Sherlock Holmes fans will find a lot to like in Thomas W. Hanshew’s „The Riddle of the Night”. Thomas W. Hanshew (1857-1914), who also wrote as Charlotte Mary Kingsley, was an American author and actor best known for his stories of Hamilton Cleek, the man of the forty faces, who through his talents for disguise solves crime and mystery in London. He wrote some books in collaboration with his wife, Mary E Hanshew. In it, renowned consulting detective Hamilton Cleek is faced ...
This is another classic of golden-age detective fiction featuring Detective Hamilton Cleek who was introduced in „Cleek: The Man of the Forty Faces” first published in 1913. This super sleuth and master of disguise will bedazzle you once more as he ingeniously solves a new case. Without the logical mind and condescending manners of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Hamilton Cleek worms into your heart through your eyes and via your brain. In this tale, Cleek investigates the siniste...
Collection of several short mysteries, starring consulting detective Hamilton Cleek and his incredible skills at disguise with the assistance of his cockney assistant „Dollops”. Cleek is poacher-turned-gamekeeper, a master criminal who decides to turn straight and work for Scotland Yard after being stricken by the sight of a lovely, innocent young woman whose jewels he was about to pinch. Told as a fairly continuous narrative, held together by the underlying thread of Cleek...
Hamilton Cleek is back – or is he? Margot, Queen of the Apaches, the notorious French criminal gang, has been released on bail and vanished, Inspector Narkom of Scotland Yard has a series of inexplicable murders to solve, there is talk of revolution in Mauravania. And Cleek is missing. The stories collected here are some of the best about the clever and resourceful private detective Cleek, the man of the forty faces, who through his talents for disguise solves crime and mys...
In „The Riddle of the Mysterious Light”, consulting detective Hamilton Cleek is en route to meet with Scotland Yard detective Narkom when he’s intercepted by a roving gang of nefarious ne’er-do-wells. Can he muster his mighty intellect and physical prowess and hatch a plan to escape his captors? Hamilton Cleek is the central figure in dozens of short stories that began to appear in 1910 and were subsequently collected in a series of books. Cleek is a detective as remarkable...
A classic mystery novel featuring Hanshew’s best-known creation, the consulting detective Hamilton Cleek, known as „the man of the forty faces” for his incredible skill at disguise. An ex-cracksman turned Scotland Yard detective, Cleek’s slim and faultlessly dressed form is topped by an india-rubber-like face, of which he has remarkable control. Cleek is based in Clarges Street, London, where he is constantly consulted by Inspector Narkom of Scotland Yard. Cleek is the cent...
Thrilling detective novel taking place in the Engadine Express from Calais to Lucerne. It is a well-planned, logical detective story of the better sort, free from cheap sensationalism and improbability, developing surely and steadily by means of exciting situations to an unforeseen and satisfactory ending. A mysterious woman, followed by two detectives, shows up at the last minute to book a compartment for her servant, an infant and herself. The lady is afraid that someone ...
Set in an era when train travel was a privilege of the wealthy few, Arthur Griffiths’ „The Rome Express” features the exciting story of a murder on a luxury train and the ensuing investigation with most of the characters coming from higher classes. The passengers in the sleeping car of the Rome Express were just woken and informed that they will reach Paris soon, and a general bustle fills the train. Only one passenger cannot be awoken by the porter, no matter how loudly he...
Lance McCrea lived in a boarding house. There he met a girl he fell in love with. But their relationship is hampered by a powerful person. Lance tries to find out why this powerful man has some kind of hold over her. When he faces the man down, he finds he has been murdered. Of course, he is not the murderer but is a prime suspect anyway.
The Fort Edward Hotel, better known as the Maroney’s Hotel, looked in the middle of the streets like a packing box among soap dishes. Other habitats stretched out on both sides of the wrong double row. At eleven in the morning there were few humans in sight, because the black? ies were in murderous fettle, and anyway, the principal industry of the place was waiting for the railway. Strange things happen on these streets. The reader will not immediately be able to understand...
The historicity of this story captivated everyone. After all, it gives a feeling of a sense of thinking and adventure of that time. A young free fur trader challenges the practices of the North West Company trader who is cheating the Natives of proper prices and enslaving them with debt for goods. Here, not only sinister characters, rebellion and accusations, but also love stories unfold against the backdrop of all this.
Mappin is a wealthy New York criminologist and author who is highly valued by the police and high society. He participates only in those crimes that really interest him. And in ’Who Killed the Husband’ he investigates solely because all the people around him beg him to take action. In this story, a detective investigates the murder of a banker. The killer who, according to the police have already found.
Many guys wanted the playwright, Gavin Dordress, to die. Especially on the night of his party. Gail Garrett and Bea Townley openly quarreled for the main role in the play. The next morning Gavin Dordress was found shot to death, a chessman imprinted on his forehead, and nearby a letter of farewell that sounded suspiciously like one of his stage characters speaking. Then a new and amazing hint hastened the seemingly hopeless hunt.
„The Green Pack” is a novel adapted from a successful play by the playwright Robert Curtis. Robert Curtis was the private secretary to British crime writer Edgar Wallace. Curtis and Wallace met for the first time in 1913, before parting following the outbreak of World War One, as Curtis had to do his military service. In 1916, he was discharged from the service after contracting malaria. In 1918 he was reunited with Wallace who employed him as his secretary, he had the task...
