiness is more serious than you think. A detective novel involving theft, bigamy, a haunted house, lost money, ciphers and code breaking. An American detective-story writer, Greens thrillers are characterized by logical construction and a sound knowledge of criminal law. She was one of a handful of women writing detective stories at the time.
Edgar Wallace
An enjoyable short work from Edgar Wallace, originally published in 1915. Few people today would recognize the name Edgar Wallace but before his death in 1933 he was a literary force to be reckoned with. He was both prolific and popular and his books reportedly sold at the rate of 5,000 a day. The Melody of Death is a novel about a young man who starts behaving strangely upon hearing a certain melody. Fearing that he may be suffering from cancer, Gilbert Standerton asks the doctor to deliver the bad news in an unusual way. In the meantime, he desperately searches for a way of providing for his bride after his death-including crime. An excellent minor plot supplies an eerie atmosphere and explains the title. Edgar Wallace provides a thrill of another sort!
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - a collection of short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, a British writer and medical doctor. He created the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are considered milestones in the field of crime fiction. This collection of stories consists of: "The Adventure of Silver Blaze" "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" "The Adventure of the Yellow Face" "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk" "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott" "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire" "The Adventure of the Crooked Man" "The Adventure of the Resident Patient" "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter" "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty" "The Final Problem"
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated Edition
Arthur Conan Doyle
Illustrated edition with original illustrations by Sidney Edward Paget, a famous British illustrator, best known for his illustrations that accompanied Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes stories in The Strand magazine. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of eleven Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes, his friend Watson (or his brother Mycroft) work to solve the mysteries of three gables, the dying detective, a golden pince-nez, the red circle, a mazarin stone, and a cardboard box.
Joseph Smith Fletcher
Viner stumbles upon the body of a murdered man whilst just following through his ordinary day routines. Little does he know that this find would make him a key figure in solving a big mystery. Well its soon discovered that the murdered mans name was Ashton and some important documents were stolen from him, but the true purpose for killing him and his real identity and that of his charge, make for a rather excitingly interesting murder-mystery... Nevertheless, Mr. Fletcher accomplishes it in a story that keeps the reader in suspense until the very last word. This talented author has no rival to-day in ingenuity.
Joseph Smith Fletcher
When an elderly mans body is found on the steps of chambers in the Midde Temple, one of the Inns of Court, it falls to newspaperman Frank Spargo and Detective-Sergeant Rathbury to solve the crime. There is no indication as to the idetity of the corpse, whose pockets are completely empty apart from a scrap of paper bearing the names and chambers address of an aspiring young barrister. Who is the victim? Why was he killed? Who is the murderer? These are the questions that Spargo and Rathbury must answer in The Middle Temple Murder. This extraordinary discovery draw them into a labyrinthine web of intrigue, murder and crime in high places. The Middle Temple Murder by Joseph Smith Fletcher was first published in 1919 and is a great example of the classical English detective story.
The Midnight Guest. A Detective Story
Fred M. White
Another story where readers must solve the riddle: who is the killer. The main task: to solve who killed a fictitious famous artist Louis Delahay. Some say its his wife. But the clues in his past, they will help to identify the real offender.
E. Phillips Oppenheim
The Milan Grill Room is a series of ten connected short stories featuring the character of Louis, a crippled veteran of World War I and maître dhôtel, who solves crimes from his table in the Grill Room of the hotel and who is able to provide invaluable assistance to the British police and Secret Service. Tracking spies, catching traitors, uncovering plots, often in the company of Major Charles Lyson of the Secret Service, Louis is never ruffled, and always resourceful. These ten connected episodes, centering around the activities of the good Louis are replete with adventure, intrigue and romance. Also these short story collection by Mr. Oppenheim including: The Calais Gun, The Third Key, The Kidnapping of Mr. Peter Jardine and so on.
J.S. Fletcher
It tells about the murder of James Martenroyd, the owner of the Yorkshire mill, who was going to marry a second time. Suddenly, his body is found near his own house. Under suspicion is his nephew. Why was his door so carefully shut? There are many questions that need to be solved.
