Showing results by publisher "B.J. Harrison" in All Categories

Why does Sherlock Holmes declare that the person he is to meet is the worst man in London? Included in the anthology of short stories, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, this story contains the first meeting of Holmes and Watson, and chronicles their first adventure together.

A stagecoach containing a microcosm of French society seek to escape to Le Havre during the Prussian war. Stopping at an inn along the way, they soon realize they have blundered into Prussian occupied territory. The travelers are not allowed to leave until one woman, a prostitute known as Boule de Suif, (literally suet dumpling, or ball of fat), sleeps with the commanding officer. This turn of events is met with universal indignation by the travelers. But as the days stretch out, everyone’s true colors are revealed.

After battling the tempestuous sea, four men in a boat finally spy land. But will the process of getting to the land be their undoing? Based upon Crane’s experience of surviving a shipwreck when traveling to Cuba, The Open Boat is an excellent example of literary Naturalism. H.G. Wells considered it “the crown of all [Crane’s] work”.

A monster lurks in the Canadian forests. If the legends are to be believed, a small band of hunters is about to meet the Wendigo. The legend of the Wendigo originates from folk stories from the Plains and Great Lakes Native Americans. The creature is a malevolent spirit, known to possess and even eat humans.

Jacques Futrelle created a sleuth named Professor Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen, known as The Thinking Machine. He’s American, and has many similarities with Sherlock Holmes. For example, he isn’t a policeman, but he works with them on occasion, and he handily summarizes his deductions once the case is solved.

George Roberts of Virginia is a captain without a ship. But when he meets his charismatic friend Ned Low, and they share a glass or two, he realizes the next day that he’s signed on as first mate for a voyage to retrieve a fortune in gold.

Anthony Trollope was a British writer of the Victorian period. He was very prolific, writing 47 novels, 42 short stories and five travel books. He is primarily known for his “Chronicles of Barsetshire” series of novels, including the books “The Warden” and “Barchester Towers”. It is held that his satiric novel, “The Way We Live Now” is his masterpiece.

Edith Nesbit wrote under the name E. Nesbit, and is most famous for her stories for children, and has influenced the likes of J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis and P.L. Travers. She wrote over 60 books, including The Railway Children, Five Children and It, and The Story of the Treasure Seekers. Her second, darker reputation was as a purveyor of horror stories, which are sublime in their elegance and simplicity.

G.K. Chesterton is most notable for his creation of Father Brown. This unlooked for, and often unwelcome, detective is actually not a detective. But rather, an individual self-trained to think as criminals think, for he has heard so many of their confessions. He knows how their minds work, and can piece together many things that others cannot.

Sir Hugh takes his secret to the grave with a vicious grin on his lips–a devious grin that is somehow contagious.

Frederick is freed of his indentures to the ferociously temperate Pirates of Penzance. What will he do with his newfound freedom?

When young, penniless Bellarion finds himself thrust into a murderous intrigue, his sharp wit and scholarly background allow him to see things invisible to others. Set in 15th century Italy, and cast with a rogues’ gallery of colorful villains, Bellarion adroitly navigates the complicated world of dukes, counts, and countesses to rise to unusual prominence and serve a purpose all his own.