1936. „Sanctuary Island” is a crime novel by the pioneer of detective fiction Edgar Wallace (an adaption by Robert Curtis). Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born in London, England in 1875. He received his early education at St. Peter’s School and the Board School, but after a frenetic teens involving a rash engagement and frequently changing employment circumstances, Wallace went into the military. He served in the Royal West Kent Regiment in England and then as part of t...
The novel of Edgar Wallace’s famous play told by Robert Curtis. „Smoky Cell”:... At ten o’clock that night the guards outside the prison walls were doubled and among them they had enough machine-guns to play havoc with a battalion. The warden of the prison had announced that he was taking no chances. Ben Guinney, he had said, might have escaped from Canyon City prison without his due dose of high-power juice, but he wasn’t going to jump this dump. Rumors of an attempt at re...
Here is Edgar Wallace’s famous stage-play as told by Robert Curtis in story form with all the dramatic excitement and suspense that thrilled theatre-goers. Robert Curtis was the private secretary to British crime writer Edgar Wallace. Curtis and Wallace met for the first time in 1913, before parting following the outbreak of World War One, as Curtis had to do his military service. In 1918 he was reunited with Wallace who employed him as his secretary, he had the task of cop...
Over her head hung the menace of murder – and; of the man who changed his name...Best remembered for penning the screenplay for the classic film „King Kong”, author Edgar Wallace was an astoundingly popular luminary in the action-adventure genre in the early twentieth century. „The Man Who Changed His Name” is a Robert Curtis’s adaptation of a screenplay by Edgar Wallace. This story packed with intrigue, mystery, murders, and it highlights Wallace’s unmatched skill in setti...
The novel of Edgar Wallace’s famous play told by Robert Curtis in story form with all the dramatic excitement and suspense. In the shady setting of a solicitor’s office on the East End waterfront a plan is evolved – all quite legal to get hold of a large American legacy bequeathed to an English girl. Murder is planned and tried: kidnapping, incarceration in a London barge, a dash for freedom, the intervention of the river police and knock-out drops all play their part in th...
Carter is probably the most famous private detective after Sherlock Holmes. It has been a character of pulp fiction since 1886 and has appeared in a variety of formats over more than a century. Considered the King of Detectives, he was based out of an apartment on Madison Avenue in New York City and later out of Manchester. The Nick Carter name was treated as a pseudonym, and many of the volumes were written in first person. Nick Carter would go on to become one of the most...
„Nick Carter – The Great Spy System or, Nick Carter’s Promise to the President” is a detective story featuring the famous detective Nick Carter first published in 1907, written by John R. Coryell. John Russell Coryell was a prolific dime novel author. He wrote under the Nicolas Carter and Bertha M. Clay house pseudonyms, and, like many of his fellow dime novelists under many other pseudonyms. This is the story of how Nick Carter, Master Detective, broke a foreign spy ring i...
„Whispering Death” (1931) is the third adventure in the „Dr. Night” trilogy by Aidan De Brune, (1874-1946). This third story is gaudy crime yarns, which steadily veers into fantasy by the end and features a very unlikely Asian villain who is as different from Fu Manchu as you can imagine: a small, colorless man of uncertain central Asian origin whose principal obsession is raising money by any means possible to recreate a long-dead central Asian kingdom of which his distant...
Jeśli zapytasz przeciętnego Amerykanina o najdłuższą amerykańską wojnę, zapewne wymieni Wietnam, a potem szybko się poprawi: Afganistan. Tymczasem powinien powiedzieć: wojna narkotykowa. Trwa już pięćdziesiąt lat i nie ma końca. Przez ponad cztery dekady Art Keller był na pierwszej linii frontu najdłużej trwającego konfliktu Ameryki – wojny narkotykowej. Jego obsesja pokonania ojca chrzestnego kartelu Sinaloi, Adana Barrery, kosztowała go życie bliskich i zabrała c...
At Sydney’s scandalous Artist’s Ball... a gunshot... a falling body... Call Inspector Knox of the CIB. „The Little Grey Woman” is rather short story and moves along very quickly but there’s plenty of tension and some genuinely creepy moments. Recommended for lovers of the offbeat. The Artists’ Ball was a real, and occasionally scandalous, costume ball held in Sydney for many years. Aidan de Brune walked round Australia in two years, and so he is able to give a thoroughly Au...
How many R S Allersons can there be in Sydney? More to the point, how many gang bosses named R S Allersons? The master mystery-story teller Aidan de Brune presents another breathtaking novel „"The Unlawful Adventure"”, written in 1932. It is a highly entertaining little thriller with absorbing interest and complicated plot. The characters are broadly drawn but vivid, the plot movers along at a breakneck pace, and it’s rather luridly sensationalistic for its era. The book is...
„The Pursuits of Peter Pell” is an episodic novel in 12 parts by Aidan de Brune, set in Perth, Australia. Peter Pell is a con man. That’s essentially it. He engages in a lot of humorous adventures and situations. It’s told in sequential short story format. As the novel is rather short and quite fast-paced with a lot of scenery-changes and adventures, this nice. Aidan de Brune was a big name in Australian literature but is forgotten today. He was a prolific author who wrote ...
