The first novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart, America's queen of crime This is the story of how a middle-aged spinster lost her mind, deserted her domestic gods in the city, took a furnished house for the summer out of town, and found herself involved in one of those mysterious crimes that keep our newspapers and detective agencies happy and prosperous. So says Rachel Innes, the spinster in question and one of the most remarkable heroines in American...

This eighth volume of the year's best science fiction and fantasy features over thirty stories by some of the genre's greatest authors, including John Barnes, Elizabeth Bear, C.C. Finlay, Yoon Ha Lee, Kelly Link, Ian McDonald, Seanan McGuire, Vonda N. McIntyre, Geoff Ryman, Catherynne M. Valente, Genevieve Valentine, and many others. Selecting the best fiction from Analog, Asimov's, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Meeting Infinity, and other top venues,...

An excellent crime novel which contains a cunning villain, love, revenge and locked room murder by the master of British thrillers. The hero John Lexman, is a mystery writer, like the author himself, and is married to a lovely woman who hides a secret. The Greek aristocrat, Remington Kara is stunningly handsome and immensely rich and he nurses an unrequited passion for Lexman's wife. When Lexman gets himself into financial problems with an Albanian...

A collection of the year's best short stories, selected by Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer and series editor Heidi Pitlor. Andrew Sean Greer, "an exceptionally lovely writer, capable of mingling humor with sharp poignancy" (Washington Post), selects twenty stories out of thousands that represent the best examples of the form published the previous year.

A prolific author of the Victorian era, Wilkie Collins (1824–89) specialized in tales of suspense. The forerunners of today's detective and suspense fiction, his best-known works include The Moonstone and The Woman in White. The six short stories of After Dark ― tales of murder, mystery, and family drama ― originally appeared in the periodical Household Words, which was published by Collins's friend and fellow storyteller Charles Dickens. The...

First published in 1912, G. K. Chesterton's "Manalive" is the fascinating and incredible story of Innocent Smith, a man who can be described as a "holy fool". Innocent arrives at Beacon House, a London boarding establishment, and breathes new life into the residents with his games and antics. All in one day he creates the "High Court of Beacon", decides to elope with one of the residents, and convinces another lodger to declare his love for the landlady's...

"Originally published in 1912, Songs of Innocence, was written by the legendary William Blake (1757 – 1827), and illustrated with the stunning drawings of Honor Appleton. It is a collection of nineteen poems, including of 'The Lamb', 'The Blossom', 'Night', 'Spring', 'Nurse's Song', and 'The School-Boy'. The prequel to Songs of Experience, this book redefines our traditional notions of 'paradise' and 'the fall' – representing childhood a state...

The Big Bow Mystery (1892) is a novel by Israel Zangwill. Although he is frequently recognized as a writer who focused on the plight of London's Jewish community, Zangwill also wrote works of genre fiction. Originally serialized in The Star, The Big Bow Mystery is a satirical take on the locked room mystery that continues to astound, entertain, and frustrate readers to this day. Having risen through poverty to become an educator and author, Zangwill...

The Nebula Awards Showcase volumes have been published annually since 1966, reprinting the winning and nominated stories of the Nebula Awards, voted on by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). The editor, selected by SFWA's anthology Committee (chaired by Mike Resnick), is American science fiction and fantasy writer Mercedes Lackey. This year's Nebula winners are Ursula Vernon, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Nancy Kress, and...

Trent's Last Case (1913) is a detective novel by E.C. Bentley. Adapted three times for the cinema-including a 1952 feature film starring Michael Wilding, Orson Welles, and Margaret Lockwood-Trent's Last Case, which was titled The Woman in Black in the U.S., earned the acclaim of such writers as Dorothy L. Sayers, and was followed by a sequel and a collection of short stories involving its main character. When Sigsbee Manderson, a prominent American...