Anna Katharine Green
Early detective novelist Anna Katharine Green was a unique writer in several respects, including the fact that many of the detectives featured in her novels are women. In this mystery, protagonist Constance Sterling takes on the seemingly impossible task of uncovering the true culprits behind the drowning death of a popular well-respected clergyman who is believed to have killed himself. The news is fatal to his fiancée. Why? And why are her two sons behaving in such a sinister manner? The Mill Mystery is a book that can be classified as a sensational novel, as highly spiced as readers of this kind of fiction can desire. Green does an excellent job of giving the readers clues, but not enough clues to make the mystery easily solvable.
Edgar Wallace
John Sands needed a bride more than that, however, he needed somebody with a criminal mind. Luckily a female convict has escaped from prison that very morning and was sitting in his house. Romance and mystery, with classic twists and turns. As is typical with Wallace, this book includes a death, a love-affair, a kidnapping, an intrepid amateur. British author Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was reportedly the second biggest seller after the Bible in his heyday. He was a Reuters war correspondent during the Second Boer War and wrote thrillers to earn money. He later moved to Hollywood as a script writer and died while drafting King Kong.
Alice MacGowan, Perry Newberry
Present-day San Francisco in a good detective story The Million Dollar Suitcase (1922). Jeremiah Jerry Boyne, head of the Bankers Security Agency is hired to investigate the mysterious theft from inside a bank of a suitcase filled with nearly a million dollars in cash. Turns out to be a high spirited man with extraordinary powers of observation and logical deduction from observed facts. The case involves not one, but two locked room mysteries and a murder disguised as a suicide. Rapid action; tense excitement; nicely plotted; satisfying romance one of the best of this seasons crop of puzzle yarns. American writers Alice L. MacGowan and Perry Newberry takes you on a chase around familiar and fictional areas of California and keeps you wondering all the way to the end.
E. Phillips Oppenheim
This 1929 novel by E. Phillips Oppenheim neatly describes some of the frothy financial dealings of the late stage of the roaring 20s in England and centered around a commercial chemical formula. The formula for the process is carefully guarded from its own employees, but is stolen one night by a band of five adventurers who plan to ransom it for 1 million pounds. Two men are killed during the robbery. Plans to ransom the process are put on hold, and the documents are deposited in a London Safe Deposit company. Meanwhile, the managing director of Boothroyds, Sir Matthew Parkinson, has been forced to sell some of his shares to cover debts. His lovely daughter Grace is the only person who seems concerned about the welfare of the company and its workers.
Anna Katharine Green
Was the little girl, who appears to have been everybodys darling, kidnapped for money? Nobody comes forward asking for a ransom. Did she sneak down to the river and drown? In The Millionaire Baby, a young detective Mr. Trevitt has more than one reason for desperately wanting to solve the mysterious case of little Gwendolen, a millionaires daughter who missed since the afternoon of August the 16th from right under the nose of her nurse. Our detective soon meets the widow living next door, a close friend of the bereft mother. Something does not quite add up with neither mother nor neighbor but then there are several other characters offering clues. Or are they red herrings?
Edgar Wallace
A series of enthralling mysteries written by Edgar Wallace. They feature the enigmatic figure of Mr. J.G. Reeder who works for the Public Prosecutors office and has the mind of a criminal. At first glance J. G. Reeder is an ordinary, slightly shabby little man with red hair, weak eyes, whiskers, square-toed boots and a chest protector cravat. The eight short stories in this collection deal with a disappearance at sea that is less innocent than it appears to be, with a Hindu criminal mastermind, counterfeiters, dissipated members of the nobility, embezzlers, a fraudulent scheme for finding sunken treasure and an assortment of gangsters. There are frequent murders, more often than not carried out by unusual and exotic means.
Joseph Conrad, Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrads Mirror of the Sea was a compelling read. From love to death, Conrad explains all this, using his life in the sea to match the human condition. The Mirror of the Sea is mainly about the adventures of Joseph Conrad when he was at sea. In the adventures described above, the author discusses the risks, struggles and dangers of sailing for sailors. While he and the crew sailed, they often encounter a great terrible storm. Sailors always run the risk of a storm, and their ship is sinking. The good thing about this book is that it has a lot of personification.