Detective Short Stories Mysteries

The festive season should be a time for generosity and goodwill, but in Glasgow, Leger finds that is not the case. His human companion's attempt to raise funds for a CT scanner for a local hospital has been thwarted by a callous thief who has stolen decorations from her seasonal garden display. Now Leger resolves to mend Annabella's broken heart by finding the thief. With Ginger nursing her newborn kittens, Isabella confusing him with erratic behaviour and Bob more interested in Hugh's discarded slipper than helping solve this mystery, Leger's only clue comes from an unexpected source - a ...

Movie star Mary Marvell consults with Hercule Poirot after receiving threatening letters that warn her to return her diamond, the famous "Western Star", to its rightful owner. But who does own the diamond, and is it even the genuine article?

Detective stories existed for centuries before the concept of the detective itself—amateur or professional— was fully formulated, and tales of mystery and intrigue have been thrilling readers since ancient times. The Lock and Key Library is the classic overview of the history of the mystery genre, at once a rousing listen for fans of the unsolved and unknown as well as an essential literary resource for those seeking to understand the roots of modern pulp fiction. This volume is sure to delight and enthrall armchair detectives and fans of classic mysteries alike.

In this collection of six witty short stories, the courageous and corpulent barrister, Horace Rumpole, takes on both animal and human rights. And for the first time, Rumpole’s formidable wife, Hilda—better known as She Who Must Be Obeyed—tells a story of her own.

The Book of Extraordinary Impossible Crimes and Puzzling Deaths is the latest collection from legendary murder mystery editor and writer Maxim Jakubowski. Filled with impossible murders and puzzling plot twists that keep your brain on the mysteries until the last minute. Clever fictional crime stories. Some of mystery fiction's most inventive talents from the USA and UK offer a series of brand-new ingenious murder stories that will have you scratching your brow until the very last minute and delighting in Machiavellian solutions.

Revelations from the despatch box of Doctor John Watson. These seven stories previously featured in various volumes of The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories and other anthologies. They come together in their own collection for the first time.

Lance Cooke doesn’t want much. He’s lived his whole life quietly in the town of Belvidere, New Jersey. He just wants to be remembered as a good man. And that’s not too hard when you’re a small town police chief. Cooke’s time is mostly spent worrying about traffic violations and town festivals, and whether he will finally kiss Lucy, the beautiful coffee shop queen. But trouble is terrorizing Belvidere, in the form of the Walker brothers, the town’s resident bullies. Why does Cooke seem to protect them? As the Walkers grow bolder, the town’s peaceful facade is shattered. Cooke ...

Disillusioned, with their dreams of running an island hotel shattered, the McInnes family return to Glasgow. Hugh and Annabella are planning to go travelling, leaving Leger in the care of the Goldsworthy family while they are gone. He wastes no time on self-pity though and throws himself back into his work. Shortly before arriving back in the city, he learns Nicole has been attacked. With the police taking too long to track down the culprit, Leger and Bob get on the case. However, Isabella can't stop flirting, Ginger is acting out of character and Amber is taking risks that put lives in ...

Two days before Hogmanay, after the Christmas glitter has settled, a mysterious new neighbour is poisoned. Knowing that Amber and this young man could not have met the same fate by coincidence, Leger begins the investigation into what happened, with Lily's help. When that leads him to the newly opened Queen Languoreth pub, he comes face to face and clashes with the new manager. To put his own safety and Annabella's happiness first, he resolves never to go back to the pub, even if this means that another life could be at stake. However, Lily has other ideas.

Leger isn't the detective this time - he's the witness. After saving Poppy from an attack, Leger must guide troubled teenager Daniel Goldsworthy on the right path to discovering the crime has been committed, solving the mystery and putting the perpetrator behind bars. However, it proves an almost impossible task since Leger himself has a lot to deal with. Between a potentially lethal trapped hairball causing him extreme pain, a group of friends who are determined to do his job for him and a mischief of vigilante mice, Leger finds it difficult to tackle the task. Will Leger put his own ...

