Showing results by narrator "Walter Covell" in All Categories

Like Charles Dickens' other early novels, The Old Curiosity Shop was a huge success, even eclipsing The Pickwick Papers. The melodramatic saga of the flight of Little Nell and her grandfather captured the public's attention, so much so that people would wait in long lines for the release of the next installment of the saga. For the character of Little Nell, the beautiful child thrown into a shadowy, terrifying world, Dickens drew on a tragedy in his own life.

Raffles is Sherlock Holmes' polar opposite, a foil for great detectives and a man with all the immoral charms of a hero-thief, plus a remarkable ability at cricket. Raffles is the godson of Robin Hood, the model for Cary Grant in "To Catch a Thief," and the inspiration of Leslie Charteris' "The Saint." As the great reinvention of the trickster for the 20th century, Raffles convinces readers to throw away their scruples and follow along for wit, bold adventures, and thrilling suspense.

Miss Mary Morstan has been receiving pearls and she knows not why or from whom. Now she receives something else: a letter that promises to reveal the mystery and to "right the wrongs" against her. "If you distrust me," continued the correspondent, "bring two friends." She brings Sherlock Holmes and Watson.

Fitz-James O'Brien was an Irish-born poet, journalist, and short-story writer who migrated to America in 1852. He died from an injury acquired during the Civil War. O'Brien was called "the preeminent writer of supernatural stories of his time", and he is best remembered for two or three widely anthologized stories that border on science fiction. Among them is this masterpiece.

"The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet", is the 11th of the 12 stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In the story, a banker makes a loan of £50,000 to a socially prominent client, who leaves a valuable Beryl Coronet as security. The banker takes the jewel home with him to lock it up there but is awakened in the night by a noise and is horrified to see his son, Arthur, with the coronet in his hands, apparently trying to bend it.

Sherlock Holmes takes an interest in the case of a British Foreign Office employee who has had an important naval treaty stolen from his office. "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. It is one of the longest stories in the Sherlock Holmes collections.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote many types of fiction: mystery, detection, science fiction,and historical adventures. He created many memorable characters, wrote dozens of short stories and more than two dozen novels, Yet everything he wrote fell under the the shadow of Sherlock Holmes.

"The Adventure of the Norwood Builder" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was the second tale published in The Return of Sherlock Holmes in 1903.

One of the most popular of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, "Silver Blaze" focuses on the disappearance of a famous race horse on the eve of an important race, and on the apparent murder of its trainer.

"The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and is one of 13 stories in the collection The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

Louis XIII had to be a Solomon. His queen produced twin male heirs - two sons of equal age with equal pretensions. Louis feared for France. One prince means peace and safety for the state, two are a recipe for civil war and anarchy. One son had to go. Louis could not kill him, but he could hide him in an iron mask. Such is the quality of paternal mercy.

Irishwoman Charlotte Riddell was truly a born story-teller. In Essex she found the right dreary setting for The Haunted House at Latchford, "where beyond the fated house and ruined garden lay the belt of pine trees and the lake of the dismal swamp, which had furnished Crow Hall with no less than two tragedies."

At first, The Man Who Was Thursday seems no more than a detective story that also has both poetry and politics, as well. But it soon becomes a mystery that grows more mysterious, until it is nothing less than the mystery of creation itself.

In "The Invisible Man", a murderer manages to get in and out of a house, even though it is under constant observation. In some ways, the story parallels Poe's "The Purloined Letter" but adds its own unique touches, particularly in the character and methods of priest-sleuth Father Brown.

Via a series of letters between himself and a friend, a man falls in love with a woman he has never met - and receives a shocking surprise when he travels to meet her.

"The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was originally published as part of The Return of Sherlock Holmes in 1903.

An English gentleman is murdered with a uniquely American weapon: a sawed-off shotgun. Since the police are baffled, Sherlock Holmes is asked to solve the murder.

The story is similar in structure to "A Study in Scarlet", with the second half taking place in the United States and filling in the history of what led up to the first half. Toward the end, the story comes back to Holmes and Watson.

M. R. James (Montague Rhodes James) was a noted British medieval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905-1918) and of Eton College. He is best remembered today for his ghost stories, which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature. As a medieval scholar his output in that field was phenomenal and remains highly respected in scholarly circles.

One day in 1872 in the Reformer's Club in London, Phileas Fogg takes up a wager to journey 'round the world in 80 days. He is accompanied by his valet, Passepartout, and a detective named Fix, who has been assigned by the Reformer's Club to observe his movements. Showing fortitude and endless resourcefulness, Fogg and his companions narrowly escape from barbarians, hostile mobs, and schemers during their journey.

Benjamin Franklin's wide range of activities and interests opened the doors of the world to him. Printer, inventor, philosopher, ambassador, champion of liberty - his influence has been felt by every American generation. And to everything he touched, including this autobiography, Franklin brought originality and wit.