Detective Short Stories Mysteries

An unusual sequence of events in leads the legendary Sherlock Holmes to locate the precious jewel owned by the Countess of Morcar.

These six adventures of Sherlock Holmes' greatest rival will keep you guessing and listening.

Welcome to Icicle Lodge. Watch your back. Not everyone survives their visit. A wealthy gentleman, his one-armed butler, eight guests, and a cat are trapped in a ski lodge buried beneath an avalanche. One of them will be brutally murdered behind a locked door in the middle of the night. On the suspect list are a socialist and his girlfriend, the worst actor in LA, the French ambassador's daughter, and of course the butler. But at the top of the list is a brain surgeon. Think you know who did it? You don't. You don't even know who died. Even June Kato can't help solve this impossible to ...

From its launch in 1920 until its demise in 1951, the magazine Black Mask published pulp crime fiction. The first hard-boiled detective stories appeared on its pages. Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner and John D. MacDonald got their start in Black Mask. The urban crime stories that appeared in Black Mask helped to shape American culture. Modern computer games, films, and television are rooted in the fiction popularized by “the seminal and venerated mystery pulp magazine” ( Booklist).

There's a chill in the air and the days are growing shorter.... It's the perfect time to curl up in front of a crackling fireplace with this winter-themed collection from legendary mystery writer Agatha Christie. But beware of deadly snowdrifts and dangerous gifts, poisoned meals and mysterious guests. This compendium of short stories, some featuring beloved Detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, is an essential omnibus for Christie fans and the perfect gift for mystery lovers.

A professional pickpocket and accomplished thief ignores his wife's warnings and embarks on an adventure that will change his life - perhaps for the better. A technological marvel of a sports car kills a pedestrian, but no one was at the wheel. A local lunatic admits to murder, but is he crazy - or crazy smart? The life of a researcher with ties to a British spy agency is thrown into chaos when his research goes missing. Injury Time delivers captivating tales of intrigue wrapped in Catherine Aird's tightly woven logic, sealed with the bow of enigma.

Anna Katharine Green (1846 - 1935) was one of the crime novelists and paved the way for later female writers of detective novels, like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Ngaio Marsh.

When Nick O'Reilly is invited to Sherlock Lake by his friend Danny, he is more than apprehensive. Nick is familiar with the ghost story that surrounds that place, and he is not one to meddle with situations like that. However, after Danny pushes him into it, criticizing his confidence, Nick feels like he has no choice. The two wander down to the lake to explore the legend that surrounds it, and when they do, they get more than they bargained for. The Mystery at Sherlock Lake is a short story that will thrill you with its mysterious twists and turns and leave you wondering what will happen ...

Mr. Davenheim, a wealthy financier, leaves his home to mail a letter, then fails to return. The story fills the newspapers and intrigues Hercule Poirot, who challenges Inspector Japp with the claim that he can solve the case before the police, and without leaving his flat.

As the early years of detective fiction gave way to two separate golden ages - of hard-boiled tales in America and intricately-plotted, so-called “cozy” murders in Britain - the legacy of Sherlock Holmes, with his fierce devotion to science and logic, gave way to street smarts on the one hand and social insight on the other, but even though these new sub-genres went their own ways, their detectives still required intelligence and clear-sightedness as characterized the earliest works of detective fiction: the trademarks of Sherlock Holmes, and of all the detectives featured here.

Spadework was published on the 25th anniversary of The Snatch, the first Nameless Detective novel. Spadework collects 15 short stories perfect for those who love the Nameless Detective. Two of the stories appear in print for the first time ("Worried Mother Job" and "Zero Tolerance"). The book has an excellent foreword by Marcia Muller about her take on her husband's work, and an interesting afterword by Mr. Bill Pronzini in which he talks about his dedication to the needs of the story.

Here are nine of Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous Sherlock Holmes stories, tales that showcase the talents of literature's most famous sleuth. This thrilling anthology includes such favorites as "Silver Blaze", in which a prize racehorse disappears; "Yellow Face", where Holmes confesses to a rare error; and "The Musgrave Ritual", one of his most famous cases. The collection concludes with the poignant, historic "The Final Problem", as Dr. Watson recalls Holmes's tragic death at the hands of Professor Moriarty.

Holmes and Watson are handed the challenge of solving the London Tarot Murders, a dark episode which, to quote Dr. Watson's in his memoirs, "occupies a lofty place in the annals of all black deeds ever committed in the long memory of the ancient, regal city, higher even than the infamous affair with the Ripper."

Gathering together in one volume the later exploits of Sherlock Holmes, the world's first consulting detective, His Last Bow includes tales published individually between 1908 and 1917. It also contains one early story, 1892's "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box", which, with its themes of adultery, was previously considered too "scandalous" for American audiences.

Written as Arthur Conan Doyle wrote of the Great Detective, the stories here are fair-play mysteries with no ghosts, goblins, aliens, or otherwise outrageous characters that cannot be explained with reason and deduction. Enjoy these tales collected in one volume for the first time as award-winning writer I.A. Watson regales you with the adventures of the greatest consulting detective of all time.

A personal advertisement written in code attracts the attention of Tuppence Beresford. When Tuppence suspects that the code involves the Three Arts Ball, she persuades Tommy to attend dressed in costume. Tuppence's suspicions prove to be correct when a murder takes place, but as all of the guests are dressed in masquerade, identifying the killer may be more difficult than first thought....

A missing artifact. A town losing its magic. And a feisty librarian. Two decades ago, Elara Blackwood’s parents died in a mysterious accident. Since then, Quillhaven’s magic has disappeared, along with her own. When historical manuscripts relating to the town’s history are stolen on her watch, she is determined to find the thief. As she digs deeper into the mystery with Jasper, Quillhaven’s quirky journalist, she uncovers a startling secret. The stolen books contain clues about her parents’ death and the powerful artifact they had with them when they died. With the help of Leo and...

SWITCH BACK is a novella (about 1/3 of a full-length novel, about 4-5 times longer than a short story) and takes place prior to BOARD STIFF (Elliott Lisbon Mystery #1). After inheriting an entire town, Ballantyne Foundation Director, Elliott Lisbon, travels to Texas to thank them. She quickly learns they don’t want her gratitude, they want their town back. And they’re willing to kill for it. Trapped in a small town full of big suspects, Elliott must unlock their secrets, or she’ll never get out alive. Now doesn’t that sound like fun? Read the whole series and gets even better. - - -...

Sherlock Holmes! The very name of the world's greatest detective conjures up images of Victorian London, gaslit streets, hansom cabs, and dense fogs. But there was a time, a dark three-year period, when London had to make do without Sherlock Holmes. From 1891 to 1894, he was presumed dead, having perished during the epic struggle with that infamous Napoleon of crime, Professor Moriarty, atop the Reichenbach Falls. But unknown to most, even his friend Dr. Watson, Holmes survived.

Horace Rumpole, the comic, courageous, and corpulent “great defender of muddled and sinful humanity”, is joined by a winning cast of villains and victims in this collection of six tales in which wry humor and sparkling wit deftly send up the British legal system. In Rumpole and the Angel of Death, our hero achieves new, resounding triumphs over the forces of prejudice and mean-mindedness.