Leger witnesses the kidnapping of a small child and pursues the victim and the perpetrator onto a long-distance train. Unknown to Leger, he is followed by Annabella and Nicole who are determined to get him off the train. Leger must uncover the truth about this kidnapping and put right the wrongs, with a little help from another non-human passenger. What Leger doesn't realise is, he isn't the only one watching this situation closely...

There's no such thing as magic. That's what Leger keeps telling himself. But following a girls' night out, Leger finds that he is gifted a voodoo doll of Peter. He can't help himself from whispering his thoughts to the effigy before Bob gets a hold of the doll and mistakes it for a chew toy. Within hours, Peter is found beaten to within an inch of his life. Leger takes on the case, determined to find those responsible for the assault on Peter. With the help of his daughter, Sparkle and her best friend, a frog named Simpson, he starts piecing together clues. When a dead black cat turns up on...

He thought she was lost forever but he has finally tracked her down. Leger reunites with his friend, former housemate and fellow detective, Lily and she's back in his life just in time to help him solve a mystery. When John, the man of the house in Leger's temporary home, unexpectedly vanishes, Leger initially is not concerned. After all, he and John have never really seen eye to eye. Why would he care if John went for a really long walk? But, Lily suspects that John is in danger and with very little in the way of clues, something Lily heard might transpire to be invaluable to the ...

In The Adventure of the Jeweled Falcon, Holmes tracks down an ancient priceless statue, but others are looking for it too. In The Case of the Violin Savant, using clues found in the sophisticated musical compositions of a celebrated but mute nine-year-old violin savant, Holmes and Watson attempt to discover where and why the boy and his parents vanished. In The Adventure of Stonehenge in London, Holmes and Watson stumble upon a strange structure on the roof of a mansion in London, and somehow it relates to the missing eighth Earl of Rendlesham.

Mr. Parker Pyne is having trouble trying to get to Beirut, what with his rusty linguistic skills and the less-than-comfortable traveling arrangements. But, with the help of a German pilot, Herr Schlagel, he is soon able to get his bearings. Herr Schlagel confesses that his thoughts are dominated by the mysterious and sudden death of one of his last passengers, who was in the company of Lady Esther from the House of Shiraz. Taking the initiative, Pyne writes to Lady Esther offering his services. When he arrives at the House of Shiraz, he waits to see what the infamously mad Lady Esther has to say for herself....

With contributions from Stephen Fry, Mark Gatiss, Douglas Wilmer, and many more, this book was put together by fan site Sherlockology to help save Undershaw, the former home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories.

This audiobook contains the first three adventures of A. E. W Mason’s enigmatic and mercurial Sûreté detective, Inspector Hanaud—a key inspiration for Agatha Christie’s celebrated sleuth Hercule Poirot. First, Hanaud investigates the murder of wealthy Mme Dauvray at the fashionable French resort of Aix-les-Bains. Then, during a visit to London, Hanaud unravels a case of theft and murder following a costume party at a prestigious hotel.

Altogether, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories about Sherlock Holmes. Throughout, Dr. Watson (or just Watson) was included as a catalyst for Holmes’s massive ego and mental processes. Eventually, Doyle felt the stories were distracting him from more serious literary work, but he did finally wind it up with the seven stories you’re about to hear. In the words of Watson (Dr. John H. Watson, MD), we have the pleasure of knowing about the declining years, beginning now.

1980s India. Simple times. And a nation mesmerized by the exploits of fictional detective Karamchand. A young boy among them. Years later he’s in California, having turned his childhood dream into reality by becoming a private investigator. But the PI life doesn’t turn out as expected until a woman shows up at his door, imploring him to find her missing husband. It’s the kind of challenge he has been waiting for, one that puts his skills to the test. Soon the case gets complicated - and dangerous - raising some questions. Who can he trust? And more importantly, will he find the ...