Mystery Reads

A small group of friends decide to attend a seance at a local art studio. While some of them are very sceptical about the whole thing, others believe in the medium’s abilities. The group starts a discussion about a new painting of a mythical creature, when a Frenchman joins and claims that he sees a unicorn in it. Shortly after the seance begins, a strange light fills the room and the medium starts speaking in a different voice. The voice is that of a person no longer within the living.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are discussing the lack of interesting new cases when a man bursts into the room. The panicked young man is McFarlane and he believes that he will be arrested for the murder of 52-year-old Jonas Oldacre. Oldacre’s burnt remains are found behind McFarlane house, the day after the builder Oldacre came to the lawyer McFarlane to draw up his will and made him his sole beneficiary. McFarlane is arrested as the main suspect. Holmes believes that the young man is not guilty and does his best to prove it.

For Mr and Mrs Thackenbury it seems like there are too many holidays. They start talking about the hypocrisy behind all these holidays, such as Christmas for example. Yet, they love listing some of the people they would like to honor on that day and discuss what they would give to them as a present. After all, they really enjoy having a good time together. If you want to find out what else Mr and Mrs Thackenbury are talking about, read Saki’s short story "The Feast of Nemesis" from 1914. B. J.

From the books that inspired the new Netflix series "Lupin" with Omar Sy. Yvonne d’Origny’s life is full of misery, hatred and fear. She has tried to divorce her malicious husband, but he is willing to go to great lengths to get what he wants - and that’s her. He even uses their son as a pawn. How will Yvonne’s story unfold, and what will Lupin’s role be in it? The second story in Maurice Leblanc’s collection "The Confessions of Arsène Lupin" about gentleman thief and criminal mastermind, Arsene Lupin.

One day Krantz comes home to witness his wife being unfaithful to him. In a fit of anger he kills both his wife and her lover, who is also Krantz’s lord. Krantz fears the punishment he will surely receive, so he flees with his three children. His safe haven is the Hartz Mountains. There he meets a beautiful young lady who he marries shortly after. Their marriage however does not go as expected. The bride’s night-outs raise Krantz’s suspicions.

The great detective, Sherlock Holmes, is dying from a highly contagious tropical disease called Tapanuli fever. Dr. Watson is shocked when he hears about his friend’s illness. He travels to examine him, but Holmes refuses his help. Instead, a man called Culverton Smith arrives after being called by Watson. He is not a professional doctor but knows more about the disease than anyone else.

A man visits his friend, a Scandinavian artist who lives in an old Italian villa. They go out on the balcony, enjoying the calm and beautiful night. Then the guest suddenly sees a strange mound of earth with a body next to it. The artist knows the story and it goes way back in time. Angelo and Cristina were a couple in love who did not get the chance to be together. Cristina was killed by two robbers. Since then a strange body appears in the moonlight.

What will happen if you hear the bell of St. Sépulcre? According to the local small town folks, dangers and even death may follow. When a stranger enters the town, he is warned by the locals not to follow a certain path because it could be dangerous. It is believed that a strange and scary woman wanders the woods and terrorises whomever crosses her path. Will the traveler dare to enter the woods? What awaits him there? Find the answers in "The Bell of St. Sépulcre". B. J.

One night during his regular rambles, Mérimée stumbles upon a mysterious woman who invites him home to her place. They enter a big, dark but luxuriously furnished room and they spend the whole night having dinner and talking. However things take a turn to the strange when the eery lady starts talking about death and tombs. Mérimée realises that his companion is not an ordinary woman and that he is in danger. Will he get himself out of there alive or will Xélucha drag him with her to the underworld? B. J.

