Mystery Reads

After a lucrative television writing career comes to an abrupt end, ex–high school teacher Ray Mitchell returns to the New Jersey city of his birth—to rethink his life, reconnect with his teenage daughter and to spread the wealth on the housing project that reared him. He begins teaching again, embarks on an affair with a married woman from the old neighborhood and becomes a mentor to a former student recently released from jail. Then, disaster: he is found beaten nearly to death in his own apartment.

Narrated by Liz Miller, a penniless PhD candidate desperate to finish her dissertation, the novel begins when Liz's boyfriend abruptly ditches her, rendering Liz homeless and reduced to couch-surfing at best friend Petra's tiny Manhattan studio apartment. Trying to find an affordable living space, she stumbles across a Craigslist posting that will change her life: a room with a view in a prewar Greenwich Village apartment. The rent is a pittance, but in exchange, the tenant must be willing to read aloud daily to the apartment's sight-impaired landlady.

Tom Sawyer is an orphaned boy who lives together with his kindhearted aunt Polly. Although his poor aunt takes good care of him, Tom grows up to be rebellious who comes up with a new plan for troublemaking every day. He steals snacks, comes home late, lies to his friends, tricks them into giving him various things and each time he manages to get away with it. But when he falls in love with a girl and tries to win her heart, he gets into even bigger trouble.

Allan Quatermain is a hunter who lives in South Africa. One day, after he returns home from an unsuccessful elephant hunt, he meets Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good. The two men are looking for Curtis’ brother, who disappeared whilst trying to find King Solomon’s Mines. Quatermain owns a map that show the way to the mines, so he decides to help Curtis and Good. Allan organizes an expedition that will take them to the edge of the desert.

A meteorite crashes in an area around Arkham, Massachusetts and normally life is interrupted. The earth is poisoned, the animals are driven mad, the products that grow there become tasteless. One man decides to find out what has really happened but the townspeople are not willing to give more details about what they have gone through. The explorer however meets a man named Ammi Pierce. He looks a bit crazy but he is willing to share what he has experienced.

Anodos is a young boy who finds a large and mystical castle with a big and impressive library. The library hides the secret story of the poor Cosmo who was a student at the university of Prague. Cosmo’s life changed forever because of a mirror. But it was no usual mirror; it was an enchanted and a beautiful girl’s soul was kept inside of it. Cosmo was determined to free the girl but was he able to? Read this short story and find out. B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

Jabez Wilson, a London pawnbroker with ginger hair, pays a visit to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. He tells them about his young assistant, Vincent Spaulding, who has advised Wilson to respond to an urgent job advertisement in the local newspaper. The very next morning the pawnbroker is interviewed and hired. Everything goes well, until one morning he sees an announcement which says that "The red-headed league is dissolved". Wilson is extremely dissatisfied and goes to meet the landlord but does not receive any help.

"The Yellow Sign" is considered to be Robert Chambers’ horror masterpiece. He introduces us to Mr. Scott, an artist living in New York City. One day, Scott sees an overweight young man, who looks like a lawn grub to him. The artist’s is working on a painting of a girl named Tessie. When the girl falls ill, Scott tries to cure her, so he can finish his work as fast as possible. However, Tessie’s condition gets worse and she starts having very strange dreams.

"I will not suffer thee, ungrateful girl, to rule my people according to thine own capricious will!" The king of Denmark is extremely frustrated with his daughter. Not only does she reject every suitor who asks for her hand - she does it so rudely that her reputation has become horrible in the neighboring countries. When the King orders her to marry one of her cousins, she does so only begrudgingly, and instantly starts planning her father's murder with her new husband.

"The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" is Sir Conan Doyle’s second collection about the great detective. In this collection we meet the same two protagonists, namely Holmes and Watson, but the cases and mysteries that must be solved are completely new. The disappearance of a champion horse, a dead coachman and stolen naval treaty are only a small portion of all the mysteries the two men will have to deal with.

The Baron d’Etraille witnesses a disturbing scene at a party between his own wife and another young man. D’Etraille decides that they have to separate, so he leaves the baroness and heads out on a long journey. He spends almost six years wandering around from one place to another, not knowing what is happening with his wife. Eventually, he returns to Paris but a month later he catches such a bad cough that he is sent to Nice for the rest of the winter.

Ali Baba and Cassim are two Persian brothers. Ali Baba barely manages to put food on the table for his family, while his brother lives an easy life thanks to his rich wife. One day, while chopping wood in the forest, Ali Baba sees a band of thieves laden with treasures approaching. They stop in front of a rock and the captain shouts "Open Sesame!". What happens next is pure magic. The giant rock moves to the sides and opens a portal which the thieves enter.

Hilton Cubitt visits Sherlock Holmes to show him a sheet of paper with a weird sequence of drawn figures. When these odd messages began to arrive at Cubitt’s house, fear and panic overwhelmed his wife Elsie. She is afraid her past is catching up with her, but she refuses to reveal anything about it. Holmes is tasked with decipher the messages and find out who is sending them.

Nicholas Nickleby is a young boy left without a father. Nicholas has to take care of his mother and sister and is forced by his uncle to work as an assistant to the schoolmaster Wackford Squeers. Squeers’ intentions are however not good and his only goal is to make Nicholas’ life miserable. At the same time Squeers’ wife convinces herself that Nicholas loves her and this gets the young boy in even greater trouble. Nicholas’ uncle is colluding with the schoolmaster and it seems like everybody is against him.

B.J. Harrison reads "The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allan Poe, which is a story of an unusual mystery that needs to be solved. A sensitive letter has been stolen from the queen's boudoir, and the famous amateur detective C. Auguste Dupin has been called to the rescue. The guilty one is the lover himself, Minister D-. What ensues is a match between the detective and the thief, two equally brilliant minds.

Rachel Innes is a rich lady who has been taking care of her niece and nephew since their father died. The three of them decide to rent a house in the country and although everything seems to be alright in the beginning, strange events soon begin to occur. Her niece disappears then reappears a few days later. There is a murder they are involved in. They hear strange noises. Things fall down the stairs in the middle of the night. Will Rachel solve the mysteries and how will their summer end? Find out in "The Circular Staircase". B. J.

Sherlock Holmes is still a student when he receives his very first case. While still in college, he is invited to the house of his good friend, Victor Trevor. There he meets Trevor’s father, who challenges Holmes to analyze him, so that he can test the young detective’s investigative skills. Holmes touches a nerve after mentioning a person with the initials "J.A.". After the shock passes, Trevor’s father tries to hide how terrified he is, but Holmes can still catch the anxiety in his eyes.

Ralph Orth is an American novelist who decides to move to the English countryside. There he buys a marvellous estate called Chillingsworth. Inside Chillingsworth’s gallery, Orth finds an old portrait of a young girl who takes Orth’s breath away. He is fascinated and is determined to find out who this girl was. His obsession with little lady Blanche gets so strong that one day he sees her walking around in the neighborhood.

France and Great Britain are waging a fierce war for the control of the North American colonies. Cora and Alice Munro are two sisters who travel through the forest to visit their father - Colonel Munro. Major Duncan Heyward and an Indian named Magua escort the two girls. However, unbeknownst to them, many dangers are lurking in the forest and stand reading to strike unsuspecting travellers.

The major part of the human population lives under the surface of Earth. Humankind has created a Machine which meets all possible needs. Travelling is permitted but people do not feel the need for it. Everybody lives in a separate room and communication is made via messages and videos only. However, not everyone is content with this life. There are rebels like Kuno who want to explore and get out of the limitations set by the Machine. Kuno will try to escape but without success.