Meet the famous Australian author Aidan de Brune and his latest mystery „The Murders at Madlands”. Eight persons are assembled in the dining room of the palatial home of Sir Rupert Haffervale, Sydney’s business magnate. Five of them are his associates, prominent men in the life of the city. The sixth is the star reporter of a big daily. The occasion is the formal handing over of control of a huge trust to Sir Rupert’s niece and heiress on her coming of age. At noon, as the ...
Aidan de Brune has been described as the Edgar Wallace of Australia. De Brune was a Canadian-born writer who settled in Australia. His latest novel, „The Shadow Crook,” certainly justifies the claim. It is an amazing story of a master criminal who terrorized Sydney, taunted the police, and baffled the finger-print experts. „The Shadow Crook” raided the detective offices in Sydney, bound and gagged the fingerprint expert, and ransacked his records. Who was he? Why did he tak...
There is always a special thrill of excitement about a mystery story, especially when the main characters cover their tracks successfully. „The Phantom Launch” is an Australian story through and through, its main setting being Sydney and Melbourne, and the swiftness and sureness with which both the launch people and amateur sleuths act will keep the reader breathless. Wireless plays an important part in this story. We defy any reader to guess the perpetrators of the crimes ...
„The Kahm Syndicate” is another breathtaking novel by the master of mystery Aidan de Brune, a colorful and prolific Australian writer whose opus is well worth saving from oblivion. Who will control the mean streets of Darlinghurst? This and another answers you can find here. The story is fast-paced with some surprising twists, well written and great to read. This genuine mystery story takes the reader from one exciting episode to another with all the adroitness and ingenuit...
„The Green Pearl” (1930) is the second adventure in the „Dr. Night” trilogy by Aidan De Brune, (1874-1946). Aidan De Brune was a Canadian-born writer who settled in Australia. This second story is gaudy crime yarns, which steadily veers into fantasy by the end (gravity powered aircraft without engines...) and features a very unlikely Asian villain who is as different from Fu Manchu as you can imagine: a small, colorless man of uncertain central Asian origin whose principal ...
Another breathtaking novel by the master of mystery Aidan de Brune. What is the secret of the derelict mansion in the Australian countryside? „The Fortune-Telling House” is a fast-paced mystery, with good twists and turns where you can find the answer. Aidan de Brune provides a thrill of another sort! The author has acquired an admirable technique of the sort demanded by the novel of intrigue and mystery. De Brune is one of those thriller writers who were in their day wildl...
De Brune’s novel „The Flirting Fool” is a thrilling court-room melodrama previously only published as a newspaper serial. The story is fast-paced with some surprising twists, well written and great to read. Readers of Aidan de Brune’s novels may always count on a story of absorbing interest, turning on a complicated plot, worked out with dexterous craftsmanship. Nineteen novel length serials, two novella serials, and eighteen short stories, all except one published in Austr...
Aidan de Brune was a big name in Australian literature but is forgotten today. He was a prolific author who wrote in a variety of genres. Lots of novels by De Brune were reputedly published in the USA under various pseudonyms, but these have not been traced. A new story by this popular author entitled „The League of Five.” The plot is laid mostly in Sydney, and centers round a mysterious band which goes under the name from which the tale takes its name. A love interest thre...
„The Dagger and the Cord,” „The Green Pearl,” „The Unlawful Adventure” and other thrilling tales of mystery and intrigue have made Mr. de Brune popular with Australian fiction readers. Nineteen novel length serials, two novella serials, and eighteen short stories, all except one published in Australian and New Zealand newspapers between 1926 and 1935. „The Grays Manor Mystery” enhances his reputation. It is a story packed with mystery and intrigue and Aidan de Brune keeps t...
Another breathtaking novel by the master of mystery Aidan de Brune (Herbert Charles CULL). A dead man and three dead snails. What could it mean if not murder? The story is fast-paced with some surprising twists, well written and great to read. This genuine mystery story takes the reader from one exciting adventure to another with all the adroitness and ingenuity of de Brune’s previous successful books. One is left gasping with suspense as the many clues are unraveled only t...
Not all buried treasure is found in a pirate’s chest... A chill-packed mystery from the master of suspense. This is what Aidan de Brune is all about, a complex, old fashioned mystery, with a highly unlikely solution. De Brune’s novel „Douchard’s Island” was published in 1931. Other novels by De Brune were reputedly published in the USA under various pseudonyms, but these have not been traced. Aidan De Brune was a Canadian-born writer who settled in Australia. In the 1920s a...
„Cain”, Sydney’s most daring thief, has defeated Inspector Denvers; but can he defeat the only man to escape from Sing-Sing’s death row? „The Framing of Inspector Denvers” is a story packed with great adventure and the author Aidan de Brune keeps the action moving along swiftly, as he always did, and it highlights de Brune’s unmatched skill in setting a pulse-pounding pace. Aidan de Brune was a big name in Australian literature but is forgotten today. He was a prolific auth...
„The Carson Loan Mystery” novel is one of mystery by Aidan de Brune, and deals with complications arising out of a loan of a large sum of money, concerned with the unscrupulous activities of several more or less shady characters. The locale of the story is Sydney, and introduces many places familiar to those who have visited that capital. The author knows Sydney, and also knows passing well the procedure in police and detective departments, besides having a passing acquaint...
