Humorous novel set in Riverbank, a fictionalized Muscatine, in a Mississippi River town. Pastor David Dean and his wife take up residence in this town, Iowa in the 1850s and learn how unaccepting a small town can be of new residents, even after a stay of decades. An interesting social history of mid nineteenth century life, emphasizing the dominance of crass commercial interests in the vicissitudes of small town life, written by an American author Ellis Parker Butler. He wa...

„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...

A hilarious parody of the detective genre – Philo Gubb dreams of becoming a detective like Sherlock Holmes and quitting his job as a wallpaper-hanger. He enrolls in a correspondence course which offers lessons and various disguises. He soon gets involved in several cases and much to his surprise – and those around him – proves to be rather adept at solving crimes. Amazingly, he solves many puzzles and even catches some real thieves and other criminals usually by some mistak...

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...

„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...

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...

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...

Frank Aubrey was a pseudonym of Francis Henry Atkins (1847-1927), who contributed widely to the pre-science fiction pulp magazines, writing at least three Lost-World novels along with much else. The first and most successful of the three was „The Devil Tree of El Dorado: A Romance of British Guiana”, which capitalized on the contemporary interest in the Roraima Plateau lying athwart the disputed border between Venezuela and the British colony; Monella, the mysterious giant ...

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...

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...