Classic Thrillers Mystery

In the only novel Conrad set in London, The Secret Agent communicates a profoundly ironic view of human affairs. The story is woven around an attack on the Greenwich Observatory in 1894 masterminded by Verloc, a Russian spy working for the police, and ostensibly a member of an anarchist group in Soho. His masters instruct him to discredit the anarchists in a humiliating fashion, and when his evil plan goes horribly awry, Verlac must deal with the repercussions of his actions.

On a deserted dirt road in Western Australia a police jeep has been abandoned...enter Inspector Bonaparte. Sinister stones....on a lonely dirt road in Western Australia a police jeep is found. In it is Constable Stenhouse - shot dead. His Aboriginal tracker has disappeared, and clues are thin on the ground. Enter Inspector Bonaparte, who soon realises that he is not alone in his search for the criminal. The local Aboriginal people are seeking vengeance, too....

This chilling tale of greed, lust, and deception opens on a midwinter night when Felix Canaris, a despairing writer about to take his own life, is saved by a knock at the door. The mysterious visitor, a Jasper Helwyze, promises Felix fame and fortune in return for his complete devotion.

When Dr Raymond Ferens moves to a practice at Milham in the Moor in north Devon, he and his wife are enchanted with the beautiful hilltop village lying so close to moor and sky. At first they see only its charm, but soon they begin to uncover its secrets - envy, hatred and malice. Everyone says that Sister Monica, warden of a children's home, is a saint - but is she? A few months after the Ferens' arrival her body is found drowned in the mill-race. Chief Inspector Macdonald faces one of his most difficult cases in a village determined not to betray its dark secrets to a stranger.

In Agatha Christie’s short story, “The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb,” the widow of a famous Egyptologist consults Poirot on the suspicious death of her husband and an American financier, Bleibner. The mystery takes Poirot and Hastings to Egypt to investigate the site of an archaeological dig. But who could want the two men dead? This short story originally appeared in the September 26, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.

When Sherlock Holmes met his demise in "The Adventure of the Final Problem," published in 1893, the distress of the unsuspecting reading public was profound. For years fans showed no signs of letting Sherlock Holmes lie down and die. Eventually, Doyle saw fit to continue his Holmes' canon and wrote a series of 13 short stories, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, published in 1905.

Richard Hanney is an ordinary man, drawn into mysteries he does not understand, and no one is willing to help him. In these 2 suspense novels written by the father of the modern spy thriller, Hanney must outwit villains in unnerving situations that lay bare the thin veneer separating civilized man from the barbarian.

Accompanied by his trusty sidekicks, Pete Pienaar, John S. Blenkiron and Sandy Arbuthnot, Richard travels across war-torn Europe searching for a man with a secret. A prophet by reputation, the man possesses key information that could guarantee British victory, and he goes by the name of Greenmantle.

Treasure Island is a tale of pirates, treasure, and shipwreck. When young Jim Hawkins finds a packet in Captain Flint's sea chest, he could not know that the map inside it would lead him to unimaginable treasure. Shipping as cabin boy on the Hispaniola, he sails with Squire Trelawney, Captain Smollett, Dr. Livesey, the sinister Long John Silver and a frightening crew to Treasure Island. There, mutiny, murder and mayhem lead to a thrilling climax.

While on a sailing trip in the Baltic Sea, two young adventurers-turned-spies uncover a secret German plot to invade England. Widely recognized as the first modern spy thriller, this 1902 lone masterpiece by World War I Royal Navy officer Erskine Childers was written as a wake-up call to the British government to attend to its North Sea defenses. It accomplished that task and has been considered a classic of espionage literature ever since.

Written in classic Alcott style, we see how the boys struggle to overcome their many flaws, in the end learning life's lessons the hard way. Just as the March girls did, each boy must learn to deal with death, love, heartbreak, and the consequences of their actions. Audiences will feel pain and joy alongside each young man as he completes his life journey and fulfills his dreams in this classic conclusion to one of America's most beloved series.

The grand-prize winner of a writing contest sponsored by the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper, "The Gold-Bug" was one of Poe's most popular stories during his lifetime. Similar to his ratiocination tales - early versions of what we now call detective fiction - "The Gold-Bug" is full of mystery and adventure and includes a cryptogram, invisible ink, a scarab-like bug, and pirate treasure.

Cherished by a Father, coveted by a king, loved by an almost-priest; tormented by demons, tortured by a madman, hunted by a cult, hounded by her father. Mouse has survived it all. Despite Mouse's power, her father always wanted a son - and now, at long last, he has him. And Mouse has a brother, someone else in the world just like her. Hiding among a tribe of the Martu in the isolation of the Australian outback near the edges of Lake Disappointment, Mouse and Angelo have seemingly evaded at least one of the predators hunting them.

Sam McGee is one of the many gold miners of the Klondike Gold Rush. The freezing-cold and harsh winter of Yukon is about to take his next victim in the face of McGee. The poor man freezes to death on the trail. The night before he passed away, McGee had asked his friend, the narrator of the story, to cremate his remains, saying that he did not want to be buried in the frozen ground. However, after the man is cremated some strange things begin to happen.

An historic thriller set in France with a son seeking revenge against his father for the death of his mother.

When Harold Merefield returned home in the early hours of a winter morning from a festive little party at that popular nightclub, the Naxos, he was startled by a gruesome discovery. On his bed was a corpse. There was nothing to show the identity of the dead man or the cause of his death. At the inquest, the jury found a verdict of ‘death from natural causes’ - perhaps they were right, but yet?

Late one night, a drawing teacher meets a mysterious woman dressed in white. Who is she, and what is her connection to the teacher's new pupil, a beautiful heiress? Serialized in 1859 - 1860, and first published in book form in 1860 it is still regarded still as one of the best plots in English literature. Told from multiple perspectives, the story is brought to life by its marvellous villains and complex, spirited and believable female characters.

A fifth collection of eight golden-age detective mysteries for H. C. Bailey's eclectic scientific detective Mr. Reginald Fortune. Including a stock market bubble and a sudden death; a wealthy businessman threatened by a mystery man; a mountaineering accident in the shadow of the Jungfrau; a curious archaeological discovery; a series of crimes in a quiet cathedral close; and two very different violent deaths, with an unexpected link.

Horace Manning, scientist, recluse and 'closed book' even to his friends, is found dead in his study at 4a.m., following a dinner in honour of his daughter's engagement. An ivory-handled carving knife rests between his shoulder blades as the houseguests gather round to witness the awful crime. The telephone line has been sabotaged - a calculated murder has been committed. Rewinding twelve hours, the events of the afternoon and evening unfold, revealing a multitude of clues and motives from a closed cast of suspects.

In Agatha Christie’s short story, “The Adventure of the Cheap Flat,” Poirot’s suspicions are aroused when he hears of a sweetheart deal on a flat. Doing a little freelance investigating, he soon learns that the flat is at the center of a case of international espionage and a potentially fatal double-cross. This short story originally appeared in the May 9, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.