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E. Phillips Oppenheim
If you havent discovered the joys of Oppenheims mysteries there is a good place to start. Wealthy playwright and playboy Jermyn Annerley is smitten by the beautiful and talented actress Sybil Cluley. She is very successful but her life is devoted to the care of her young sister who has been ill. At Jermyns country estate, Sybil runs into Lord Lakenham, a roguish playboy who is equally in love with her, but also knows something of her past. Jermyn proposes, much to the chagrin of his lovely cousin Lucille, who has had her eye on him for many years. Lakenham and Lucille conspire to end the engagement. Sybil is broken hearted, but puts her sisters welfare above her own. Then Lakenham is murdered in the billiard room. A romance has become a murder mystery.
Fred M. White
Lanson Place has always been famous for its magnificent history and beauty. Today, Lanson Place consists of half a dozen rooms, simple shells, hidden behind thick shafts of stone covered with climbing plants. Twenty years ago, a catastrophic fire destroyed most of Lanson Place. This is a tragic story about a cunning family. Two generations of reckless Dorns had wrecked the fortunes of the family and brought themselves to the verge of ruin.
S.S. Van Dine
This is the last Filo Vance novel, and it is actually not finished. Vance possessed a surprisingly vast and accurate knowledge of thousands of Willards arts and objects, and was also skeptical of life and society. But in reality, only those who superficially know Willard Huntington Wright will have this similarity. Vance as much as he was Wright.
G.K. Chesterton
In Chestertons second Father Brown book, The Wisdom of Father Brown, we get a series of bizarre, sometimes dangerous mysteries that Father Brown must puzzle out. Some of the crimes are simple once Brown explains them, but others are devious, chilling things that are wrapped in Chestertons poetic prose. In the stories that follow, the priest investigates many other mysteries: a sinister voodoo cult, a nobleman with a deformed ear, a gang of Italian thieves, a lie-detector with one major problem (the operator), a girl who is blackmailed for a crime nobody knows she committed, a burning tower, a murder that may be suicide, and a man who is under a horrible death curse. Father Brown solves things by observation and thought, in some ways like Poirot, but in an unassuming and modest manner. The stories are each very different, but are very good reading.
Hulbert Footner, Hulbert Footner
A woman goes on a secret errand into the far Northwest. Before it is accomplished the usual characters come into the story Indians, mounted police, and the villain. Written by Hulbert Footner who was an Edmonton journalist and travelled the northwest before it was settled. Published in 1921, it is a fascinating eye-witness view of the times and attitudes of northern trappers and traders, including the colonial view of Native Peoples.
The Woman from the East and Other Stories
Edgar Wallace
Novelist, playwright and journalist, Edgar Wallace, is best known for his popular detective and suspense stories which, in his lifetime, earned him the title, King of the Modern Thriller. This early work by Edgar Wallace was originally published in 1934. The Woman From the East and Other Stories is an enjoyable collection of short stories that include The Chopham Affair, The Hopper, The Silver Charm, and many more. As the stories are rather short and quite fast-paced with a lot of scenery-changes and adventures, this nice. Its all great fun and Wallace keeps the action moving along swiftly, as he always did. If you havent discovered the joys of Wallaces thrillers there is a good place to start. Highly recommended.
Anna Katharine Green
The Woman in the Alcove is the third book in the Caleb Sweetwater series. The spinster-detective in the novel is Miss Van Arsdale, a member of the high society in New York and a woman who is short and plain in appearance. Against all odds, Rita Van Ardsdale has landed the man of her dreams and is blissfully in love. But her shot at happily ever after seems to be fading when her fiancé is accused of murder. It falls to Rita to crack the case and clear her beloveds name. Is she up to the task? It is one of the real masterpieces by Anna Katharine Green and a true gem of the genre of detective fiction, a well-written and refreshing story full of action, but without any violence being involved (apart from the murder it revolves around, of course).
Wilkie Collins
Often considered one of the first mystery novels, The Woman In White follows protagonist Walter Hartright, an art teacher, as he has a mysterious late night encounter on a London street with a lost woman, dressed all in white, who he later finds out had escaped from an asylum. The figure of this woman and the words they exchanged during their meeting come to haunt Walter, even as he accepts a job at Limmeridge House outside of London to instruct heiress Laura Farlie in art. Walter soon recognizes the astonishing resemblance between Laura and The Woman In White, and finds out that the mystery woman also used to live near Limmeridge and has connections to the Farlie family. A tragic, haunting tale about mistaken identities, unbelievable selfishness and cruelty, bust also true love and persevering friendship. A true classic.