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Adventures of a Black Bag by A.J. Cronin
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The 39 Steps
John Buchan - 1915
Initially sceptical, Hannay nonetheless harbours the man—but one day returns home to find him murdered... An obvious suspect, Hannay flees to his native Scotland, pursued by both the police and a cunning, ruthless enemy. His life and the security of Britain are in grave peril, and everything rests on the solution to a baffling enigma: what are the 'thirty nine steps?'
The Game of Kings
Dorothy Dunnett - 1961
In 1547 Lymond is returning to his native Scotland, which is threatened by an English invasion. Accused of treason, Lymond leads a band of outlaws in a desperate race to redeem his reputation and save his land.
Parker Pyne Investigates
Agatha Christie - 1934
The Queen of Crime.Curious? Then you're invited to read ... 'Parker Pyne Investigates'. In the US, known as, 'Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective'. Two titles, same great short stories. In fact 12 of them! Our detective's personal ad posed a simple question, 'Are you happy? If not, consult Mr. Parker Pyne'. The answer was a resounding 'I am not happy' for a jealous wife who suspects her husband of infidelity, for a lonely widow driven to assume a new identity, for a distraught mother whose son has been kidnapped, and for a strangely reclusive bride-to-be. But what sort of detective would solicit in the personal column? The sort who has a knack for investigating affairs of the heart. For therein lie the darkest motives for murder. And they are proving most lucrative for the hopelessly romantic, and highly suspicious, Parker Pyne.The 12 stories are: 1. The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife, 2. The Case of the Discontented Soldier, 3. The Case of the Distressed Lady, 4. The Case of the Discontented Husband, 5. The Case of the City Clerk, 6. The Case of the Rich Woman, 7. Have You Got Everything You Want?, 8. The Gate of Bagdad, 9. The House at Shiraz, 10. The Pearl of Price, 11. Death on the Nile, and 12. The Oracle at Delphi. Librarian's note #1. the short story, Death on the Nile in this compilation starring Parker Pyne, should not be mistaken with the novel, Death on the Nile starring Hercule Poirot. Both by Christie.Librarian's note #2: there are two more Parker Pyne stories in other collections. The stories are titled: 'The Regatta Mystery' and 'Problem at Pollensa Bay'. Including these two, there are 14 Pyne stories for your reading pleasure.Librarian's note #3: this is the entry for the collection of 12 short stories, "Parker Pyne Investigates' ('Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective'). Entries for each of the individual stories are located elsewhere on Goodreads. All 14 can be found by searching Goodreads for: 'a Parker Pyne Short Story'.
Ross Poldark
Winston Graham - 1945
But instead, he discovers that his father has died, his home is overrun by livestock and drunken servants, and Elizabeth, having believed Ross dead, is now engaged to his cousin. Ross must start over, building a completely new path for his life, one that takes him in exciting and unexpected directions....Thus begins an intricately plotted story spanning loves, lives, and generations. The Poldark series is the masterwork of Winston Graham, who evoked the period and people like only he could, and created a world of rich and poor, loss and love, that listeners will not soon forget.
The Master of Ballantrae
Robert Louis Stevenson - 1889
The Master is about his infective influence—on his younger, less attractive brother Henry; on Henry's wife Alison; and on those narrators whom Stevenson so skilfully employs to present their experiences of this charming, ruthless, and evil man.
Something Fresh
P.G. Wodehouse - 1915
Blandings has impostors like other houses have mice. Now there are two of them – both intent on a dangerous enterprise. Lord Emsworth’s secretary, the efficient Baxter, is on the alert and determined to discover what is afoot – despite the distractions caused by the Honorable Freddie Threepwood’s hapless affair of the heart.
The Man Who Would Be King
Rudyard Kipling - 1888
Written when he was only 22 years old, the tale also features some of Rudyard Kipling’s most crystalline prose, and one of the most beautifully rendered, spectacularly exotic settings he ever used. Best of all, it features two of his most unforgettable characters, the ultra-vivid Cockneys Peachy Carnahan and Daniel Dravot, who impart to the story its ultimate, astonishing twist: it is both a tragedy and a triumph.