A murder is committed in a seedy nightclub... weird vandalism in a leading fashion salon... are they connected? An exiting page tuner full of intrigue and mystery, „Saul and the Spinster” is a must-read for all fans of thrilling crime fiction. A mysteriously complicated plot make this Aidan de Brune book great fun with the twists coming thick and fast. He provides a thrill of another sort! If you haven’t discovered the joys of de Brune’s mysteries there is a good place to s...
A photograph and a message: „"Find this man"”. There’s a fortune at stake. „Find This Man” novel is one of mystery by Aidan de Brune (Herbert Charles CULL). As the novel is rather short and quite fast-paced with a lot of scenery-changes and adventures, this nice. Aidan de Brune provides a thrill of another sort! Readers of Aidan de Brune’s novels may always count on a story of absorbing interest, turning on a complicated plot, worked out with dexterous craftsmanship. Wonder...
Originally published in 1926, „Dr. Night” is the first story from the „Dr. Night” trilogy by Aidan De Brune, (1874-1946). Aidan de Brune was a big name in Australian literature but is forgotten today. He was a prolific author who wrote in a variety of genres. This story is basically rather gaudy crime yarns, which steadily veers into fantasy by the end and features a very unlikely Asian villain who is as different from Fu Manchu as you can imagine: a small, colorless man of...
„The Woman in the Alcove „ is the third book in the Caleb Sweetwater series. The spinster-detective in the novel is Miss Van Arsdale, a member of the high society in New York and a woman who is short and plain in appearance. Against all odds, Rita Van Ardsdale has landed the man of her dreams and is blissfully in love. But her shot at happily ever after seems to be fading when her fiancé is accused of murder. It falls to Rita to crack the case and clear her beloved’s name. ...
Looking for a satisfying, meticulously plotted mystery with which to while away an afternoon? Look no further than „To The Minute: Scarlet And Black: Two Tales Of Life’s Perplexities”, a short story from one of the most influential early writers in the genre, Anna Katherine Green. Her remarkable skill in leading readers to the unexpected but fascinating solution to this puzzle mystery makes this story an eminently worthwhile read. Written in the 1916s, this story is chock f...
This short story revolves around a plot to steal some goods secured safely within an impenetrable vault within the confines of Mr. Stoughton’s business concern. Mr. Stoughton is the owner of a legendary vault that no one has ever been able to open. Though he can’t be sure that the safe contains anything valuable, speculation is rampant among those who know of its existence. Will anyone ever be able to find out what the vault holds? Find out in this fast-paced mystery story ...
Was the little girl, who appears to have been everybody’s darling, kidnapped for money? Nobody comes forward asking for a ransom. Did she sneak down to the river and drown? In „The Millionaire Baby”, a young detective Mr. Trevitt has more than one reason for desperately wanting to solve the mysterious case of little Gwendolen, a millionaire’s daughter who missed since the afternoon of August the 16th from right under the nose of her nurse. Our detective soon meets the widow...
In „The House in the Mist,” weary traveler Hugh Austin happens upon a house in a village whilst seeking shelter on a misty night. The house is open, and initially the reception he gets is quite strange to him, he then realizes that he was taken for the relative of a dead man and that the gathering he encounters is a meeting of relatives regarding an inheritance that was left. By the time they find out the deceased had long-held vengeance on his mind, it is too late. „The Ho...
Anna Katharine Green was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America, received praise for her accurate, well plotted stories. Her novels have always been one of the groundworks of mystery and detective fiction and The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow is a great example of the ingenious and thrilling story. In this novel, a young woman is killed by an arrow in the middle of the museum, so all of the other visitors are closed inside while the crime is investigated! A g...
„The Forsaken Inn” by Anna Katharine Green is an exceptional novel of gothic horror set in late 18th-century Revolutionary America. Told from the perspective of a Mrs. Truax, the owner of an inn, „The Forsaken Inn” is a locked-room mystery that keeps readers guessing about what has happened. Edwin Urquhart, loved by two sisters, chooses to marry the elder. Arriving at the Forsaken Inn for their honeymoon, they occupy an apartment containing a secret chamber. That night, the...
When a woman is found dead at The Whispering Pines, not only is everyone shocked, but murder is suspected. After all, why would such a well liked young lady put an end to things, or why would anyone want to do away with her? Her vagabond of a brother is suspected, since he has every cause to wish her out of the picture. Her fiancée Elwood Ranelagh also is suspected since he no longer wished to marry her but her sister. So perplexing is the case that the local authorities ca...
„The Golden Slipper and Other Problems for Violet Strange” is a collection of stories by Anna Katharine Green featuring an early edition of that familiar figure, the „girl detective”. Violet Strange is a pretty young debutante with a wealthy father and the spare time to secretly investigate various matters within her social sphere. Her knowledge of the aristocracy helps the police solve the crimes. Originally published in 1915, „The Golden Slipper” is the debut entry in the...
„The Filigree Ball” centers around the Moore mansion in Washington DC, a creepy house with a terrible library. Over several generations, three dead bodies have been found there on the hearthstone. Aside from bruises from the fall, there were no signs of violence. The police have inspected the death-dealing room and its sinister settee many times over and found no explanation. But it’s not all those bodies in the library that bring the police to the Moore house this time. It...
