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Crime, Thrillers and Mystery — page 6
362 public-domain crime, thrillers and mystery books, summarised. Page 6 of 8.
The Eyes Have It
Randall Garrett
In an alternate history where magic replaced physical science, a high-stakes murder investigation reveals the dark secrets hidden within a noble house.
An Authentic History of the Cato-Street Conspiracy: With the trials at large of the conspirators, for high treason and murder, a description of their weapons and combustible machines, and every particular connected with the rise, progress, discovery, and termination of the horrid plot
George Theodore Wilkinson
A desperate plan to assassinate the British Cabinet unravels into a high-stakes legal battle, ending in a public execution that exposes deep political fractures.
Pledged to the Dead
Seabury Quinn
A ghost in a light white gown and violet ribbons still holds power over a living lover's heart.
True Detective Stories from the Archives of the Pinkertons
Cleveland Moffett
A methodical detective agency relentlessly pursues 1870s bank robbers, train wreckers, and express thieves across North America, unraveling elaborate criminal conspiracies through forensic patience, undercover infiltration, and psychology.
The trap
H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft
A scholar of the occult and an inquisitive schoolboy uncover a seventeenth-century secret hidden within a mirror, only to find that some doors are meant to remain shut forever.
The House of the Arrow
A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
The quiet of a French provincial town is shattered by a death that feels too convenient to be natural. A young woman’s inheritance triggers a lethal game of shadows, where the only thing more dangerous than the truth is the person searching for it.
Death in the dusk
Virgil Markham
A secluded Welsh estate becomes a crucible of terror for a group of houseguests, as ancient architecture, cryptic messages, and sudden, inexplicable violence turn a social gathering into a struggle for survival.
The Monk of Hambleton
Armstrong Livingston
A ruthless tannery owner receives a cryptic, bloody warning from a figure in a monk’s habit, only to be found murdered shortly thereafter. A visiting detective must navigate a web of vengeful secrets to identify the killer among a household of suspects.
The Case and Exceptions: Stories of Counsel and Clients
Frederick Trevor Hill
The courtroom is a theater where the lines between justice and performance blur, leaving those who inhabit its halls to reckon with the moral residue of their work. These stories peel back the layers of legal practice to expose the human cost hidden within the record.
The Destroyer: A Tale of International Intrigue
Burton Egbert Stevenson
In this high-stakes thriller, a brilliant inventor’s weapon capable of destroying battleships from afar becomes the focus of a desperate international power struggle between France and Germany.
The Swindler and Other Stories
Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell
These stories follow individuals navigating the thin line between social ruin and personal redemption, often finding that the most unlikely partners are the only ones capable of true loyalty.
Somewhere in France
Richard Harding Davis
A collection of tales defined by the shadow of the Great War, these stories capture the desperate intrigue, sudden transformations, and moral ambiguities of a world caught in the act of tearing itself apart.
The Great Prince Shan
E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
HOOK A sophisticated political thriller set in post-war London, where a noble lord must navigate a web of foreign intrigue and the magnetic, mysterious presence of an Eastern prince.
The Spy
Richard Harding Davis
A man’s accidental arrival in a volatile foreign port leads him into the path of a desperate, boastful young spy. This encounter ends in a violent confrontation that forces a final, tragic truth from the boy's lips.
Punchinello, Volume 2, No. 29, October 15, 1870
Various
A sharp, satirical snapshot of 1870s New York, this periodical captures the era's anxieties through biting wit, absurd fiction, and a relentless mockery of social pretension.
The Case of Summerfield
W. H. (William Henry) Rhodes
A man claims he can ignite the world’s oceans with a single vial of chemicals, forcing a desperate race to secure his lethal secret before humanity is consumed by fire.
The Indian Drum
William MacHarg
Across the stormy, ice-bound waters of Lake Michigan, an unseen drum marks every life lost to the waves, keeping count of a dark tally that one ambitious man will do anything to hide.
Under Three Flags: A Story of Mystery
Bert Leston Taylor
A small-town murder launches a globe-trotting chase, pulling a restless reporter and an ambitious detective into the dangerous currents of the Cuban War of Independence.
Master tales of mystery, Volume 1 (of 3)
Unknown
In high-stakes games of deception and mystery, the truth hides in unexpected corners and the most innocent observers often hold the master key.
Tracked by Wireless
William Le Queux
A young radio engineer uses his revolutionary listening apparatus to unmask a globe-trotting criminal syndicate step by step across interwar Europe.
The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys
Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell
A dark night over Lake Michigan delivers a hardened young wanderer into his home city's underworld, where street crime and gunfire test his courage.
Guy Deverell, v. 2 of 2
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
A long-buried crime in an English manor house comes to light through the calculated moves of a vengeful guest and the unwitting return of an orphaned heir.
The Crime of the Boulevard
Jules Claretie
A mysterious slit throat on a lively Paris avenue triggers an investigation where cutting-edge forensic science and old-fashioned detective work collide.
The Million Dollar Mystery: Novelized from the Scenario of F. Lonergan
Harold MacGrath
A secret society pursues a missing fortune while a missing heiress tries to stay alive.
