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A Poor Wise Man
by Mary Roberts RinehartA Poor Wise Man mixes romantic fiction with political analysis. This engrossing story begins, "The city turned its dreariest aspect toward the railway on blackened walls, irregular and ill-paved streets, gloomy warehouses, and over all a gray, smoke-laden atmosphere which gave it mystery and often beauty. <P> <P> Sometimes the softened towers of the great steel bridges rose above the river mist like fairy towers suspended between Heaven and earth. And again the sun tipped the surrounding hills with gold, while the city lay buried in its smoke shroud, and white ghosts of river boats moved spectrally along.
Red Pepper Burns
by Grace S. Richmond1910. With illustrations by C. M Relyea and John Jackson. In this novel Richmond writes about R. P. Burns, whose fiery hairy (not to mention a similar temper), earned him the nickname of Red Pepper among his friends. He was a country doctor of the old school-one of those whole-souled enthusiasts who would rather relieve some neighbor's suffering than eat his own dinner. And Mrs. Richmond, who has clearly studied her hero from life, makes a highly lovable personality out of this impetuous, brilliant, powerful, high-minded young doctor. This romance with Ellen Lessing, makes a delightfully interesting and wholesome story which ends with wedding bells gaily ringing as it needs must end. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
Dangerous Days
by Mary Roberts RinehartIf you're a fan of tightly plotted historical mysteries, don't miss Mary Roberts Rinehart's Dangerous Days. This tale blends disparate elements such as industrial spies, intrigue among the American aristocracy, and the political and social climate that led up to World War I into a fast-paced and eminently satisfying read.
A Millionaire of Yesterday
by E. Phillips OppenheimE Phillips Oppenheim was a British writer known for his thriller novels. He is credited with writing over 100 novels including suspense, international intrigue, romance, parables, and comedies. <P> <P> His protagonists are known for their love of luxury, gourmet meals, and their enjoyment of criminal activities. Two men, one old, one young, go on an African expedition. They join together in a mining venture that they think will make them rich when the English government recognizes their claim. They agree that, should one of them die, the other will get everything. When the older man dies the younger returns to England a wealthy man where his partner's daughter refers to him as a millionaire of yesterday.
A House to Let
by Wilkie Collins Charles Dickens Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell Adelaide Anne ProcterI had been living at Tunbridge Wells and nowhere else, going on for ten years, when my medical man-very clever in his profession, and the prettiest player I ever saw in my life of a hand at Long Whist, which was a noble and a princely game before <P> <P> Short was heard of-said to me, one day, as he sat feeling my pulse on the actual sofa which my poor dear sister Jane worked before her spine came on, and laid her on a board for fifteen months at a stretch-the most upright woman that ever lived-said to me, "What we want, ma'am, is a fillip. ""Good gracious, goodness gracious, Doctor Towers!" says I, quite startled at the man, for he was so christened himself: "don't talk as if you were alluding to people's names; but say what you mean. ""I mean, my dear ma'am, that we want a little change of air and scene. ""Bless the man!" said I; "does he mean we or me!""I mean you, ma'am. ""Then Lard forgive you, Doctor Towers," I said; "why don't you get into a habit of expressing yourself in a straightforward manner, like a loyal subject of our gracious Queen Victoria, and a member of the Church of England?"Towers laughed, as he generally does when he has fidgetted me into any of my impatient ways-one of my states, as I call them-and then he began,-"Tone, ma'am, Tone, is all you require!" He appealed to Trottle, who just then came in with the coal-scuttle, looking, in his nice black suit, like an amiable man putting on coals from motives of benevolence.
The Quest of the Sacred Slipper
by Sax RohmerArthur Henry Sarsfield Ward, better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is most remembered for his series of novels featuring Dr. Fu Manchu, the master criminal and perhaps the source of the literary notion of Yellow Peril. His first published work was in 1903, the short story "The Mysterious Mummy" for "Pearson's Weekly. " He published his first novel -- "Pause " -- anonymously in 1910 and the first Fu Manchu tale, "The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu," was serialized over 1912-13. The Fu Manchu stories, together with those featuring Gaston Max or Morris Klaw, made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid writers in of the 1920s and 1930s. In "The Quest of the Sacred Slipper," terror comes to Britain when a self-centered archeologist unearths one of Islam's holiest relics -- the sacred slipper of the prophet Mohammed. Until it is returned to its rightful people, the implacable Hassan of Allepo vows his reign of death and destruction shall not cease. Behind these inhuman outrages is a secret group of fanatics. Not even the best men of Scotland Yard seem able to apprehend them. For, in some mystical way, this phantom band had never been seen or even heard . . .
