Classic Mystery Short Stories

A big-city tough guy comes to a small Minnesota town to settle a deadly fight between the local crime boss and his chief rival - his son.

When a young governess is hired to care for two orphans in a country estate, she soon realises that something is lurking in the grounds of the house. But is it a mere ghost or an altogether more sinister presence at work? The tension of this timeless horror is perfectly captured by stage and screen actress Virginia McKenna.

The dark strains of madness that permeate many of the works of Edgar Allan Poe make their way through this macabre story. This memorable short story bears a resemblance to Poe's Tell Tale Heart. In both stories guilt leaves a murderer with a singular choice.

"Gentlemen, I am here to represent the interest of Henry Bank & Trust. We would like to resolve the situation quickly and quietly, so that all the investors can move forward with a minimum of anxiety. Holmes sat across from her, studying her with a nonplussed air. "I must admit; he said, that I do not know how to assist you. Inspector Lestrade was here earlier, and it appears that you are missing nothing and they have no thieves in custody. When the bank emptied today, everything was in place, except for the criminals."

Ambrose Bierce's collection of short stories of the supernatural and macabre Can Such Things Be? was first published in 1893 and republished in a revised edition in 1910. One of its most notable inclusions is "The Death of Halpin Frayser" a gothic tale of the murder of the fated hero by the reanimated corpse of his beloved mother.

An enhanced audiobook, with complete music score and extensive sound effects to add to your listening experience.

I do not suppose that you have brought your revolver with you Watson? I shook my head to indicate that my response was in the negative to his question. He turned his head forward again and led us through the kitchen, past several side pantries. As we cautiously inched forward, Holmes observed that the blood trail consisted of droplets of varying size. "Whomever it came from, they must have been applying intermittent pressure on the wound as they walked."

The 21st crime mystery in this Sherlock Holmes series. Travel alongside a carnival where murder is on the agenda. Narrated by Peter Baker, a well-known British television personality on the BBC, commercial radio, and TV.

The death of a beloved sister initiates the career of the heiress of the Tyrone Estate. Pressured into an advantageous marriage, she finds herself residing in a spectral castle, her husband particularly forbidding her to explore the halls of the south wing.

Poe’s characters often take turns for the worse, and this is the literal case in this shipwreck story by the author. Aboard a ship taking off from Indonesia, the narrator’s ship and crew is struck by a storm that kills everyone but the narrator and one other crewmember. As the ship sales on under the enchantment of the storm, it collides with another seemingly enchanted object - a large black galleon crewed by blind men. The narrator keeps a ship’s log while aboard and is forced to abandon it over the side of the ship with the hopes of someone reading it someday.

Poe brings the reality of life and death to the forefront as he weaves a story within a story. When the narrator runs into an old man, the man begins to tell the tale of how he aged so rapidly. Only a day before, he was young - but lost his shipmates into a vicious maelstrom and the powers of the sea. After the initial terror of the event has subsided, he is able to examine the beauty and the power of the forces that can both provide life and take it away without note.

Read by a woman, this rendition of the Poe classic stands out among the others. Nothing in the text suggests that the narrator is a man. How does the meaning shift when the narrator is a woman? What was the relationship between the narrator and the old man? Have a listen.

This is a story from the Four Short Stories collection. In these stories, Conan Doyle draws the listener in to experience drama, suspense and, ultimately, the shock of surprise. Here is a unique combination of a famous analytical intellect telling spine-tingling tales against a background of turn-of-the-century England. Nothing is quite as it seems. What is the secret of "Lot No. 249"? What lies in wait for an aviator in the stratosphere? And what lies inside "The Sealed Room"?

The Secret of the Barbican is the story of a small-town solicitor who on a chance visit to a local museum in a distant town discovers a set of rare siege coins. He instantly recognizes them as the set of coins which had been stolen from his own town corporation many years previously. He immediately sets out to investigate...and the thief's trail takes him to some quite extraordinary places....

Though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for his detective stories, he also wrote other short stories that are masterpieces of mystery and suspense. In some stories, a supressed uneasiness gradually builds up and evolves into sheer horror; in others, the story line unexpectedly changes and comes to an unlikely conclusion.

In "The New Catacomb", deceit and revenge are buried in the deep recesses of a Roman archeological site.

In this Poe-like tale, set in "an old gray house", a man exacts a bizarre revenge on his unfaithful wife and her lover. This chilling story is one of Balzac's most popular.

While Robert Louis Stevenson is most famous for novels like Treasure Island and Kidnapped, he also wrote a number of excellent short stories of suspense. "The Sire de Maletroit's Door" is one of his best.

First published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Book, the story is set in 19th century Italy and concerns the deadly revenge taken by the insane narrator on a friend he claims has insulted him. Like several of Poe's stories, and in keeping with the 19th century fascination with the subject, the narrative revolves around a person being buried alive.

This is a story from the Four Short Stories collection. In these stories, Conan Doyle draws the listener in to experience drama, suspense and, ultimately, the shock of surprise. Here is a unique combination of a famous analytical intellect telling spine-tingling tales against a background of turn-of-the-century England. Nothing is quite as it seems. What is the secret of "Lot No. 249"? What lies in wait for an aviator in the stratosphere? And what lies inside "The Sealed Room"?

A couple of law students, Tom Donague and Jack Turnbull, who have run out of money, set off for South Africa to make their fortune. For three years, they fail to make any money, but then one day, as they are up country in a remote spot, their luck changes. A friend, Dick Wharton appears unexpectedly one night during heavy rain, telling a strange tale of having seen a ghost in the cursed Sasassa Valley. Tom Donague is particularly excited by the story, and determines to uncover the mystery of the apparition.