That Mainwaring Affair
A. Maynard (Anna Maynard) Barbour
A wealthy stockbroker dies by bullet, his will vanishes overnight, and two distinct families claim his vast American estate.
The Gray Mask
Wadsworth Camp
The Gray Mask is a taut, atmospheric thriller set in the underbelly of early twentieth-century New York. It follows a young detective and his inspector’s daughter as they navigate a dangerous web of organized crime and industrial sabotage.
Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo
E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
In the gilded, high-stakes world of Monte Carlo, an unassuming American becomes the linchpin in a clandestine struggle to prevent a catastrophic European war.
The Double Life
Gaston Leroux
A quiet, unremarkable citizen finds his life invaded by the violent, centuries-old consciousness of a notorious criminal. This haunting tale explores the terrifying fragility of the human soul when faced with the persistence of memory.
The House of Strange Secrets: A Detective Story
A. Eric Bayly
The tranquil English countryside becomes a trap for a young man who finds himself stalked by a shadowy, vengeful force from his father’s hidden past.
The man from the river
G. D. H. (George Douglas Howard) Cole
HOOK A quiet riverside town turns into a labyrinth of secrets when a man is found drowned, prompting a high-stakes investigation that uncovers layers of local resentment and hidden motives.
Let 'Em Breathe Space!
Lester Del Rey
This gripping science fiction novella explores the claustrophobic nightmare of a long-haul space mission where the air supply is slowly failing and the crew’s sanity is unspooling. It is a stark, high-stakes drama that strips away the glamour of space travel to reveal the raw fragility of human cooperation under…
The Exploits of Juve: Being the Second of the Series of the "Fantômas" Detective Tales
Pierre Souvestre
A relentless detective and a daring journalist hunt a shapeshifting mastermind through the gaslit streets of Paris, where every identity is a lie and every shadow hides a trap.
Rattle of bones
Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard
A grim traveler, driven by a rigid moral code, finds himself trapped in a tavern where the line between natural evil and supernatural retribution dissolves into a night of terror.
The Wooden Hand: A Detective Story
Fergus Hume
A young woman discovers her father’s body in the desolate Red Deeps, triggering a dark investigation into a hidden past. This intricate mystery weaves together lost inheritances, stolen diamonds, and the long shadows of a family legacy.
Stop Look and Dig
George O. (George Oliver) Smith
In a world where mental powers are common, a weary private investigator finds that telepathy and ESP have merely given criminals more sophisticated ways to ruin lives.
The Case of the Golden Bullet
Auguste Groner
HOOK A humble, overlooked detective unravels the impossible murder of a professor, ultimately finding that the truth of the crime lies hidden within a macabre, golden secret.
The Coquette's Victim: Everyday Life Library No. 1
Charlotte M. Brame
A young man of noble birth and chivalric imagination risks his reputation and freedom to shield a woman he mistakenly believes is in distress. His idealism, however, is no match for the calculated manipulation of a socialite.
The Mystery of Orcival
Emile Gaboriau
In a quiet village, two poachers stumble upon a grisly riverside murder, igniting a complex hunt for a killer hiding in plain sight behind a mask of aristocratic charm.
Time out for redheads
Miriam Allen De Ford
HOOK A lonely ticket-seller for a time-travel agency accidentally flees to the past after witnessing a gruesome murder, only to discover that the terrifying crime was not what it seemed.
Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 26, September 24, 1870
Various
This nineteenth-century satirical weekly captures the frantic, biting energy of post-Civil War New York with a mix of sharp political commentary and absurd, performative wit.
The Castle Of The Shadows
A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson
The Mediterranean sun sets the stage for a daring rescue mission, where an American heiress risks everything to save an unjustly imprisoned man from a distant island fortress.
The Lost Ambassador
E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
This is a classic tale of international intrigue where a gentleman soldier stumbles into a web of conspiracy, shifting loyalties, and dangerous liaisons. It offers a brisk, atmospheric tour through the high-stakes world of pre-war espionage.
A Creature of the Night: An Italian Enigma
Fergus Hume
A nameless Englishman visiting Verona finds himself drawn into a lethal web of ancient poisons, haunted palaces, and a woman who moves through the darkness as if it were her own element.
A Diplomatic Woman
Huan Mee
A woman of wit and cold, calculated poise navigates the treacherous, shifting alliances of European high society to outmaneuver the most dangerous spies in Paris.
A Thousand Francs Reward
Emile Gaboriau
The mystery of a missing merchant gives way to a sprawling portrait of the French military, captured in the mid-nineteenth century.
Ashton-Kirk, Criminologist
John T. (John Thomas) McIntyre
A brilliant investigator navigates a web of deceit, jewel thieves, and family secrets to exonerate the wrongly accused in this intricate puzzle of Gilded Age crime.
£19,000
Burford Delannoy
A desperate lawyer, a stolen fortune, and a cross-continental chase collide in this fast-paced Victorian mystery. Secrets, disguises, and a trap set beneath the floorboards drive the high-stakes hunt for nineteen thousand pounds.
Agatha Webb
Anna Katharine Green
HOOK A quiet New England town is shaken by a brutal murder, setting in motion a high-stakes investigation where secrets from the past threaten the lives of the innocent.