The Hound Of The Baskervilles (PDF)
by Arthur Conan DoyleOne of the most iconic and memorable of all the Sherlock Holmes stories. A terrible beast, a house wreathed in fog, treacherous moorland and a cold-blooded murder - these are the things Sherlock and his faithful assistant Dr Watson are up against. THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES gripped readers when it was first published and continues to endure today.
A Fair Penitent
by Wilkie CollinsDelve into the seamy underside of eighteenth-century Paris in this gripping short story from beloved British author Wilkie Collins. <P> <P> The fair penitent of the title is a renowned stage actress who decides to give up her life of cultural refinement and cushy creature comforts to seek out a more spiritually fulfilling path. Will she find a way to make things right and repent?
A Dark Night's Work
by Elizabeth Cleghorn GaskellElizabeth Gaskell's books include Gothic mysteries and historical fiction, and much of her work was published in the journals of Charles Dickens. Her most famous novels are Cranford, North and South and Wives and Daughters. <P> <P> Her books tend to criticize social attitudes that were common at the time as well as exploring the roles of women in society with dynamic female characters. A Dark Night's Work is about a murder that was motivated due to class inequalities. The book was serialized by Charles Dickens in 1863.
The Glass Key
by Dashiell HammettUnlike most of Hammett's works, the protagonist of The Glass Key isn't a private detective; Ned Beaumont is a gambler, and the friend of a criminal boss. <P> The action starts when he discovers the body of a senator's son, and his friend wants him to help cover it up as a means of gaining the senator's favour. This draws Beaumont into a brewing gang war, and he has to solve the mystery if he wants to get out alive. It has been adapted for film twice. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Franchise Affair
by Josephine TeyRobert Blair has a quiet life as a solicitor in a small town until the Sharpes, a mother and daughter living in The Franchise, their country home, are accused of kidnapping and abuse. <P> Blair, with some guidance from Scotland Yard's brilliant Inspector Grant, dons the cap of the amateur detective, determined to get to the bottom of these startling accusations. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Daughter of Time
by Josephine TeyWhat does a great detective do when he's stuck in bed? Inspector Grant is used to prowling the streets, solving crimes and unraveling mysteries, so when he finds himself bedridden in the hospital, he needs something to occupy his mind.<P> He turns his attention to the figure of Richard III--generally considered a murderous monster by history. But is the reputation really earned? Soon the inspector has his friends delivering stacks of history books to him, but can any detective, even one of his skill, solve a 400-year-old mystery? In 1990, the UK Crime Writers' Association ranked it at number one on their list of The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
Master Crook's Crime Academy: Robbery For Rascals (PDF)
by Terry DearyAfter sending dozens of innocent people to jail, cruel Judge Fumble decides to rest at his country mansion. But he must ensure that the Fumble fortune remains safe on the journey home. . . On the other side of town, the students of the world's first crime academy are getting set for another lesson in crime-this time from the greatest highway robber Wildpool has ever seen. Books this funny should be against the law!
Poirot: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (PDF)
by Agatha ChristieRoger Ackroyd knew too much. He knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her brutal first husband. He suspected also that someone had been blackmailing her. Now, tragically, came the news that she had taken her own life with a drug overdose. But the evening post brought Roger one last fatal scrap of information. Unfortunately, before he could finish the letter, he was stabbed to death.
Short Story Collection: The Continental Op (PDF)
by Dashiell Hammett'An acknowledged literary landmark' Robert Graves Dashiell Hammett is the true inventor of modern detective fiction and the creator of the private eye, the isolated hero in a world where treachery is the norm. The Continental Op was his great first contribution to the genre and these seven stories, which first appeared in the magazine Black Mask, are the best examples of Hammett's early writing, in which his formidable literary and moral imagination is already operating at full strength. The Continental Op is the dispassionate fat man working for the Continental Detective Agency, modelled on the Pinkerton Agency, whose only interest is in doing his job in a world of violence, passion, desperate action and great excitement.