A mystery filled with guilt, love and anger led to death. The story is about Ebenezer Gryce, a young, energetic and determined police detective who is entrusted with the investigation of the high-profile murder of Mr. Hasbrouck, a wealthy and influential resident of the Colonnade in Lafayette Place. The only real clue is provided by the victim’s wife. She woke from a deep sleep and thought she was dreaming. She soon realized that her husband wasn’t next to her in bed. While...
Early detective novelist Anna Katharine Green was a unique writer in several respects, including the fact that many of the detectives featured in her novels are women. In this mystery, protagonist Constance Sterling takes on the seemingly impossible task of uncovering the true culprits behind the drowning death of a popular well-respected clergyman who is believed to have killed himself. The news is fatal to his fiancée. Why? And why are her two sons behaving in such a sini...
Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935), known as the „Mother of the Detective Novel”, is one of the first American writers of detective fiction. She was recognized for realism and well plotted story of her mystery stories. A tale of two families, betrayal, revenge, and murder, The Circular Story, written in 1902, is still an absorbing and notable work. We highly recommend this book to fans of classic detective fiction!
A brief early American detective novella written in 1883 by Anna Katharine Green that tells the story of a detective who arrives in a small town in Massachusetts in an attempt to investigate counterfeiters possibly connected to a series of mysterious letters addressed only to X Y Z. While he is questioning the postmaster, he learns of the Benson family and their super secretive lifestyle. They are rich and reclusive. The detective feels there is something amiss and switches...
Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935) was one of the first mystery writers in the United States. Called „the mother of the detective novel”, she was known for her intricate, well-plotted stories, and this novel is no exception. Her first and best known novel, The Leavenworth Case became an overwhelming success and was the best seller of the year. The readers are held spellbound until the very last page. We highly recommend this book!
Miss Saunders is out for an adventure. One, which is full of secrets, hints, and half-lies. One, which will require all of her wits. Miss Saunders, a discreet domestic spy of some kind, is hired by Mayor Packard to look after his unaccountably abstracted wife whilst he goes out of town for a fortnight. The lady is unhappy, and the reason for her grave unhappiness is more serious than you think. A detective novel involving theft, bigamy, a haunted house, lost money, ciphers ...
A young pianist falls in love with a rich banker’s sixteen year old daughter after she requests to meet him in mildly mysterious circumstances. Her father will only let her marry someone with lots of money and, would you know it, hates music. The pianist decides to stop tickling the ivories and become a rich banker too. One of detective fiction master Anna Katharine Green’s earlier novels, „The Sword of Damocles” combines a budding romance set against the backdrop of New Yo...
A young girl named Juliet, draws the boys in a small village after her, and along the way a rich Colonel, whose love for her reaches farther than anyone would have expected. She also hooks a fiery, unstable man named Orrin. The Colonel gets her to swear she will marry him as soon as he finishes a stone house for her, while Orrin tries something secretive to win his love. The narrator is a former lover of Juliet, and what he tells of is a twisted tale of a selfish woman and ...
A detective story which solves in an exceedingly clever manner the inexplicable death of a prosperous stockbroker and the secret of his life. The reader’s attention is first caught by a mysterious letter, the key to the situation, and is held to the end by a series of ingenious devices. A dying stockbroker accuses one of his sons of his murder. Can Mr. Gryce and Caleb Sweetwater get to the bottom of the mystery. A young lawyer, who witnesses the murder decides to help. A ni...
On the night of his wedding, Sinclair flosses a precious curiosity from his collection: an amethyst box, containing a tiny flask of deadly poison and he feels sure it can only be one of two people, his intended wife, or her cousin, Dorothy. He goes to his friend Mr. Worthington and together they fight against time to find who has the poison and stop them using it. Too late, whoever took it has used it and now there is death in the house, is it suicide or murder? „The Amethy...
„Masterpieces of Mystery” is a scintillating collection of suspenseful stories of murder and mayhem from pioneering American detective-story writer Anna Katharine Green, one of the first female writers of detective fiction. Green’s many thrillers were characterized by logical construction and a knowledge of criminal law. Her stories are full of mystery and written in an elegant manner, true to the time period in which the story is set. This collection includes the classic s...
A wealthy young couple very much in love get married. Then she disappears on their wedding day. He is confused as would be expected, and seeks some help in finding her. She was an only child as her older brother disappeared at sea, and her twin sister was killed at age 5 in a fire at school. Lots of twists and turns, as well as a secret society, all show up during the search. Green, as always, holds attention and carries the reader along. Anna Katharine Green Rohlfs (1846-1...
„That Affair Next Door” focuses on a mysterious murder that has occurred in a quiet neighborhood, incidentally in the house next door to the home of the curious middle-aged amateur sleuth Miss Butterworth. One night around midnight Miss Butterworth sees a man and woman enter the Van Burnam mansion, which is supposed to be empty. The man leaves soon after, but the woman does not. On the following day, Miss Butterworth and a policeman find the body of a woman crushed to death...
A detective story first published in 1911, it is one of the book of Ebenezer Gryce series, „Initials Only” deals with the case of beautiful young heiress Edith Challoner. She is murdered in the writing room of a luxury hotel while nobody is near her, and no shot is heard and no bullet found in the deadly wound. She is seemingly stabbed to death, yet no one was seen near her. How then was she killed? Among Miss Challoner’s personal belongings are found letters signed with in...