The Black Moth
Georgette Heyer - 1921
Disgraced Jack Carstares, now rightful Earl of Wyncham, left England seven long years ago, sacrificing his honour for that of his eldest brother when he was accused of cheating at cards. But he is determined not to claim his title and instead turns highwayman. Now he is back, roaming his beloved South Country in the disguise of a highwayman. Not long after his return, he encounters the Black Moth, his old adversary, the notorious Lord Tracy Belmanoir, Duke of Andover, just in time to dispute at the point of his sword the attempted abduction of dark-haired lovely Diana Beauleigh. Once more Jack's noble impulse to save the day landed him in trouble, but not before sending the villainous duke scurrying. Diana took her gallant rescuer in and nursed his wounds, and soon truer emotions grew between them. But Jack couldn't stay, for a lady and an outlaw would make a scandalous pair. And the libertine Duke was foiled once, but the society beauty was under siege. The Duke of Andover meant to have her--if not with her assent, then by force. But Diana was not about to surrender her virtue. She had already lost her heart to the handsome mysterious highwayman who rescued her from the Duke. Torn between his tarnished past and the hope for Diana's hand, Jack had one dangerous chance to reclaim his honor -- by defeating the Black Moth for good!
Long Summer Day
R.F. Delderfield - 1966
It seems remote from the march of progress. But as storm clouds gather over Europe, Paul learns that no part of England, however remote, can escape the challenge of the times.
Call for the Dead
John le Carré - 1961
But why? Fennan, a Foreign Office man, had been under investigation for alleged Communist Party activities, but Smiley had made it clear that the investigation -- little more than a routine security check -- was over and that the file on Fennan could be closed. The very next day, Fennan was found dead with a note by his body saying his career was finished and he couldn't go on. Smiley was puzzled...
Memento Mori
Muriel Spark - 1959
Beneath the once decorous surface of their lives, unsavories like blackmail and adultery are now to be glimpsed. As spooky as it is witty, poignant and wickedly hilarious, Memento Mori may ostensibly concern death, but it is a book which leaves one relishing life all the more.
The Shuttle
Frances Hodgson Burnett - 1906
Sir Nigel Anstruthers crosses the Atlantic to look for a rich wife and returns with the daughter of an American millionaire, Rosalie Vanderpoel. He turns out to be a bully, a miser and a philanderer and virtually imprisons his wife in the house. Only when Rosalie's sister Bettina is grown up does it occur to her and her father that some sort of rescue expedition should take place. And the beautiful, kind and dynamic Bettina leaves for Europe to try and find out why Rosalie has, inexplicably, chosen to lose touch with her family. In the process she engages in a psychological war with Sir Nigel; meets and falls in love with another Englishman; and starts to use the Vanderpoel money to modernize ‘Stornham Court’.The book’s title refers to ships shuttling back and forth over the Atlantic (Frances Hodgson Burnett herself traveled between the two countries thirty-three times, something very unusual then).
The Red House Mystery
A.A. Milne - 1922
A. Milne was also the author of numerous dramas, essays, and novels for adults — among them, this droll and finely crafted whodunit.In it, Milne takes readers to the Red House, a comfortable residence in the placid English countryside that is the bachelor home of Mr. Mark Ablett. While visiting this cozy retreat, amateur detective Anthony Gillingham and his chum, Bill Beverley, investigate their genial host's disappearance and its connection with a mysterious shooting. Was the victim, whose body was found after a heated exchange with the host, shot in an act of self-defense? If so, why did the host flee, and if not, what drove him to murder?Between games of billiards and bowls, the taking of tea, and other genteel pursuits, Gillingham and Beverley explore the possibilities in a light-hearted series of capers involving secret passageways, underwater evidence, and other atmospheric devices.Sparkling with witty dialogue, deft plotting, and an intriguing cast of characters, this rare gem will charm mystery lovers, Anglophiles, and general readers alike.
The Secret Sharer
Joseph Conrad - 1910
A mysterious night-swimmer climbs aboard, and, in keeping the presence of this fugitive a secret, the skipper risks both his captaincy and the safety of his ship. A test of nerve in the Gulf of Siam ensues.