Detective Anthology

Although the illustrious career of Sherlock Holmes has been documented in innumerable stories over the decades, some accounts have remained classified due to their extremely sensitive nature…. Now, these cases are available to listeners in the collection The Undiscovered Archives of Sherlock Holmes.

Behind the stage lights and word-perfect soliloquies, sinister secrets are lurking in the wings. The mysteries in this collection reveal the dark side to theatre and performing arts: a world of backstage dealings, where unscrupulous actors risk everything to land a starring role, costumed figures lead to mistaken identities, and on-stage deaths begin to look a little too convincing. This expertly curated thespian anthology features 14 stories from giants of the classic crime genre.

It's not always a question of "whodunit?" Sometimes there's more mystery in the why or how. And although we usually know the unhealthy fates of both victim and perpetrator, what of those clever few who plan and carry out the perfect crime? The ones who aren't brought down even though they're found out? And what about those who do the finding out who witness a murder or who identify the murderer but keep the information to themselves? These are some of the mysteries that we follow through those six stories.

A decade before his death, Dr. Watson let it be known that with his passing he wished his nephew, Christopher Henry Watson MD, to be the executor of his will and guardian of all his personal and pecuniary affairs. One of the tasks he sanctioned was that his nephew should use his discretion in selecting for publication some of the three dozen or so cases involving Holmes and Watson which had not already seen the light of day.

This is a story from the Murders in the Rue Morgue (The Dupin Stories) collection. Auguste Dupin, investigator extraordinaire, was the remarkable creation of Edgar Allan Poe. Written in the 1840s, Poe presented the acutely observant, shrewd but idiosyncratic character who, with his chronicler, provided the inspiration for the more famous Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

Summertime - as the temperature rises, so does the potential for evil. From Cornwall to the French Riviera, whether against a background of Delphic temples or English country houses, Agatha Christie’s most famous characters solve even the most devilish of conundrums as the summer sun beats down. Pull up a deckchair and enjoy plot twists and red herrings galore from the best-selling fiction writer of all time.

The steadily expanding devotees of the Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street will hail with delight this crowning volume in a series of collections which have now pastiched the entire quintet of the master’s adventures. Here is another collection of “as sparkling a galaxy of Sherlockian pastiches as we have had since the canonical entertainments came to an end,” as Vincent Starrett - who contributes a preface to this book - wrote in his introduction to the first collection of the adventures of Solar Pons 20 years ago.

Pretty Lily Margrave is not convinced that Hercule Poirot is needed in the matter of Sir Atwell's murder. At the request of her employer, Lady Atwell, she has already recounted what happened 10 days ago in the Tower Room, and the victim's nephew has been charged with the murder. Nevertheless, Lady Atwell brings Poirot up to the great house, Mon Repos, to see if he can find out anything.

Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, a screenplay writer, and political activist. Among his enduring character creations are Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, the Continental Op, and P. I. Rush, introduced in this book, who is ugly, mean, focused, and "works for pay". Hammett is widely regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time and was called, in his obituary in The New York Times, "the dean of the...'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction." Ths short novellette is a crime story with an intricate plot and characters, and a surprise twist at the end.

In these pastiches of the sacred writings, written when he was 19 and 20, August Derleth has recreated the London of Sherlock Holmes. It does not matter that the familiar name has become Solar Pons, or that the familiar Baker Street has become Praed Street - something of the nostalgic charm and fascination, of the remembered quickening of the pulse and the familiar settings of the original London of Sherlock Holmes, has been recaptured in these pages. And what intriguing titles there arc to these 12 pastiches, chosen from among a greater number!

Trick I - The first thing to vanish is a worthless doorstop. Then, in the twinkling of an eye, goes its rich and elderly owner. And, for the grand finale, both reappear - each as dead as the other. Trick II - From the House of Darkness issues more bafflement. In total darkness and from a distance of 12 feet, four bullets are pumped within an inch of each other into a spectator's back - a feat utterly impossible to perform yet brazenly and undeniably done.

Set in the biggest small town in the country, Susan and Mike travel to St. Louis for their son’s Match Day ceremony. At the reception, the dean of the medical school drops dead under mysterious circumstances. Susan smells foul play. Teaming up with the detective’s mother, it's double trouble as she and her new bestie uncover secrets worthy of murder in Murder is Medical. In Murder is Universal, Susan and Valerie are on a flight when they discover the passenger in the middle seat dead on arrival. The dynamic duo is convinced it was murder. The dead passenger, owner of a successful ...

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These readers have been carefully adapted using the Collins COBUILD grading scheme to ensure that the language is at the correct level for an intermediate learner. This book is Level 4 in the Collins ELT Readers series. Level 4 is equivalent to CEF level B2 with a word count of 20,000-26,000 words.

This is a story from the The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes I collection.

A banker finds a photograph of a woman who later appears to him on the street. Could she be leading him to an inexorable appointment with fate? Does she even exist? The Adeptus Exemptus and Imperator of the Esoteric Society of the Roseate Morn is being menaced by a magician with an improbable name. Could there be something to his curse? Can Holmes and a young girl solve an old riddle about her family before the Christmas pudding is served? Who is Cassandra and why was she trying to disgorge a fish from her throat? Join Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they untangle these mysteries.

Though best known for The Scarlet Pimpernel, the Hungarian novelist Baroness Orczy was a prolific and versatile writer who could turn her pen to other genres. So, in the social and literary context of the huge success of Sherlock Holmes, she developed a memorable, but nameless character with remarkable powers of detection. The first stories appeared in The Royal Magazine in 1901, and other series followed. The first collection appeared in book form in 1905.

An unidentified woman is found dead with a set of false teeth mysteriously gripped in her hand. A young tutor finds himself accused of a bizarre art theft. A Russian refugee in hiding is helped by Watson’s wife Mary, and now Mary has disappeared.

Let Ellery Queen clue you in on his special brand of high tension, brain-teasing mystery! This collection consists of novelettes and short stories from Queen's many escapades.

Over the years, Ian Rankin has amassed an incredible portfolio of short stories. Published in crime magazines, composed for events, broadcast on radio, they all share the best qualities of his phenomenally popular Rebus novels. Brought together for the first time, and including brand-new material, this is the ultimate Rebus short-story collection and a must-have book for crime lovers and for Ian's millions of fans alike. No Rankin aficionado can go without it.

These are 20 new crime mysteries together in one large collection, taken from a string of short stories set in the late 19th century. No fictional characters are more renowned for their powers of thought and observation than Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion, Dr. John Watson.