After several people apparently vanish into thin air while walking along the same country road, New York aged detective inspector Mr. Gryce calls on the skills of Miss Amelia Butterworth to help him solve this most puzzling crime. In „Lost Man’s Lane” the author Anna Katharine Green shows that she has lost none of her cunning in inventing an intricate and absorbing plot, and in unfolding it carefully bit by bit by the agency of her chosen hero or heroine. This is classic Gr...
A beautiful young woman is interviewed by Coroner Golden and new Deputy sheriff Mr. Hammersmith. Her mother has been found dead in the nearby forest but the woman alleges they both rented rooms in Three Forks Tavern. The landlord Mr. Quimby deny her story. She describes the room her mother was in but a search reveals no room that matches it. But the sheriff believes her and he insists on staying in the tavern overnight while the coroner goes to collect his jury. He has a va...
A classic detective story of murder and punishment by one of America’s finest mystery writers. Widow Clemmens is struck down in her parlor while the town’s legal professionals chat outside the courthouse down the street and there is no sign of the killer. An investigation is made and two equally plausible suspects are quickly unearthed. But who actually committed the crime? And what role does the mysterious Miss Imogene Dare play in this drama? A powerful detective story, c...
In a small town Shelby shrouded in secrets a woman seeks to find the truth behind a terrible injustice in this classic mystery from „the mother of the detective novel”. Deborah attempts to prove that her husband was wrongly convicted of murder and was subsequently executed for a crime which she is sure he did not commit. She wants his name cleared so her daughter can marry the man she loves. Determined to prove her husband’s innocence, Deborah believes the judge who convict...
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Ebooki są dostępne w wielu formatach. Najpopularniejsze z nich, będące standardem dla publikacji elektronicznych, to EPUB, MOBI i PDF.
To nowoczesny format będący standardem publikacji ebooków. Format EPUB umożliwia zmienianie wielkości fontu, co pomaga dopasować jego rozmiar do ekranu. Ebooki w tym formacie najlepiej odczytywać na urządzeniach posiadających ekran eINK (elektroniczny papier), chociaż można je odczytać także na smartfonie czy tablecie. Format EPUB jest możliwy do odczytania na komputerze, jednak do tego celu konieczne jest zainstalowanie właściwego oprogramowania.
Jest formatem ebooków wykorzystywanym przez czytniki firmy Amazon – Kindle (oraz na innych urządzeniach i programach dostępnych na rynku). Publikacje MOBI są zapisane w formacie Mobipocket, można więc pobrać je na dowolny sprzęt elektroniczny posiadający oprogramowanie umożliwiające odczytanie plików MOBI. Format ten jest oparty na języku HTML, dlatego jego wyświetlanie jest możliwe na urządzeniach mobilnych.
To format zapewniający taki sam wygląd strony jak w wersji papierowej – w tym formacie podział na strony jest sztywny. PDF służy do długoterminowego archiwizowania elektronicznych danych i może być odczytywany na większości komputerów, laptopów, smartfonów, czytników czy tabletów.
Książki sensacyjne są z nami nie od dziś - już w średniowieczu, kiedy królowały romanse rycerskie, wciągające, pełne intryg fabuły były niezwykle popularne. Obecnie ebooki należące do tego gatunku są niezmiennie jednymi z najchętniej czytanych nie tylko w Polsce, ale także na całym świecie. Książki sensacyjne pełne są wartkiej, pełnej zwrotów akcji fabuły oraz częstych wątków kryminalnych. Dodatkowo napisane są przystępnym, często lekkim językiem, który sprawia, że jesteśmy w stanie spędzić długie godziny, podążając za kolejnymi odkryciami i niespodziewanymi wydarzeniami w życiu bohaterów. Choć niektórzy uważają książki sensacyjne za mało ambitną literaturę, której celem jest przede wszystkim dostarczenie emocji i silnych wrażeń, trudno się z tą opinią w pełni zgodzić. Często sięgają one także po political fiction, tworząc nieistniejące w realnym życiu scenariusze oparte na napięciach i rozgrywkach politycznych.