A young traveler is up on a mountain when night falls and he finds shelter with a family that lives nearby. They make friendly conversation and the visitor shares his dreams and goals to achieve great things in life. Their conversation is however interrupted by the sound of rocks falling from the slope. Are they in danger? Find out in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s "The Ambitious Guest". B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

The Porte Montmartre is under citizen Bibot’s command and he is determined not to let anybody escape. When he finds out that Scarlet Pimpernel is planning his next rescue mission, he is ready to do whatever it takes to stop the commander of "The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel". Will he manage to do so or will Pimpernel outwit him? Will the Duc and Duchesse de Montreux be saved by Pimpernel or will this mission fail? Find out the answers in the second of eleven short stories, combined in "The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel" from 1919.

Halpin Frayser awakes from a dreamless sleep and the only thing in his mind was the words "Catherine Larue". Frayer feels a shiver down his spine because this was not the first strange thing he had experienced that day. Earlier, he was hunting in the forest but he could feel that something was not quite right. The picture of a haunted forest dripping with blood had come up in his mind. He had seen himself writing a poem with blood. The corpse of his mother had been in front of him.

It is the day after Christmas. Colonel Adams and his daughter are throwing a party. The neighbor, the girl’s uncle, her godfather and the local priest Father Brown are invited. The uncle comes up with a plan: they are going to arrange a masquerade play with costumes. It seems like a very good idea, until the three diamonds the girl’s godfather had brought her as a gift disappeared from his pocket. Luckily Father Brown is there and he will try to solve this case as quickly as possible.

The Twelve True Fishermen are going on their annual dinner at an exclusive club where fifteen waiters are going to serve the guests. The fishermen are refined and insist on using their own ornate silver knives and forks, which are shaped like fish and have a pearl in the handles. The dinner goes as planned until the silver cutlery disappears. Have some of the waiters stolen it? Father Brown will find out. B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

Baron Grogzwig lives a life full of pleasure, drinking and hunting with his friends. But when he decides ´ to marry one of his fellow baron’s daughter, his days change drastically. First he has to send his friends away as per his wife’s demands. Then his responsibilities start growing bigger with time as his wife gifts him with twelve children. When the thirteenth child is on the way, baron Grogzwig’s despair and lack of money become unbearable. He decides to end his life.

While hosting a party, a banker makes a bet with one of his guests, who is a lawyer. The topic of the bet is capital punishment and whether it is worse or better than a life sentence. The banker sees the capital punishment as more humane than life imprisonment, whilst the young lawyer completely disagrees. The bet is as follows: if the lawyer spends fifteen years in complete isolation, the banker will give him two million rubles. As the years pass, the banker realizes that he will go bankrupt if he loses the bet.

An Englishman stops at an inn during his trip through Transylvania. He decides to wander around in a carriage despite the approaching night; darkness doesn't seem to worry him. He sets off but after a while the horses get scared by howling wolfs. The Englishman continues by foot and suddenly finds himself in a snowy and gloomy cemetery. This would not be that big of a problem if this specific night was not the so called Walpurgis Night, or in other words the time when spirits leave their graves to haunt the living.

Lionel Dacre is a young man who lives in a small house in Paris. Because of his large interest in the occult, Dacre has gathered a huge library of occult literature and many mysterious items. One of these items is a leather funnel next to which the young man sleeps. The strange thing is that in his dreams, Lionel can see exactly how the funnel has been used.

Fleete is an Englishman who is traveling to India. Unfortunately, the poor man has no prior understanding or respect for Indian culture and ends up desecrating a holy statue in the local temple. Fleete can give no reasonable explanation for his actions and is declared bewitched by the "Silver Man". Why is Fleete in India? Who is the "Silver Man"? What will happen to Fleete? Find all the answers in Rudyard Kipling’s adventure story "The Mark of the Beast" from 1890. B. J.

An Adjutant-crane, a jackal and a giant crocodile are talking by the river, under a newly built railway bridge. The crocodile remembers the good old days, when he used to catch and devour the villagers as they tried to pass through a ford. He also remembers a boat sailing down the river, on which was a white child whom the crocodile tried to catch, but got shot with a revolver instead. Soon the reptile falls asleep, when two men with riffles cross the bridge.