The Woman in White
by Wilkie CollinsOne of the earliest and most entrancing mystery novels ever written. The young Walter Hartright is employed as the wealthy Limmeridge House. He meets Laura, the patriarch's niece, and the mysterious white-clad Anne, her near-double, and becomes enmeshed in a dastardly plot by Laura's new husband, the scheming Percival Glyde, to steal her fortune. It will take all of Walter's wiles to solve the mystery of the woman in white and set things right. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
Unseemly Science
by Rod DuncanIn the divided land of England, Elizabeth Barnabus has been living a double life - as both herself and as her brother, the private detective. Witnessing the hanging of Alice Carter, the false duchess, Elizabeth resolves to throw the Bullet Catcher's Handbook into the fire, and forget her past. If only it were that easy!There is a new charitable organisation in town, run by some highly respectable women. But something doesn't feel right to Elizabeth. Perhaps it is time for her fictional brother to come out of retirement for one last case...? Her unstoppable curiosity leads her to a dark world of body-snatching, unseemly experimentation, politics and scandal. Never was it harder for a woman in a man's world...File Under: FantasyFrom the Paperback edition.
The Thin Man
by Dashiell HammettThe Thin Man stars Nick Charles, a retired private detective, and his wife Nora, who get sucked into investigating a murder case, and have to navigate the complicated Wynant family, along with cops and criminals, and bring their best to the table in order to solve the crime. It was Dashiell Hammett's last novel, though its 1934 film adaptation did lead to five sequels. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
The Maltese Falcon
by Dashiell HammettOne of the most influential mystery novels ever written, and the only one to star the legendary and iconic Sam Spade. When Spade's partner is killed on what appears to be a routine case, Spade is drawn into the search for a mysterious, valuable object known as the Maltese Falcon, and must contend with the eclectic criminals looking for it, any of which would happily kill Spade (or each other), or use him for their own ends. It has been adapted for film three times, most famously starring Humphrey Bogart. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
Moll Flanders
by Daniel Defoe G. A. Starr Linda Bree'Twelve Year a Whore, fives times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and died a Penitent' So the title page of this extraordinary novel describes the career of the woman known as Moll Flanders, whose real name we never discover. And so, in a tour-de-force of writing by the businessman, political satirist, and spy Daniel Defoe, Moll tells her own story, a vivid and racy tale of a woman's experience in the seamy side of life in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century England and America. Born in Newgate prison, and seduced in the home of her adoptive family, she learns to live off her wits, defying the traditional depiction of women as helpless victims. First published in 1722, and one of the earliest novels in the English language, its account of opportunism, endurance, and survival speaks as strongly to us today as it did to its original readers.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThis splendid collection of mysteries carries readers back to a gas-lit era, when literature's greatest detective team lived on Baker Street. A dozen of Holmes and Watson's best-known cases include "The Speckled Band," "The Red-Headed League," "The Five Orange Pips," "The Copper Beeches," and "A Scandal in Bohemia."
Black Caesar's Clan: A Florida Mystery Story
by Albert Payson TerhuneThis is an entertainment book. For the action-loving people, the rattlesnakes will definitely thrill you.
The Old English Baron
by Clara ReeveClara Reeve (1729-1807), novelist, was the author of several novels, of which only one is remembered -- "The Old English Baron" (1777), written in imitation of, or rivalry with, the "Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, with which it has often been printed. Her novel has noticeably influenced Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein." Her innovative history of prose fiction, "The Progress of Romance" (1785), can be regarded generally as a precursor to modern histories of the novel and specifically as upholding the tradition of female literary history.
Little Brother
by Cory DoctorowMarcus, aka "w1n5t0n," is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works-- and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school's intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems. But his whole world changes when, having skipped school, he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison, where they're mercilessly interrogated for days. When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state, where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself. Can one teenage hacker fight back against a government out of control? Maybe, but only if he's really careful . . . and very, very smart.
The Riddle of the Sands
by Erskine ChildersThe story reflects on an earlier time when men and guns crossed easily across frontiers and the most important thing to take on a cruise besides a "prismatic compass" was a pound of your favorite pipe tobacco.