Powieści sensacyjne z najwyższej półki potrafią zaskoczyć czytelnika na każdym kroku, wciągają w tajemnicę oraz wielowątkowe fabuły osadzone w realistycznym świecie pozbawionym wątków fantastycznych. Do takich historii należy chociażby seria powieści autorstwa Camilli Läckberg i Henrika Fexeusa, która składa się z tomów “Mentalista” oraz “Kult”. W pierwszej części policja zostaje wezwana do mocno nietypowego znaleziska - skrzyni ze zwłokami młodej kobiety, która przebita jest mieczami. Brutalne morderstwo czy nieudana magiczna sztuczka? Prowadząca śledztwo inspektor Mina Dabiri prosi o pomoc Vincenta Waldera, mentalistę, który jest ekspertem od mowy ciała oraz świata iluzji. Wspólnie szybko udaje im się odnaleźć wcześniejszą, bardzo podobną sprawę, co prowadzi do wniosku, że mają do czynienia z seryjnym mordercą. Tym bardziej więc muszą się spieszyć, by powstrzymać go, nim pojawią się kolejne ofiary…
Innym przykładem wciągającej serii powieści sensacyjnych jest kultowy już cykl “ Jack Reacher ” Lee Childa - ponad dwadzieścia tomów historii związanych z życiem emerytowanego majora żandarmerii wojskowej Armii Stanów Zjednoczonych, który wychowywał się i uczył całe życie w bazach wojskowych. Służył w 110. Specjalnej Jednostce Dochodzeniowej, gdzie zajmował się szczególnie wymagającymi sprawami żołnierzy Armii Amerykańskiej. Kiedy odszedł z wojska, Reacher rozpoczął życie jako włóczęga, a przez wrodzoną ciekawość często pakował się w różne intrygi, pościgi oraz tajemnice. Jack Reacher mierzy się z kolejnymi wyzwaniami i zagadkami, a także niejednym fałszywym oskarżeniem. Na serię składają się tytuły: "Poziom śmierci", "Umrzeć próbując" (także znane jako "Uprowadzony"), "Wróg bez twarzy", "Podejrzany", "Echo w płomieniach", "Bez pudła", "Siła perswazji", "Nieprzyjaciel", “Jednym strzałem”, "Bez litości", "Elita zabójców", "Nic do stracenia", "Jutro możesz zniknąć", "61 godzin", "Czasami warto umrzeć", "Ostatnia sprawa", "Poszukiwany", “Nigdy nie wracaj”, "Sprawa osobista", "Zmuś mnie", "Sto milionów dolarów", "Adres nieznany" oraz "Nocna runda". Znajdziecie je wszystkie na Woblink - czekają na Was jako książki papierowe, audiobooki lub ebooki (epub, mobi, pdf).
Czasami pojawia się poważny dylemat - czy mamy do czynienia z sensacją, czy z kryminałem? Granice pomiędzy tymi dwoma gatunkami bywają bardzo nieostre, postaramy się jednak pomóc. Obydwa opierają się na niespodziewanych rozwiązaniach fabularnych, jednak kryminał odróżnia od sensacji przede wszystkim fakt, że jego głównym wątkiem niezmiennie pozostaje zbrodnia, której zagadkę próbują z reguły rozwiązać bohaterowie powieści. Kryminały są zatem bardziej oparte na rozważaniach dotyczących sensu życia, wartości czy ludzkich działań niż doświadczeń zmysłowych, które z kolei są głównym elementem wyróżniającym literaturę sensacyjną. Tutaj czytelnik aktywnie zaangażowany jest przede wszystkim w odczuwanie fizycznych doświadczeń, jakich doświadczają zaprezentowani w książce ludzie. Wszystko dzieje się tam dynamicznie, znacznie mniej niż w kryminale jest tu także skupienia na wyglądzie bohaterów czy opisach miejsc, a racjonalnie zbudowana zagadka rozwiązuje się wraz z końcem historii. To oczywiście dzieje się także w kryminałach, tu jednak dość często zakończenie ma gorzki smak - choć zabójca zostaje odnaleziony, nie przynosi to upragnionej satysfakcji i zadośćuczynienia. Tak dzieje się chociażby w klasycznych już kryminałach noir autorstwa Raymonda Chandlera, takich jak “Wysokie okno”, “Głęboki sen” czy “Żegnaj laleczko”, które znajdziecie na Woblink jako ebooki w formatach epub, mobi lub pdf. Do jednych z najbardziej uznanych autorów polskich kryminałów należą z pewnością Katarzyna Bonda (“Urodzony morderca”, “Do cna”, seria “Cztery żywioły Saszy Załuskiej”) oraz Remigiusz Mróz ( seria z Joanną Chyłką, "Widmo Brockenu ", "Langer"), którzy od wielu lat zajmują najwyższe miejsca na listach bestsellerowych powieści. Z kolei kryminały retro, osadzone w przeszłości, tworzy w Polsce chociażby Marek Krajewski - do nich należy jego seria powieści Eberhardzie Mocku, na którą składają się między innymi “Śmierć w Breslau”, “Mock. Golem” czy “Błaganie o śmierć”.
Szukacie czegoś z dreszczykiem, a przy tym dużą dawką humoru? Komedie kryminalne to coś dla Was! Sięgnijcie po książki autorstwa Maryli Szymiczkowej - pod tym pseudonimem kryją się pisarze Jacek Denhel oraz Piotr Tarczyński. Stworzone przez nich powieści to także kryminały retro, które opowiadają o licznych zagadkach kryminalnych, które rozwiązuje fikcyjna krakowska profesorowa Zofia Szczupaczyńska. Wśród dzieł Marii Szymiczkowej znajdują się takie tytuły jak: “Seans w domu egipskim”, “Złoty róg” czy “Rozdarta zasłona” pełne nie tylko tajemnic i intryg, ale także charakterystycznego poczucia humoru i lekkości.
Niewątpliwie ważnymi pozycjami wśród ebooków kryminalnych są te zaliczane do kryminału skandynawskiego. Pełne elementów charakterystycznych dla powieści noir, trudnych tematów oraz nierzadko atmosfery ciężkiej od wzajemnych podejrzeń, niepewności i wrogości kryminały skandynawskie nie od dziś cieszą się ogromną popularnością na całym świecie. Wśród nich warto wskazać na Jo Nesbø i jego seria z Harrym Holem, niepokornym i nieuznającym kompromisów policjantem stosującym niekonwencjonalne metody, dzięki którym ma tyle samo przyjaciół, co wrogów. Jego zmagania znajdziecie w tomach “Człowiek-nietoperz", "Karaluchy", "Czerwone gardło", "Trzeci klucz", "Pentagram", "Wybawiciel", "Pierwszy śnieg", "Pancerne serce", "Upiory", "Policja", "Pragnienie" czy "Nóż". Szukajcie ich wszystkich na Woblink!
