Edgar Allan Poe - The Golden Book of World's Greatest Mysteries – 60+ Whodunit Tales & Detective Stories

Edgar Allan Poe, A. Conan Doyle, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Wilkie Collins, Villiers Adam, C. Moffett, F. Marryat, William Archer, Fitz-James O'Brien, Mark Twain, E. F. Benson, Guy de Maupassant, Théopile Gautier, L. Hearn, C. B. Fernando, Brander Matthews, R. L. Stevenson, W. F. Harvey, Anna Katherine Green, Anton Chekhov, T. W. Hanshew, M. R. James, Katherine Rickford, Sir R. Anderson, R. A. Cram, Pliny the Younger, Joseph L. French, Ambrose Bierce, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Helena Blavatsky, Thomas Hardy

The World's Finest Mysteries by the World's Greatest Authors Translator: William Melmoth, Julian Hawthorne

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musaicumbooks@okpublishing.info2017 OK Publishing ISBN 978-80-7583-263-4

Detective Stories Detective Stories Table of Content

The Purloined Letter (Edgar Allan Poe)

A Scandal in Bohemia (A. Conan Doyle)

The Biter Bit (Wilkie Collins)

The Safety Match (Anton Chekhov)

The Black Hand (Arthur B. Reeve)

Missing: Page Thirteen (Anna Katherine Green)

Some Scotland Yard Cases (Sir Robert Anderson)

The Rope of Fear (Thomas W. Hanshew and Mary E. Hanshew)

Suspense Stories

The Birth Mark (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

The Oblong Box (Edgar Allan Poe)

A Terribly Strange Bed (Wilkie Collins)

The Torture by Hope (Villiers de l'Isle Adam)

The Mysterious Card (Cleveland Moffett)

The Box with the Iron Clamps (Florence Marryat)

My Fascinating Friend (William Archer)

The Lost Room (Fitz-James O'Brien)

The Great Valdez Sapphire (Anonymous)

Ghost Stories

Thrawn Janet (Robert Louis Stevenson)

The Horla (Guy de Maupassant)

To Sura: A Letter (Pliny the Younger)

The Beast with Five Fingers (William F. Harvey)

Number 13 (Montague Rhodes James)

Joseph: A Story (Katherine Rickford)

Sister Maddelena (Ralph Adams Cram)

The Man Who Went Too Far (E.F. Benson)

The Phantom Rickshaw (Rudyard Kipling)

The Apparition of Mrs. Veal (Daniel Defoe)

Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book (M. R. James)

The Haunted and the Haunters (Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton)

The Silent Woman (Leopold Kompert)

The Rival Ghosts (Brander Matthews)

The Damned Thing (Ambrose Bierce)

The Interval (Vincent O'Sullivan)

Dey Ain't No Ghosts (Ellis Parker Butler)

The Banshees of Ireland

Some Real American Ghosts

The Deserted House (E. T. A. Hoffmann)

The Withered Arm (Thomas Hardy)

The House and the Brain (Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton)

The Roll-Call of the Reef (A. T. Quiller-Couch)

The Open Door (Mrs. Margaret Oliphant)

The Mysterious Sketch (Erckmann-Chatrian)

Green Branches (Fiona Macleod)

The Four-Fifteen Express (Amelia B. Edwards)

The Were-Wolf (H. B. Marryatt)

Clarimonde (Théophile Gautier)

The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral (M. R. James)

What Was It?

Paranormal Psychic Stories

When the World Was Young (Jack London)

Joseph—A Story (Katherine Rickford)

Ligeia

A Ghost (Lafcadio Hearn)

The Eyes of the Panther (Ambrose Bierce)

Photographing Invisible Beings (William T. Stead)

The Sin-Eater (Fiona Macleod)

Ghosts in Solid Form (Gambier Bolton)

The Portal of the Unknown (Andrew Jackson Davis)

Nature-Spirits, or Elementals (Nizida)

A Witch's Den (Helena Blavatsky)

Some Remarkable Experiences of Famous Persons (Walter F. Prince)

Humorous Mystery Stories

The Secret of Goresthorpe Grange (A. Conan Doyle)

Mr. Bloke's Item (Mark Twain)

The Man Who Went Too Far (E. F. Benson)

The Man with the Pale Eyes (Guy de Maupassant)

The Mummy's Foot (Théopile Gautier)

The Diamond Lens (Fitz-James O'Brien)

A Ghost (Lafcadio Hearn)

Chan Tow The Highrob (Chester Bailey Fernando)

The Rival Ghosts (Brander Matthews)

Table of Content

Table of Content

Nil sapientiæ odiosius acumine nimio.—Seneca.

At Paris, just after dark one gusty evening in the autumn of 18—, I was enjoying the twofold luxury of meditation and meerschaum, in company with my friend, C. Auguste Dupin, in his little back library, or book-closet, au troisième , No. 33 Rue Dunôt, Faubourg St. Germain. For one hour at least we had maintained a profound silence; while each, to any casual observer, might have seemed intently and exclusively occupied with the curling eddies of smoke that oppressed the atmosphere of the chamber. For myself, however, I was mentally discussing certain topics which had formed matter for conversation between us at an earlier period of the evening; I mean the affair of the Rue Morgue and the mystery attending the murder of Marie Roget. I looked upon it, therefore, as something of a coincidence, when the door of our apartment was thrown open and admitted our old acquaintance, Monsieur G——, the Prefect of the Parisian police.

We gave him a hearty welcome; for there was nearly half as much of the entertaining as of the contemptible about the man, and we had not seen him for several years. We had been sitting in the dark, and Dupin now arose for the purpose of lighting a lamp, but sat down again, without doing so, upon G——'s saying that he had called to consult us, or rather to ask the opinion of my friend, about some official business which had occasioned a great deal of trouble.

"If it is any point requiring reflection," observed Dupin, as he forbore to enkindle the wick, "we shall examine it to better purpose in the dark."

"That is another of your odd notions," said the Prefect, who had the fashion of calling everything "odd" that was beyond his comprehension, and thus lived amid an absolute legion of "oddities."

"Very true," said Dupin, as he supplied his visitor with a pipe and rolled toward him a comfortable chair.

"And what is the difficulty now?" I asked. "Nothing more in the assassination way, I hope?"

"Oh, no; nothing of that nature. The fact is, the business is very simple indeed, and I make no doubt that we can manage it sufficiently well ourselves; but then I thought Dupin would like to hear the details of it, because it is so excessively odd."

"Simple and odd?" said Dupin.

"Why, yes; and not exactly that either. The fact is, we have all been a good deal puzzled because the affair is so simple, and yet baffles us altogether."

"Perhaps it is the very simplicity of the thing which puts you at fault," said my friend.

"What nonsense you do talk!" replied the Prefect, laughing heartily.

"Perhaps the mystery is a little too plain," said Dupin.

"Oh, good heavens! who ever heard of such an idea?"

"A little too self-evident."

"Ha! ha! ha!—ha! ha! ha!—ho! ho! ho!" roared our visitor, profoundly amused. "Oh, Dupin, you will be the death of me yet!"

"And what, after all, is the matter on hand?" I asked.

"Why, I will tell you," replied the Prefect, as he gave a long, steady, and contemplative puff and settled himself in his chair,—"I will tell you in a few words; but, before I begin, let me caution you that this is an affair demanding the greatest secrecy, and that I should most probably lose the position I now hold were it known that I confided it to anyone."