Classic Detective

Wien, vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg: Eine rätselhafte Todesserie erschüttert die Gesellschaft. War es Selbstmord? Oder Mord? Kaum beachtete Nebensächlichkeiten verdichten sich allmählich zu Indizien gegen den Ich-Erzähler, dem der Ehrenkodex seines Standes nur noch den Weg des Selbstmordes offen zu lassen scheint. Als einen Roman, der bis zur letzten Seite unerwartete Wendungen bereithält und nervenzerrüttend spannend bleibt, nahm Jorge Luis Borges den Meister des jüngsten Tages in seine Edition der besten Kriminalromane der Welt auf.

A Study in Scarlet is the first Sherlock Holmes book written by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Dr. John H. Watson meets the great detective Sherlock Holmes, and together, they solve a case of murder, in which Watson is amazed at Holmes' "science of deduction". The mystery revolves around a corpse found at a derelict house in Brixton, London, with the word RACHE scrawled in blood on the wall beside the body.

When Mordaunt Reeves and a group of friends playing a round discover the battered body of a man, clearly fallen from the viaduct, Reeves—a man a little too fond of reminding everyone that he was in Military Intelligence during the war—suspects that the police are not taking the death seriously, and persuades his friends to help him to investigate. Soon, theories of the crime begin to emerge.

This is an audio-enhanced version (with music and sound effects) of the third of Edgar Allan Poe's early detective stories featuring his classic character C. Auguste Dupin. It is a celebrated tale of intrigue, blackmail, and mystery as only the master could tell it and a forerunner to the creation of the character of Sherlock Holmes. When a member of the royal house has a sensitive document stolen, the police department turns in desperation to C. Auguste Dupin, amateur sleuth and renowned logician.

There is no better description of this book than that of Dr. Watson himself: "The friends of Mr. Sherlock Holmes will be glad to learn that he is still alive and well, though somewhat crippled by occasional attacks of rheumatism. He has, for many years, lived in a small farm upon the downs five miles from Eastbourne, where his time is divided between philosophy and agriculture. During this period of rest he has refused the most princely offers to take up various cases....

Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel is the most famous vampire tale ever told. British solicitor Jonathan Harker finds himself imprisoned in a castle in Transylvania and begins to believe his host, Count Dracula, is not entirely human. As his horror mounts, he suspects that Dracula plans to invade and conquer England, one victim at a time.

A Ms. Mary Morstan arrives at 221B Baker Street with a case for Sherlock Holmes and his companion, Dr. John Watson. Some ten years prior, her father, Captain Arthur Morstan, returned to London while on leave from his post in India—only to go missing. Adding another layer to the mystery are six pearls in her possession, having received one per year since 1882. The sixth and most recently received pearl was accompanied by a letter asking for a meeting, claiming Ms. Morstan is a wronged woman.

Sherlock Holmes investigates a ghostly, mysterious hound on the moors. Is the fiend that plagues the Baskerville family real or is it part of some deadly scheme?

Arthur Morrison has brought to life detective Martin Hewitt in a glimpse into the day-to-day life of civil servants and different moral codes that were being questioned pre WWI.

Lucy Honeychurch and her cousin are on a vacation in Florence. The girls are given a room looking into the courtyard, but they would rather have one with a view over the river. George Emerson and his father offer the two girls to change rooms and this is how George and Lucy meet for the first time. George grows fond of Lucy but she is not sure of her feelings towards him. She returns home to England where she accepts to marry Cecil Vyse, a man who had already proposed to her three times.

Man against nature, Leiningen against ants. Leiningen, an owner of a plantation, gets one day warned that an army of ants is approaching his fields and that it would be smartest to leave. Leiningen is however not going to give up on his land without a fight. The ants arrive and a long and exhausting battle follows. The technology and the power of the human brain are on Leiningen’s side. However the ants have a numerical superiority.

As we listen to each character tell their version of the events, layer upon layer of drama and suspense builds to the final and astonishing denouement of the first, and most magnificent, English detective novel.

Professor Van Dusen solves a variety of different mysteries together with his friend, Hutchinson Hatch, a reporter for a fictional newspaper called The Daily New Yorker. The professor is known as the "Thinking Machine", and he solves problems by the remorseless application of logic. In this story, he thinks his way out of a maximum-security prison.

Could a woman die of fright alone? And who is the sender of a most grizzly package - two human ears in a box? Holmes and Watson tackle a whole host of new mysteries before Baker Street's most famous detective finally leaves London for the quiet of a Sussex farm. But one final adventure puts an end to his retirement. As Britain stands poised on the brink of the First World War, can Sherlock Holmes keep a terrible new super-weapon from falling into the enemy's hands?

Este relato, que iba a ser el epílogo de Sherlock Holmes, comienza de una forma poco usual: "Eran las 9 de la noche del día 2 de agosto, del más terrible mes de agosto de la historia del mundo." Dos alemanes, Von Bork, el más importante espía alemán en el Reino Unido, y el barón Von Herling, bromean con cierta prepotencia sobre los británicos. Conan Doyle aprovecha la ocasión, que él mismo se da, para criticar la insuficiente preparación de su país para la guerra que se avecina.

Raffles is Sherlock Holmes' polar opposite, a foil for great detectives and a man with all the immoral charms of a hero-thief, plus a remarkable ability at cricket. Raffles is the godson of Robin Hood, the model for Cary Grant in "To Catch a Thief," and the inspiration of Leslie Charteris' "The Saint." As the great reinvention of the trickster for the 20th century, Raffles convinces readers to throw away their scruples and follow along for wit, bold adventures, and thrilling suspense.

A collection of short stories from such favorites as Wilkie Collins, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Rudyard Kipling are joined by others written anonymously in this anthology which will have you scratching your head and listening just a bit longer to discover the key to the mysteries.

Is the ‘perfect murder’ possible? Can that crime be committed with such consummate care, with such exacting skill, that it is unsolvable—even to the most astute investigator? In this unique collection, legendary crime writers Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, Freeman Wills Crofts, Ronald Knox, Dorothy L. Sayers and Russell Thorndike each attempt to create the unsolvable murder, which Superintendent Cornish of the CID then attempts to unravel.

Mr Bowling is getting away with murder. On each occasion he buys a newspaper to see whether anyone suspects him. But there is a war on, and the clues he leaves are going unnoticed. Which is a shame, because Mr Bowling is not a conventional serial killer: he wants to get caught so that his torment can end. How many more newspapers must he buy before the police finally catch up with him?

It is strange to consider that, although The Hound Of The Baskervilles is Conan Doyle’s most popular novel, his hero is absent for much of the time. Notice how he sets up an atmosphere of supernatural horror right from the start through Dr Mortimer’s reading of the ancient curse, and how he then presents as assortment of bizarre clues – in particular, the riddle of the missing boots – which Holmes will have to unravel.