Classic Mystery Short Stories

"Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by the American writer Herman Melville, first serialized anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 issues of Putnam's Magazine, and reprinted with minor textual alterations in his The Piazza Tales in 1856. A Wall Street lawyer hires a new clerk who, after an initial bout of hard work, refuses to make copy and any other task required of him, with the words "I would prefer not to".

The events of the story occupy a single June day in post-World War I Central London, as wealthy and fashionable society hostess Clarissa Dalloway is preparing for a party she is to give that evening. Through her thoughts and memories, the voices of others who have touched on her life and will attend her party, Virginia Woolf shows her genius as a writer who is both accessible and popular.

This anthology brings together a selection of thrilling and thought-provoking short stories by Richard Connell, renowned for his mastery in suspense and adventure. Highlighted by The Most Dangerous Game, a gripping tale of a man hunted for sport, the collection also features lesser-known but equally powerful works such as The Sin of Monsieur Pettipon, The Cage Man, Terrible Epps, and The $25,000 Jaw. Each story showcases Connell's unique ability to explore human nature under extreme conditions, blending action with psychological depth.

A chilling tale of suspense with a puzzling mystery at the heart of the story. Architect Edward Westray is sent by his firm to restore Cullerne Minster. The young man believes that more work is needed to secure the bell tower, but his warnings go unheeded. A fellow lodger, the church organist Sharnall, is investigating the belief of the late Martin Joliffe, the landlady's brother, that he, Joliffe, was the rightful heir to the Blandamer title and estates.

First published in 1911, The Innocence of Father Brown contains stories involving one of the greatest characters in the history of detective fiction: Father Brown. He is a Roman Catholic priest who has an uncanny insight into human evil. Rather than the large serial villains in, for example, Sherlock Holmes stories, the mysteries Father Brown solved were more local murders by small-town crooks, narrowing the suspect list down to those in the area of the crime.

There is a man that haunts the streets by night. His visage provokes involuntary torrents of hatred. His voice is huskily whispered, and his deformity lies within.... This audiobook collection contains some of the finest short fiction from the great Robert Louis Stevenson: "The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde", "The Bottle Imp", "Markheim", "Olalla", and "The Body Snatcher". These files have been remastered, making this a perfect choice for the classic horror fan.

This collection consists of nine crime novellas which were originally published in magazine form in 1924. The plots of Hammett’s stories were drawn from his actual experience as a Pinkerton detective. Hammett viewed the process of detective work not as the pursuit of a few elusive clues, but rather the tedious business of extracting relevant evidence from an overabundance of information.

In stories like "A Night in the Cemetery," "Night of Horror," and "Murder," not only will Chekhov's dark humor and twisted crimes satisfy even the most hardboiled of mystery fans, but readers will again appreciate the penetrating, absurdist insight into the human condition that only Chekhov can bring. Whether it is the death of a young amateur playwright at the hands of an editor who hates bad writing, or a drunken civil servant who ends up trapped in a graveyard, these stories overflow with the unforgettable characters and unique sensibility that will forever make Chekhov one of the most fascinating figures in literature.

A gripping collection of mystery stories, strange tales and horrible crimes: 'The Perfect Murder', by Stacy Aumonier; 'The Magic Casket', by F. Austin Freeman; 'The Shadow of the Shark', by G. K. Chesterton; 'The Marionettes', by O. Henry; 'Charles', by A. J. Alan; 'Moon's Gibbet', by Egerton Castle; 'The Severed Hand', by Wilhelm Hauff; 'The Man with the Watches', by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; 'The Adventure of the Diamond Necklace', by G. F. Forrest; 'My Adventure at Chislehurst', by A. J. Alan; 'Blackmail', by John Galsworthy.

La ironía, la honda melancolía y la inconfundible mirada desencantada de Oscar Wilde impregnan cada una de estas páginas, erigiéndose como un monumento paródico y duramente crítico hacia la sociedad victoriana de finales del siglo XIX. Todo ello esbozado con un estilo único, patente desde las sátiras de «El crimen de lord Arthur Savile» y «El fantasma de Canterville» hasta los cuentos de hadas como «El Príncipe Feliz», «El ruiseñor y la rosa» y «El gigante egoísta».

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.

Tales of Terror and Mystery narrated by Norman Gilligan, a collection of Arthur Conan Doyle stories including: "Tales of Terror", "The Horror of the Heights", "The Leather Funnel", "The New Catacomb", "The Case of Lady Sannox", "The Terror of Blue John Gap" "The Brazilian Cat Tales of Mystery", "The Lost Special", "The Beetle-Hunter", "The Man with the Watches", "The Japanned Box", "The Black Doctor", and "The Jew's Breastplate". These stories will keep you enthralled and in suspense.

Nobody plays accordion like Dick Contino. His skilled fingers can find beauty in even the schmaltziest Borscht Belt favorites, and with his matinee-idol looks he could be a real star. Right now, though, he’s slumming it as the headliner in a Grade Z teenybopper picture called Daddy-O. He’s too good for this movie, and finishing it is going to take him to a very dark place. Daddy-O and Dick Contino are both real, their stories dredged out of the past by James Ellroy, a master of historical crime fiction. In Dick Contino's Blues he takes us to B-List Hollywood in 1957 - a time when movies were cheerful and dirty secrets lurked just off camera.

This volume presents some of Conan Doyle s unduly neglected masterworks. Each begins in a quietly factual way, making all the more dramatic the crescendo of fear and puzzlement that ensues as each new circumstance is revealed. Even without his supremely logical brain child, Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle shows that his tales are unbeatable for thrills and excitement. Contents: Tales of terror: The horror of the heights, The leather funnel, The new catacomb, The case of Lady Sannox, The terror of Blue John Gap, The Brazilian cat.

The gentle, unassuming cleric ferrets out the guilty in such mysteries as "The Blue Cross", "The Honour of Israel Gow", "The Hammer of God", "The Queer Feet", "The Flying Stars", "The Secret Garden", "The Eye of Apollo", "The Invisible Man", "The Wrong Shape", "The Sins of Prince Saradine", "The Sign of the Broken Sword", and "The Three Tools of Death".

A selection of ghost stories which make your blood run cold.

First published in 1897, this new Cyanide Publishing edition contains the original text as well as background articles, including "Arthur Morrison: Depicting Life in the East End", "Arthur Morrison: A Bibliography" and "London's East End: Crime in the 1800s". A collection of seven mystery stories, including "The Case of the Ward Lane Tabernacle", "The Ivy Cottage Mystery", "The Nicobar Bullion Case", "The Flittterbat Lancers", "The Narrative of Mr. James Rigby", "The Case of Janissary", and "The Affair of the Avalanche Bicycle and Tyre Co."

The indomiitable cleric's gentle expertise in ferreting out the guilty is presented in selected stories, including: "The Absence of Mr. Glass", "The Paradise of Thieves", "The Duel of Dr. Hirsch", "The Man in the Passage", "The Mistake in the Machine", "The Head of Caesar", "The Purple Wig", "The Perishing of the Pendragons", "The Salad of Colonel Cray", "The Strange Crime of John Bounoir" and "The Fairy Tale of Father Brown".

This story is told as a series of journal entries from a woman who is on forced rest as a treatment for hysteria following the birth of her child. As was common in the time, she is forbidden from any work or "strenuous" tasks and is left to sit alone most of her days without mental stimulation, trapped in a room and a marriage that are not fulfilling her. The woman's isolation and mental state cause her to believe that there is a woman stuck in the wallpaper of her room.

Fantasy author Ken Altabef lends his unique voice talents to a modern reading of 13 classic tales (and six poems) by Edgar Allan Poe.