Traditional Publishing

In 1910, American author and social critic Jack London began writing The Assassination Bureau, Ltd., a work that he never completed. Now, thanks to the recently discovered manuscript of Dr. John Watson, we know why. The early part of London's book describes a secret organization - scoffed at or ignored by police officials - that conspires to murder influential political and social leaders. Not until Sherlock Holmes is provoked into action by threats close to home does anyone appear able to stop the Assassination Bureau.

During a late-night storm, the abrupt arrival of a distraught client on the doorstep of 221B Baker Street forces Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson to investigate a case that will lead them through the most sinister streets and alleys of London, confronting dangerous and vicious criminals along the way. The consulting detective and his companion are put to the test when a young woman is found brutally murdered in her lodgings. Scotland Yard is at a loss, and time is running out for the two protagonists, with scant evidence and a growing list of suspects.

What happens when your past catches up with you? A chilling mystery that will haunt you long after you finish reading it. A man is found dead with no identification, not even a mobile phone. Who was he? Why was he there? And who saw him dying in Tersel Woods, near a small town of Faukon Abbey in Devon, England? Jimmy Carter, a journalist with The Abbey Chronicle is chasing Detective Inspector Peter Greene to find the killer. What they find is a gripping tale of deep hidden secrets of so-called love. But some secrets are better left buried... A traditional detective story, a classic whodunit...

While lunching in the chic Gold Room, Tommy masquerades as a blind detective. It is then that the Beresfords are approached by the elegant Duke of Blairgowrie for help in locating his missing daughter.

A shooting incident at a private school just north of Edinburgh. Two 17-year olds killed by an ex-Army loner who has gone off the rails. As Detective Inspector John Rebus puts it, "there's no mystery"...except the why. But this question takes Rebus into the heart of a shattered community. Ex-Army himself, Rebus becomes fascinated by the killer, and finds he is not alone.

A distraught young woman arrives at Baker Street urgently requesting the assistance of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. But the great man and his assistant Dr. Watson are away. What to do? She confides in Holmes’ landlady, Mrs. Hudson, who over the years has developed certain powers of deduction from observing her tenant at work.

During his first trip to England in 1899, murder was the last thing that Hamlin Garland, the so-called "Dean of American Letters," expected to find. More predictable were his descriptions of American baseball and visits with notables like Arthur Conan Doyle and George Bernard Shaw. Yet when Garland tells Sherlock Holmes of a suspicious death that occurred at Hearthstone Hall, the detective replies, "You have described the ingredients of a classic murder mystery-a dead dowager empress and a collection of courtiers any one of whom might be the killer."

"The Chocolate Box" immerses readers in a tantalizing short story featuring Agatha Christie's iconic detective Hercule Poirot. In this narrative, Poirot reflects on a case from his past, one that has lingered in his memory for its personal significance.

Welcome back once more to the Stranger's Room. The fire is blazing so help yourself to a brandy, pull up a chair to the fire and enjoy these tales from established and new Holmesian writers. Encompassing as they do tradition, humor, and quirkiness, there is something for everyone. Enjoy!

When hordes of people descend on the picturesque village of Nasely for the annual celebration of its most famous resident, murder mystery writer Agnes Crabbe, events take a dark turn as the festival opens with a shocking death. Each year the residents are outnumbered by crowds dressed as Crabbe’s lady detective, Millicent Cutter. The weekend is never a mild-mannered affair as fan club rivalries bubble below the surface, but tensions reach new heights when a second Crabbe devotee is found murdered. Though the police are quick to arrive on the scene, the facts are tricky to ascertain as the witnesses, suspects and victim are all dressed as Miss Cutter.

You are holding one of the rare stories to come to light involving "Sigerson", the name Sherlock Holmes went by during the years when the world thought he was dead. This story also has the distinction of being the true first sequel to Horace Holly's She, published in 1887 under the byline of Holly's agent, H. Rider Haggard. The only heretofore known sequel, Ayesha: The Return of She, was published in 1904 and records events that occurred two decades after She. This new tale is a record of the events that took place between the two previously published adventures.

"The King of Clubs" immerses readers in another enthralling short story featuring Agatha Christie's iconic detective Hercule Poirot. In this intriguing narrative, Poirot is called upon to investigate a seemingly straightforward case involving a mysterious threat to the life of Sir George Carrington, a wealthy and influential man.

Katherine is a retired nurse and a retired church organist. The small Hudson River village where she lives in her Victorian “Painted Lady” makes her the neighborhood matriarch. Along with her Maine Coon Cat Robespierre, she guards friends and families. When amoral Rachel moves into the first floor apartment of Katherine’s house, trouble erupts. The murder weapon is one she recognizes and makes her fear for her friends and family. Finding the killer becomes her goal.

In Agatha Christie’s short story “The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim”, to win a bet with Inspector Japp, Poirot solves the mysterious robbery and disappearance of a banker from his home, all without leaving his seat. Is the culprit the businessman Mr. Davenheim was supposed to meet? Or is the situation more complicated?

When a toddler goes missing in the middle of a bustling Bradford park in broad daylight, Detective Daniel Ward is put on the case. It ought to be an open and shut investigation, but the hours tick by, and Millie Thompson is nowhere to be found. There’s only one conclusion DI Ward can come to: She was taken. When a known child-killer is spotted in the vicinity, Ward fears the worst. He has to catch up with the only lead he has before the infamous Hunters - merciless vigilante justice seekers who will seek retribution at any cost - catch up with his suspect first.

This blend of fact and fiction sheds light on a virtually unexplored dimension of the Great Detective’s exploits. It is a perspective Sherlock Holmes — who elevated “true, cold reason … above all things” — would probably not appreciate. But for all its warmth and irrationality, there is just as much truth in the heart.

Old Mrs. Lauder was as loathsome as her lilies were lovely. Every year, the vicar had hoped for a change of heart in this sinister woman whose murder brought fear and suspicion to the village, to the church, and the lilies she had denied them every Easter while she lived. But somewhere in those waxen blooms, there was a message and a danger signal.

Volume 2 includes more Sherlock Holmes and Watson tales collected by David Ruffle from writers around the world.

A szerelem furcsa dolgokra képes, néha sötét és nem mindig boldogít. Ezt a krimi királynőjénél senki sem tudta jobban. Mr. Satterthwaite az operába látogat Mr. Harley Quinnel, Poirot vidéken időzik és a darázsfészkek kiirtásának módjait tanulmányozza, Miss Marple egy falusi szerelmi gyilkosságot old meg. Az emberi lélek páratlan ismerője e kötet novelláiban is mesterien fonja szerelmi bűnügyeinek szálait. Ez a kötet csupacsupa szerelem és szenvedély.

One postman! Two postmen! Three postmen! All murdered! John J. Malone sticks his nose into the case of the dead postmen and picks up a crack on the head, an Australian beer hound, and six redheaded twins. It all begins when he takes on a new client, Rodney Fairfaxx. Rodney was tabbed for the postmen murders because he hadn’t received a letter from a dead girl for more than 30 years. Malone doesn’t think that this is enough reason to kill, but he can’t prove it.