Classic Mystery Short Stories

Sherlock Holmes’ determination to destroy the powerful criminal organization of Professor Moriarty reaches its crisis as Holmes and Watson attempt to track down and finally apprehend the criminal genius behind the most foul and evil events plaguing the good people of England.

The Dualitists recounts the tale of the Bubb family, childless for very long but finally blessed with twins. Two friends lived in the houses surrounding the Bubbs, Harry and Tommy, but they were forbidden to see each other because of the trouble they caused. Harry and Tommy began to secretly meet in the Bubb's garden, bringing with them their knives and items to destroy with the knives. Soon, items are not enough for the boys and they begin dueling, then killing animals. But their thirst could not be quenched.

Arthur Conan Doyle ranked "The Red-Headed League" second in his list of his 12 favorite Sherlock Holmes stories. It is one of Holmes' most intriguing cases, in which he has to solve a problem caused by a strange society in which the only criteria for admission is bright red hair!

Against the wishes of superstitious townspeople, Jonathan Harker journeys to the castle of Count Dracula on Walpurgisnacht, the dreaded night of the dead. Abandoned by his frightened coachman, Harker finds himself alone in a cemetery, battered by the elements and at the mercy of the strange beasts hunting him.

This is a story from the Four Short Stories collection. In these stories, Conan Doyle draws the listener in to experience drama, suspense and, ultimately, the shock of surprise. Here is a unique combination of a famous analytical intellect telling spine-tingling tales against a background of turn-of-the-century England. Nothing is quite as it seems. What is the secret of "Lot No. 249"? What lies in wait for an aviator in the stratosphere? And what lies inside "The Sealed Room"?

Los mendigos se amontonaban en las calles y el alcalde de la ciudad recibía innumerables quejas de los vecinos. Hasta que una noche, algo extraño sucedió. Un silbido maligno planeó sobre la ciudad y enloqueció a sus habitantes hasta tal punto, que cometieron una atrocidad involuntaria. Un acto que marcaría la pequeña localidad para siempre.

A couple of law students, Tom Donague and Jack Turnbull, who have run out of money, set off for South Africa to make their fortune. For three years, they fail to make any money, but then one day, as they are up country in a remote spot, their luck changes. A friend, Dick Wharton appears unexpectedly one night during heavy rain, telling a strange tale of having seen a ghost in the cursed Sasassa Valley. Tom Donague is particularly excited by the story, and determines to uncover the mystery of the apparition.

Hunted Down is a detective story by Charles Dickens. The astute Sampson suspects that a certain Mr. Julius Slinkton who turns up in his office one morning is not all that he seems. As Slinkton crops up more and more frequently in Sampson's life, he realises that a monstrous crime is about to be committed. But a counter plot is hatched and the hunter quickly becomes the hunted. Dickens excels again in his masterful portrayal of character and insightful description the society of his day.

In Agatha Christie’s short story, “The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge,” Poirot and Hastings are enlisted by a Mr. Roger Havering to help investigate the murder of his aristocrat uncle at his hunting lodge. Hastings discusses the murder with the housekeeper on the scene, but Poirot quickly deduces that her story doesn’t add up. This short story appeared in the May 16, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.

In "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", Inspector Lestrade summons Sherlock Holmes to a community in Herefordshire, where a local landowner has been murdered outdoors. The deceased's estranged son is strongly implicated. Holmes, employing his trusty magnifying glass quickly determines that a mysterious third man may be responsible for the crime, unraveling a thread involving a secret criminal past, thwarted love, and blackmail.

Este relato corto aparece como leído antes de irse a dormir por el Sr.Samuel Pickwick, en los divertidos "Papeles póstumos del club Pickwick". La esencia de la historia es la de un hombre que sabiéndose loco, por uno de esos regalos con que la genética a veces nos sorprende, decide ocultar su locura a los ojos de todos. Como es un hombre de gran patrimonio, la relación con él es envidiada por todos y una familia en especial, muy pobre, decide que su hija se case con él, a pesar que ella está enamorada de un muchacho de su edad.

First published in 1911, A School Story is a classic paranormal tale written by M. R. James, an author considered to be the originator of the modern-age ghost story. In this particularly story, a Latin teacher is troubled by unusual phrases from the dead language that start to show up among the work he sets his students; something about the phrases remind him of a dark secret from his past.

A society matron's life is threatened after she engineers the theft of her own priceless jewelry to pay off a gambling debt. Only a debonair connoisseur of crime can save her and recover her gems. For a price.

A Manhattan gumshoe pursues a convict to St. Louis, where he gets mixed up in a cop killing and nearly loses his own life at the hands of a B girl.

In Agatha Christie’s short story, “The Market Basing Mystery,” Poirot and Hastings are called on to investigate the suspicious death of a landowner in a small English town. What looks at first like a simple case of suicide quickly becomes more complex as Poirot interrogates the suspects in the home. This short story originally appeared in the October 17, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.

A zealous aviator penetrates the highest strata of our atmosphere and discovers a groundbreaking new form of life. And yet he knows that this strange alien life form has claimed the lives of two aviators before him, and it may claim his own.