Showing results for "Detective Fiction" in Politics & Social Sciences

In the six volumes of the Library of the World’s Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Julian Hawthorne presents us thrilling and mysterious short stories from all corners of the world. Some of the stories appeared in this 1907 collection for the first time translated into English, and many of them come from unexpected sources, such as the letters of Pliny the Younger, or a Tibetan manuscript. In the first volume, we find stories written by American authors.

Tired of being bullied, a scrawny, impoverished Dawood Ibrahim is looking for a saviour, Khalid Khan Bachcha, who would teach him the ropes of handling a bunch of hooligans. Instead, what he gets is a mentor who eventually transforms him into a cunning mafia boss. In Dawood's Mentor, Dawood...

This is a book about books, about the subversive power of reading and the strange, enduring magic of books as objects. Ever since childhood, books have been at the centre of Ian Patterson's life, as a poet, teacher, translator, bookseller and collector. As he constructs the last of many...

In the captivating second volume of the Library of the Worlds Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Julian Hawthorne invites you to explore an intriguing collection of short stories that span the globe. Many of these tales make their English debut here, sourced from unexpected origins like the letters of Pliny the Younger and ancient Tibetan manuscripts. This volume features gripping narratives from both English and Scottish authors, sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. (Summary by Leni)

Brought to you by Penguin. A nineteenth century French priest discovers something in his mountain village at the foot of The Pyrenees which enables him to amass and spend a fortune of millions of pounds. The tale seems to begin with buried treasure and then turns into an unprecedented historical...

Evil lurks in the hearts and minds of men and many nefarious schemes are hatched by these gangsters, mob bosses and super villains. But thankfully, equally brave, talented detectives (some of them hooded) are there to track them down and thwart their twisted plans. These six stories, along with two "true fact detective shorts" were in the magazine Hooded Detective, January 1942. Are they well written? well, no, but they are fun. Here are a few of the blurbs: "They had expected spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner, but were served instead, hot lead, with a little bit of blood on the side...." (...

A mystery in the 'old fashioned' romantic genre, introducing characters that inspired another famous writer of detective mystery fiction. The heroine of the tale is Lilly Fairfield, a young and naïve, orphaned heiress. Lilly is to stay with her Countess Aunt in Monte Carlo for a few months, she was acquainted with her Aunt Emmeline as she had lived with her in England when Lilly was a young girl. The countess resides now with her husband at the uncannily named 'La Solitude', a rather down at heal, secluded and mysterious estate. Traveling by train she becomes acquainted with a middle aged ...

Lois Reddle is a young girl who works as a clerk in a lawyer’s office. One day her boss, Mr. Shaddles, asks her to pay a visit to Telsbury women’s prison on a legal errand. Whilst there she encounters an intriguing inmate only to discover that she is a notorious convicted murderer. Regardless of this fact she is somehow drawn to this woman and finds she remains on her mind after the visit. Her boss then recommends Lois to be hired by an esteemed client, and she takes on a job at the home of the Countess of Moron. Soon she encounters a man named Michael Dorn who seems to be more than ...

Phillip Maxwell is well known for his lavish dinner parties and all who are privileged to be invited to Maxwell Chimneys always look forward to an interesting evening. Present is Peter King, a long-time friend of Phillip's (also the narrator of this little story), a couple of good friends, a detective, an English Earl, a husband and wife and finally the beautiful Milly. She is the little coquette whom Phillip has proposed to many times hoping that this will be the last. It will be the last but not for the reason he expects!!! Halfway through the evening a shot is heard. Phillip is dead and ...

To get away from city life periodically, New Yorker Roger Locke purchases an abandoned farm house in rural Connecticut, and with the assistance of his cousin Phillida and her beau Ethan Vere, he sets about fixing up the place.Immediately however, an unseen mysterious woman begins giving him warnings during nocturnal visits to leave the house at once. Soon he begins hearing strange ominous sounds emanating from the tiny lake at the back of the house coupled with a permeation of sickly odors. An evil presence then begins to visit him during the witching hours of the late night, challenging him ...

Joseph Muller, police detective, travels to a remote Hungarian village to discover the truth behind the murder of a beloved village Pastor. (Introduction by Dawn)

Murder mystery #8 by the prolific American author Carolyn Wells, featuring her famous detective, Fleming Stone (though that detective isn’t brought into the case until it’s almost too late). The novel features a heroine resisting pressure to marry a man she doesn’t love, detectives and police who keep chasing clues in the wrong directions, a teenage wanna-be detective who’s also an inveterate liar, and a host of other interesting characters, most of whom merely serve to redirect the course of justice until Fleming Stone shows up to set them all straight. (Summary by Winnifred Assmann) ...

Nothing seems to be known about Mr and Mrs William Platt, the writers of Stories of the Scottish Border. What they produced is an eccentric guidebook and history, seen partly through the ballads of the region. The book recounts the military stratagems, treachery and courage of those who struggled for control of the Border lands and of the whole country, and tells of the triumphs or tragic fate of those who took part on both sides. It also tells us stories of the Border Reivers, raiders who lived by riding out and stealing their neighbours’ livestock. Their lives were governed for several ...

Once again our vigilante heroes lend their great talents to serve against those outwith the law; The setting is the Spanish city of Cordova, wherein a number of wealthy European financiers have succumbed to a mysterious poison. Manfred, Gonzales, Poiccart and another meet out justice in there usual inimitable fashion, thwarting the devious shenanigans of the criminals of the early twentieth century. - Summary by Andy Sames

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This nostalgic and absorbing memoir tells the story of a real-life female police detective in post-war Britain, as she navigates a man's world. It's 1956, and the Berkshire Constabulary has never had a woman detective before. That is, until bright and ambitious WPC Gwen Crockford passes out of...

Forced out of his high-powered Manhattan law firm and stuck in a dead-end solo practice, Michael Seeley, the tough-but-wounded hero of Errors and Omissions, cannot say no when his estranged brother, Leonard, head of research at upstart biotech Vaxtek, Inc., flies in from California to beg him to...

Steadfast in fighting crime, but operating outside the police force - and sometimes even the law - is the private detective. Driven by his own moral code, he is a shadowy figure in a trench coat standing on a street corner, his face most likely obscured by a tilted fedora, a lit cigarette dangling from his hand. The hard-boiled detective is known by his dark past, private pain, and powers of deduction. He only asks questions - never answers them. In his stories he is both the main character and the narrator.

In the eerie manor house, a string of assaults has left its mistress gripped by terror, while one incident escalates to a shocking murder. Whispers of footsteps echo through the halls, and shadowy figures vanish before your eyes. While the servants attribute these events to the supernatural, its up to Quintus Oakes to unravel the chilling mystery lurking within the walls. (Summary by Lynne Thompson)

Un anno di indagini, dodici mesi fuori dal tempo, un diario che decide il destino di chi lo apre. Giorgio De Giorgi, ex cuoco diventato “detective per caso”, racconta in prima persona il suo 2025: un anno in cui il vecchio diario torna a scrivere, lo trascina tra i laghi di Avigliana, i vicoli di Torino e casi sempre più oscuri, mentre Joel, l’enigmatico personaggio legato al diario, riappare nella sua vita. Ogni giorno è un caso diverso e un pezzo di verità in più: omicidi sulle rive della Dora, manoscritti scomparsi alla Sacra, una villa piena di segreti, un treno fantasma carico ...