The Black Avons

Edgar Wallace

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born in London, England in 1875. He received his early education at St. Peters School and the Board School, but after a frenetic teens involving a rash engagement and frequently changing employment circumstances, Wallace went into the military. He served in the Royal West Kent Regiment in England and then as part of the Medical Staff Corps stationed in South Africa. Over the rest of his life, Wallace produced some 173 books and wrote 17 plays. These were largely adventure narratives with elements of crime or mystery, and usually combined a bombastic sensationalism with hammy violence. "The Black Avons" is a novel by this pioneer of crime fiction. Fast-paced, with good twists and turns, an unusual criminal scheme.

The Court of St. Simon

E. Phillips Oppenheim

E. Phillips Oppenheim, writing as Anthony Partridge, in 1912. A curious tale in three parts. The Court of St. Simon, by E. Phillips Oppenheim tells the story of Monsieur Simon with his consort Josephine, who lives in the demi-monde of Paris, consorts with criminals and artists, and exacts contributions from various evil-doers in the Court of St. Simon an underground tribunal of, for, and by, the criminal class. One evening, he brings along with the jaded youth Eugene dArgminac who falls under the spell of blood lust and becomes a criminal himself. Edward Phillips Oppenheim provides a thrill of another sort!

Real Dramas. Being Some Leaves from the Notebook of a Late Theatrical Agent

Fred M. White

Frederick Merrick White (18591935) wrote a number of novels and short stories under the name Fred M. White including the six Doom of London science-fiction stories, in which various catastrophes beset London. These include The Four Days Night, in which London is beset by a massive killer smog; The Dust of Death, in which diphtheria infects the city, spreading from refuse tips and sewers; and The Four White Days, in which a sudden and deep winter paralyses the city under snow and ice. Fred M. White is mostly known for mysteries and is considered also as one of the pioneers of the spy story. Real Drama (1909) is a series of stories published under the subtitle Being Some Leaves From The Notebook Of A Late Theatrical Agent. It includes: His Second Self, An Extra Turn, Not In The Bill, The Plagiarist, The Man In Possession, A Pair Of Handcuffs.

A Shadowed Love

Fred M. White

Molly and Dick are two adventurers who came to London to earn money. Molly was an artist and Dick was a writer. Things went well. However, after 2 years they were frustrated, they became poor. Molly and Dick were faced with big troubles, through which they needed to go.

The Red Thumb Mark

R. Austin Freeman

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 prosecutions case, based on that same fingerprint. It does not take Dr. Thorndyke to figure out who the criminal is. It is up to Dr. John Thorndyke, and his new assistant Dr. Jervis to prove the young mans innocence before hes found guilty and hanged. The mystery in this wonderful detective tale is who the lovely heroine is in love with. The answer may surprise you.

Jaskółczym szlakiem

Maria Rodziewiczówna

W drugiej połowie XIX wieku wiele ziemiańskich rodzin zostało rozdzielonych. Jedni zostawali w tak zwanej Kongresówce, inni szukali szczęścia za granicą. W powieści Jaskółczym szlakiem Rodziewiczówna odmalowuje losy jednej z takich rodzin w momencie odwiedzin części jej członków w dawno niewidzianej Polsce. Na tym tle rozgrywają się miłosne perypetie głównego bohatera, który przyjeżdża z Algieru między innymi po to, by w Polsce znaleźć sobie żonę. Barwna, epicka opowieść o losach polskiego ziemiaństwa pod koniec XIX wieku.

Under the Greenwood Tree. A Rural Painting of the Dutch School

Thomas Hardy

This story began around Christmas, when a group of guys from the village of Melstock walked and sang carols. It was then that the cab driver Dick Dewey saw and fell in love at first sight with the new teacher Fancy Day who had just arrived. She is also looked after by a wealthy farmer Shiner, whom Father Day favors, and pastor Maybold, who considers himself the most suitable party for Fancy. But the story did not begin in vain on the fabulous days of Christmas - it will end festively.

The House of Whispers

William Le Queux

No second glance was needed to realise the pitiful truth. The man seated there in his fine library, with the summer sunset slanting across the red carpet from the open French windows, was blind. Since his daughter Gabrielle had been a pretty, prattling child of nine, nursing her dolly, he had never looked upon her fair face. But he was ever as devoted to her as she to him.