Detective Short Stories Mysteries

The Mystery of the Blue Train: In this official authorized edition featuring exclusive content from the Queen of Mystery, robbery and brutal murder aboard a luxury transport ensnares the ever-attentive Hercule Poirot. Evil Under the Sun: In this exclusive authorized edition from the Queen of Mystery, the fastidious sleuth is on the trail of the killer of a sun-bronzed beauty whose death brings some rather shocking secrets into the light.

Queen's Bureau of Investigation is now open for business - and in each department of this new enterprise Ellery finds ample opportunity to exercise the brilliant, ingenious, and at times startling talents of his crime-lab mind. For to the bureau come some of the most plaguey cases in Queen's career.

An outlaw private eye meets a woman who has a horribly-blackened eye and offers to do something about it. Unlicensed outlaw private eye Joe Beck stops off at bar in Trinidad, Colorado. Inside, he meets a woman named Brandi, a brunette bombshell who's working behind the bar. She's slim, tanned and attractive. She has it all. Except, her left eye is horribly blackened, something she admits to having been caused by the hand of an abusive ex-boyfriend. Beck offers to deal with the guy, no questions asked in a move that sees him sucked into the dealings of a couple of crooked cops and a local ...

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.

He has much in common with super-sleuths Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, but there's a difference - Judge Dee Jen-djieh was a real person! Gathered here are tales of actual crimes solved by the magistrate of Chang-ping in 7th-century China. Listen as Dee ventures down winding paths in ancient graveyards to consult the spirits of the dead, and hear him solve real-life crimes through astute deductions.

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!

After a near-fatal adventure in another world—a world of dragons, no less—Samantha Moon is ready for her first real vacation in nearly a decade. With a little money in her pocket from the sale of a mansion left to her by her vampire sire, Sam sets her sights on a whirlwind European tour. First stop: Ireland. When a dark shadow races across her hotel suite, followed by something evil watching her son from a suit of armor, Samantha Moon is about to discover that her trip to the Emerald Isle is going to be anything but relaxing... it's going to get deadly. After all, something wicked has ...

From acclaimed International thriller and crime writer Ido Graf comes a gripping new mystery… A prominent barrister is found brutally murdered within the hallowed grounds of the Inns of Court — the historic heart of Britain’s legal world, where the City of London meets Westminster. The motive? Unknown. The killer? Still at large. Was it a calculated act of revenge? A ruthless grab for power? A crime of passion, or the work of a deranged mind? The list of suspects is as long as the barrister’s list of enemies — and time is running out. Detective Inspector Cahill is assigned to the ...

Sherlock Holmes has not only captivated readers for more than a century and a quarter, he has fascinated writers as well. It is little wonder, then, that when the renowned Sherlockians Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger invited their writer-friends and colleagues to be inspired by the Holmes canon, a cornucopia of stories sprang forth. Now, King and Klinger have invited another 15 masters to become In League with Sherlock Holmes. The contributors to this volume include award-winning authors of horror, thrillers, mysteries, westerns, and science fiction.

This collection contains nine early stories featuring the Continental Op, an un-named middle-aged detective working for the San Francisco branch of the fictional Continental Detective Agency. The stories are narrated in the first person. The “hardboiled detective” voice was later used by author Dashiell Hammett in The Maltese Falcon (Sam Spade) and the Thin Man series of stories.

This is a story from the The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes III collection. In this collection are four more individual cases for Mr. Sherlock Holmes, narrated by his faithful friend and admirer Dr. Watson. They dive into the opium dens of London in "The Man with the Twisted Lip," recall the curious history of "The Musgrave Ritual," come face to face with the grisly evidence contained in "The Cardboard Box," and go on a wild-goose chase in "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle." The powers of Sherlock Holmes prevail.

October on the island of Rhodes is a veritable paradise of privacy, beauty, and calm - or so Hercule Poirot has imagined. The reality is quite different, as the arrival of famed Chanel beauty Valentine Chantry causes a ripple of malice to be felt across the island. She captivates at least one married man with her wiles and good looks, as her brooding husband watches on. Poirot senses that someone has murder in their heart, and he guesses right. As things come to a tragic head, only Poirot the quiet observer can piece together what has happened in this lover's triangle.

Previously published as Deadly Secrets: Hidden Name by Madalena Melchior. SECRET NAME Samarkand. Could the name of an ancient city at the heart of the Silk Road be the key to solving a murder -- and help save the life of a wrongly accused man? Sherlock Holmes will get to the bottom of this mystery, summon the ghosts of erstwhile tragedies, and expose the truth behind a carefully hidden name.

For Ellery Queen, there is no puzzle that reason cannot solve. In his time, he has faced down killers, thugs, and thieves, protected only by the might of his brain - and the odd bit of timely intervention by his father, a burly New York police inspector. But when a university professor asks Queen to teach a class, the detective finds there are people whom reason cannot touch: college students. Queen's adventure on campus is only the first of this incomparable collection of short mysteries.

It's the holidays, and Samantha Moon and her family are ready to get together and celebrate. No, they may not be your average family, but the love is just as real. It's two days before the big Thanksgiving meal when Sam receives a most unusual guest. Unusual because she hasn't seen her brother, Clayton, in twenty years. Turns out, he isn't just here for the pumpkin pies and yams. He's got a problem. He's been cursed and thinks his little sister is his best chance to fix it. With pie baking put on hold, Sam and company set out to break his curse, locate a kidnapped baby, and save the day. ...

Discover Dorothy L. Sayers' inimitable Golden Age detective in this complete collection of the complete Lord Peter Wimsey stories, together in one volume for the first time. Presented in chronological order, these short stories see Lord Peter Wimsey bringing his trademark wit and unique detection skills to all manner of mysteries.

When haute couture meets cold-blooded murder... Lena Montgomery's quiet home has been transformed into fashion central as she hosts an exclusive runway show featuring some of the industry's biggest names. With her quick-witted grandmother and loyal friend Charlie by her side, she's prepared for the usual drama that comes with corralling high-maintenance designers and models. But when renowned fashion designer Maggie St. Clair is found strangled with her own signature scarf moments before the show, Lena's event transforms from a celebration of style to a gathering of suspects. Between bitter...

The Owl Express: Nate, the great detective, and his dog Sludge, hit the rails on their latest case. Their mission: To guard an owl named Hoot. Hoot belongs to Nate’s cousin, Olivia Sharp, and she thinks someone on the train might be out to get her feathered friend. Then Hoot disappears! The Tardy Tortoise: The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and someone is eating the flowers in Nate's garden. A green tortoise is slowly stepping across the lawn, and Nate is slowly following him. It may take all of Nate the Great's patience and sharp eyesight to find out slowly.

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.

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