Planetoid 127 and The Sweizer Pump

Edgar Wallace

Edgar Wallace enjoyed writing science fiction. Planetoid 127, first published in 1929 but reprinted as late 1962, is a short story about an Earth scientist who communicates via wireless with his counterpart on a duplicate Earth orbiting unseen because it is on the opposite side of the Sun. The idea of a mirror Earth or mirror Universe later became a standard subgenre within science fiction. The story also bears similarities to Rudyard Kiplings hard science fiction story Wireless. As we see the first of the two stories, Planetoid 127, is science fiction whilst the second, The Sweizer Pump, is a crime story. Fast-paced, with good twists and turns, an unusual criminal scheme.

Dangerous Cargo

Hulbert Footner

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. In it Freeman demonstrates his sense of humor and whimsy as he follows the strange and always comic adventures of the hero of the title who finds himself caught up by chance in the quest for a mysterious treasure. Charting a series of adventures set in many strange scenarios, Mr. Shuttlebury Cobb is led through the dark and twisted streets of London where he meets a highly gifted stranger, enters secret chambers, and finds a magic mirror. Cobb engages with a secret code and a castaway in a delightful collection designed to while away the hours.

The House Without a Key

Earl Derr Biggers

Charlie Chan, the first Chinese detective in literature, is modeled after Chang Apana, a real-life police detective in Honolulu. A family originally from Boston, the Winterslips, has some members living in Hawaii. You can almost feel the gentle trade winds of Hawaii during the 1920s in this classic novel by Earl Derr Biggers. One of the wealthy Winterslips living in Hawaii is murdered. A younger member of the family, John Quincy Winterslip, has been sent to Boston to check up on his Aunt Minerva and persuade her to return to Boston. He arrives in Honolulu and gets involved in the investigation and is determined to see it through to the end, before he returns to the mainland. Romantic and full of atmosphere, this is a most enjoyable read that was our first introduction to Charlie Chan.

The Trail of the Golden Horn

H.A. Cody

The main character, Hugo, hated the river and always kept away from it. After all, the river is a clear evil. From which many people died. Hugo will have to overcome many obstacles in its path. Overcome your fears. But will he cope with this?

Tik-Tok of Oz

L. Frank Baum

Lyman Frank Baum penned fourteen novels in his famous Oz chronology. For the second time a little girl from the United States comes to Oz. The story begins in a faraway corner of Oz, in the small country of Oogaboo. There, Queen Ann Soforth musters an unlikely army and sets off to conquer the rest of Oz. Meanwhile, a girl Betsy Bobbin from Oklahoma and her companion, Hank the mule, are shipwrecked in the Nonestic Ocean. The two drift to shore in the Rose Kingdom, a magical land of talking roses, on a fragment of wreckage. There they meet the Shaggy Man, who is on a quest to rescue his brother from the clutches of the evil Nome King. Betsy, Hank, and the Rose Princess join the Shaggy Man on his journey, and before long they meet up with Polychrome, the Rainbows Daughter; Tik-Tok; and Queen Ann with her army. Join Tik-Tok and friends on an exciting, imaginative journey through the thrilling world of Oz, complete with hairbreadth escapes, wild puns, and mystifying magic. An enduring favorite!

The Adventures of Martin Hewitt

Arthur Morrison

Who else could have so quickly connected a partial sheet of music wrapped around a rock and tossed through a sitting room window with an infamous decades-old robbery? Would anyone else have taken seriously the fears of an eccentric old woman who swore thieves were after her most prized possession: a snuffbox fashioned from the actual wood of Noahs Ark? Englands greatest crime-solver Martin Hewitt uses his superior intellect and genial charm to unmask thieves, murderers, and dangerous fanatics. The Adventures of Martin Hewitt stories are well written with the usual detective story tropes a sidekick narrator, baffled police, all the clues within the narrative, the announcement followed by the detective explaining his brilliance.

The Keepers of the Kings Peace

Edgar Wallace

The Keepers of the Kings Peace is another entry in Edgar Wallaces eminently popular Sanders of the River series based on British attempts to bring their administration to darkest Africa. An elite crew of officers is charged with getting to the bottom of a female shamans seemingly miraculous powers, but bumbling new addition Bones keeps getting in the way. Will they be able to stave off a mass rebellion before its too late? Always with tongue in cheek, Edgar Wallace nevertheless provides insights into the period of history at the same time. Wonderful characters, enthralling stories, never a dull moment. These stories are as good as any of the Sanders of the River stories.

The Dinner Club

H.C. McNeile

Readers will be the interlocutors of our heroes. They gather in the Dinner club and tell stories related to their professions. Members of the club are different people: actor, lawyer, doctor, soldier, writer and ordinary person. Every member of this club is obliged from time to time to treat their fellows with dinner. The stories of these people will surprise you in a pleasant way.