Even though he is an expert in his trade, Latham is astonished by the stone’s perfection and cannot begin to fathom its value. The package containing this extraordinary gem did not include a message, instructions, or a return address—and Latham soon discovers that 4 other American jewelers received diamonds identical to it. In fact, even the most skilled among the recipients cannot discern a difference between the stones. Where did these diamonds come from? Who might have sent them? And to what end?   This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

    A young doctor with a sluggish work ethic and a passion for sweets, Fortune is at his happiest when tending to an old man’s illness or curing a poor boy’s broken leg. When a call comes in alerting Fortune that the archduke has been found unconscious in the road, he hurries no more than he would for a regular patient. But as he discovers when he inspects the lord, this is a most irregular case. The archduke lives—but another man has been murdered in his name. This collection of six puzzling stories introduced the world to Reggie Fortune, a remarkable detective whose rotund frame conceals a razor-sharp mind and a fighting spirit. A true champion of the oppressed, Fortune will never let a murderer escape justice—whether his victim was royalty or the lowest of the low. Ths ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

    His land too barren for farming, Doomdorf builds a still and grows rich selling high-proof moonshine to anyone with a bit of change in his pocket. As drunkenness and debauchery run rampant across the countryside, the locals turn against him. They are preparing to exact frontier justice when the bootlegger is found dead, shot through the heart in a room locked from the inside. At the scene is Uncle Abner, a folksy sleuth who uses a keen eye and steadfast beliefs to solve the mysteries of Appalachia. In this landmark story collection, Abner contends with hunchbacks and drunkards, killers and thieves. In a time and a place beyond the rule of law, justice belongs to the Lord—and Uncle Abner is His instrument. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

    Henry is the pen name of American writer William Sydney Porter (1862-1910). Porter's 400 short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, characterization and the clever use of twist endings. He travelled to Austin in 1884, where he took a number of different jobs over the next several years, first as pharmacist then as a draftsman, bank teller and journalist. He also began writing as a sideline to employment. Porter's most prolific writing period started in 1902, when he moved to New York City to be near his publishers. He wrote 381 short stories while living there. He wrote a story a week for over a year for the New York World Sunday Magazine. His wit, characterization and plot twists were adored by his readers, but often panned by the critics. Yet, he went on to gain international recognition and is credited with defining the short story as a literary art form. His works include: Cabbages and Kings (1904), The Four Million (1906), Heart of the West (1907), The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories of the Four Million (1907), The Voice of the City: Further Stories of the Four Million (1908), The Gentle Grafter (1908) and Roads of Destiny (1909).This collection contains:The octopus marooned --Jeff Peters as a personal magnet --Modern rural sports --The chair of philanthromathematics --The hand that rules the world --The exact science of matrimony --A midsummer masquerade --Shearing the wolf --Innocents of Broadway --Conscience in art --The man higher up --A tempered wind --Hostages to Momus --The ethics of pig.

    "How in Tartarus," cried Flambeau, "did you ever hear of the spiked bracelet?" -- "Oh, one's little flock, you know!" said Father Brown, arching his eyebrows rather blankly. "When I was a curate in Hartlepool, there were three of them with spiked bracelets." Not long after he published Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton moved from London to Beaconsfield, and met Father O'Connor. O'Connor had a shrewd insight to the darker side of man's nature and a mild appearance to go with it--and together those came together to become Chesterton's unassuming Father Brown. Chesterton loved the character, and the magazines he wrote for loved the stories. The Innocence of Father Brown was the first collection of them, and it's a great lot of fun.

    He ensures that the worst villains get what’s coming to them while the honorable ones stay out on the street—where, like Blackie, they do more good than harm. In this classic collection of adventures, with his dependable wife and getaway driver, Mary, by his side, Blackie gets into and out of a dizzying array of tight spots. He escapes from prison, saves a friend from the gallows, and pulls off the gold bullion heist of a lifetime. Later adapted into serials, movies, and TV shows, Boston Blackie’s exploits are some of the most thrilling in all of crime fiction. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

    Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

    Henry Courtenay’s steadily declining health, his death comes as a shock to those around him. It was murder, Courtenay’s prim manservant exclaims, and he implores Dr. Ralph Boyd to find the culprit. The list of suspects appears to be short: Only someone who lives in Courtenay’s suburban London home could have gone into his room unnoticed. Could the murderer be one of the servants? Or perhaps Courtenay’s young wife—or her beautiful sister, with whom Boyd has fallen in love? Boyd is beginning to realize that in the Courtenay home, secrets abound at every turn and, as with all great mysteries, nothing is as simple as it seems.   This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

    With the help of his roommate and partner in detection, newspaper reporter Walter Jameson, Kennedy uses his mastery of technology to solve the most puzzling of mysteries. In “The Deadly Tube,” he investigates a case of murder by X-ray, and in “The Terror in the Air,” he applies the scientific method to a rash of airplane accidents blamed on gyroscopes.First appearing in the pages of Cosmopolitan magazine, Craig Kennedy was one of the most popular detectives of the early twentieth century, and Arthur B. Reeve’s stories featuring the scientific sleuth were the first mysteries by an American author to gain wide readership in Great Britain.This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

    This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

    Hilditch seems destined for the gallows, but he is saved by brilliant defense attorney Francis Ledsam, who uses every legal trick he knows to free his client. It is a defense to be proud of, but Ledsam’s joy vanishes when Hilditch’s wife informs him that her husband is guilty of crimes far more monstrous than murder.   His faith in his career shaken, Ledsam vows never again to defend a guilty man. But when his newfound principles run up against the harsh reality of real-world justice, he finds himself trapped between his love for a beautiful woman and a powerful desire to do the right thing—no matter the cost.   This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

    Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Mystery

    When someone makes a present of one to Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin knows he's getting dreadfully close to solving the devilishly clever murders of an immigrant and a college president. As for Wolfe, he's playing snake charmer in a case with more twists than an anaconda -- whistling a seductive tune he hopes will catch a killer who's still got poison in his heart.

    For devotees of Sherlock Holmes: ingenious, well-crafted stories by the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

    This sumptuous feast of criminal doings and undoings includes a vintage double identity and a horrid incident of feline assassination that will tease the minds of cat-lovers everywhere. Not to be missed are "The Incredible Elopement of Peter Wimsey" (with a lovely American woman-turned-zombie) and eight more puzzlers penned in inimitable style by the mistress of murder.Includes:The image in the mirror --The incredible elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey --The queen's square --The necklace of pearls --The poisoned dow '08 --Sleuths on the scent --Murder in the morning --One too many --Murder at Pentecost --Maher-Shalal-Hashbaz --The man who knew how --The fountain plays.