Zarówno w thrillerach, jak i kryminałach mamy do czynienia z jakąś zagadką i tajemnicą, napięciem, a także silnymi emocjami. Czym zatem różnią się od siebie te dwa gatunki literackie? W niektórych wypadkach trudno jednoznacznie przyporządkować powieść do któregoś z nich. W kryminale mamy do czynienia ze śledztwem i łamigłówką kryminalną, którą próbuje rozwikłać detektyw lub policjant. W thrillerze także spotkamy się z różnego typu tajemnicami, jednak nad ich rozwiązaniem pracują nie tylko ci funkcjonariusze - tak dzieje się na przykład w thrillerze prawniczym, gdzie głównymi bohaterami są osoby związane ze środowiskiem prawniczym takie jak sędziowie, adwokaci czy prokuratorzy. Należy do nich na przykład bardzo popularny cykl powieści autorstwa Remigiusza Mroza oparty na postaci Joanny Chyłki. Bezwzględna i bezkompromisowa prawniczka staje w szranki z niesprawiedliwością nie tylko na salach sądowych, ale także na miejscach zbrodni. Jej historia zawarta jest w powieściach: “Kasacja”, „Zaginięcie”, „Rewizja”, „Immunitet”, „Inwigilacja”, „Oskarżenie”, „Testament”, „Kontratyp”, „Umorzenie”, „Wyrok”, „Ekstradycja”, „Precedens¨, „Afekt”, „Egzekucja” czy „Skazanie”, wszystkich dostępnych na Woblink. Innym znanym komisarzem, który jest głównym bohaterem powieści Mroza, jest Wiktor Forst, który mierzy się z licznymi zbrodniami przede wszystkim w okolicach Tatr. Znajdziecie je w tomach: „Ekspozycja”, „Przewieszenie”, „Trawers”, „Deniwelacja”, „Zerwa”, „Halny” bądź „Przepaść”.
Obok thrillerów psychologicznych innym chętnie czytanym podtypem tego gatunku jest thriller medyczny. Ich akcja rozgrywa się w środowisku medycznym i często dotyczy zaskakujących zbrodni popełnianych właśnie wśród jego przedstawicieli. Akcja obejmuje często zagrożenia z zakresu biologii medycznej, inżynierii genetycznej lub biotechnologii. Jedną z czołowych przedstawicielek tego nurtu jest Tess Gerritsen. Jej cykl książek o detektyw Jane Rizzoli i doktor Laurze Isles, na podstawie którego powstał serial “Partnerki”, rozpoczyna powieść “Chirurg”. Jej akcja rozgrywa się w Bostonie, po którym grasuje nieznany morderca polujący na samotne młode kobiety, nazywany przez prasę Chirurgiem z racji swoich okrutnych metod. Policja odnajduje trop - podobne zbrodnie miały miejsce dwa lata wcześniej, tyle że sprawca został zastrzelony przez doktor Catherine Cordell, jedyną ofiarę, której udało się przeżyć. Teraz znów czuje się jak w potrzasku - jej jedynym sprzymierzeńcem wydaje się być Thomas Moore, który wraz z Jane Rizzoli prowadzi to śledztwo. Czy jednak uda mu się ocalić Cordell przed genialnym skalpelem mordercy? Dowiedzcie się, sięgając po “Chirurga”, którego znajdziecie na Woblink jako ebook w formacie epub, mobi lub pdf. Innym niezwykle popularnym twórcą thrillerów medycznych jest Robin Cook, uważany za mistrza tego gatunku. Głównymi bohaterami jego bestsellerowego cyklu powieści są patolog Jack Stapleton i jego współpracowniczka Laurie Montgomery. Spotkacie ich w takich tomach jak: “Interwencja”, “Marker”, “Ciało obce” czy “Niebezpieczna gra”.
Amy Engel, B. A. Paris, Fiona Barton, Jenny Blackhurst czy Sharon Bolton - to tylko kilka nazwisk spośród wielu autorów i autorek, którzy tworzą thrillery psychologiczne. Skupiają się one przede wszystkim na motywacjach i przeżyciach bohaterów. Często za punkt wyjścia obierają zwyczajnego, niczym nie wyróżniającego się człowieka, który niespodziewanie zostaje wrzucony w wir zagadkowych, zaskakujących, często mocno niepokojących wydarzeń. F abuły thrillerów psychologicznych do końca trzymają nas w ogromnym napięciu i niepewności. Zaliczyć można do nich “Żmijowisko” Wojciecha Chmielarza kojarzonego bardziej z kryminałami, sięgającego jednak również do bogactwa nurtu thrillerów psychologicznych. Także “Zaginiona dziewczyna” Gillian Flynn, “Jedno po drugim” Ruth Ware, “Złota klatka” Camilli Läckberg czy “Nieznajomy” Harlana Cobena należą do tego podgatunku. Te i wiele innych kryminałów, sensacji oraz thrillerów znajdziecie na Woblink jako książki papierowe, audiobooki lub ebooki (epub, mobi, pdf) - dajcie się porwać pełnym napięcia i emocji historiom!