Mystery Short Stories For Adults

Professor Van Dusen solves a variety of different mysteries together with his friend, Hutchinson Hatch, a reporter for a fictional newspaper called The Daily New Yorker. The professor is known as the "Thinking Machine", and he solves problems by the remorseless application of logic. In this story, he thinks his way out of a maximum-security prison.

Watson visits Sherlock Holmes at Christmastime and finds him contemplating a battered old hat, brought to him by the commissionaire Peterson after it and a Christmas goose had been dropped by a man in a scuffle with some street ruffians. Peterson takes the goose home to eat it, but comes back later with a precious carbuncle that his wife found in the bird's crop.

If you look at any listing of the 10 most important books of detective stories published in the United States, chances are you will find Uncle Abner, Master of Mysteries on most of them. It is generally recognized as one of the most important contributions to American detective fiction between Poe and Hammett. In fact, there are some critics who call it the single finest collection of American detective stories ever written. This story is from that famous collection.

Arriving in the rural Catskill Mountains (where legend has it there resides a spectral headless horseman who hunts the night on a black steed), the eccentric Ichabod Crane vies for the love of the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel. The bully, Brom Bones, also has his eyes on Katrina and devises a wicked plan to rid himself of his hated rival.

"The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and is one of 13 stories in the collection The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

A murdered senior citizen. A dirty fight to claim the deceased’s assets. Can a small town bakery owner ask the right questions to reveal the real killer? When Meghan’s most troublesome customer loses a relative, she’s torn between doing the right thing or minding her own business. As she discovers that the murdered victim left a mark, both good and bad, on several people in Sandy Bay, it becomes obvious that her demise might be outside the realm of the ordinary. This leaves her with an equal measure of dread and awe.

Bruno is a mild-mannered baker from Italy, now living in the quaint little town of Terrace Heights. Mina, the local cake artiste, is always trying to get him to impregnate her so they can get hitched and raise a large family. Tomas, his new hire at Luna's bakery, has his eyes on the vault in Bruno's man cave. Little does Bruno know that his world is about to be hot-crossed, glazed and jelly-filled.

Chris's parents are going on vacation, so she decides to host a house party while they are away. Chris's world begins to unravel during the party and she ends up in a lot of trouble. Find out what happens to Chris and how the situation is finally resolved.

Against the wishes of superstitious townspeople, Jonathan Harker journeys to the castle of Count Dracula on Walpurgisnacht, the dreaded night of the dead. Abandoned by his frightened coachman, Harker finds himself alone in a cemetery, battered by the elements and at the mercy of the strange beasts hunting him.

Listen to each 5 Minute Mystery carefully, and select which clues either incriminate or exonerate each suspect. Select the guilty suspect from the list once you've found all of the clues. 5 Minute Mysteries Volume 1 includes the following mysteries: (1) The Crusader’s Robe, (2) A Dream of Old Salem, (3) The Great Musket Mystery, (4) The Liberty Gun, (5) The Hidden Messenger, (6) Death at Andersonville, (7) Mr. Patrick’s History Class, and (8) The Battle of The Bulge.

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.

Abdullah Syed Hari is fourteen years old. He loves his family and his friends. And he is a Somali pirate. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

His friends warned him not to try the fried pudding at the carnival, but Dan didn't listen. A short story in comics from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

There’s nothing better than taking your timid little cousin Thad to one of those sweet haunted houses the 4-H Club decorates for Halloween. Except, of course, if the house turns out to actually be haunted. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

In "The Invisible Man", a murderer manages to get in and out of a house, even though it is under constant observation. In some ways, the story parallels Poe's "The Purloined Letter" but adds its own unique touches, particularly in the character and methods of priest-sleuth Father Brown.

"The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was originally published as part of The Return of Sherlock Holmes in 1903.

Never seen before private diary entries they don’t want you to know about. Peek into the mind of the making of a maverick, a window to the soul of an angry, young girl, who will come of age in a city on the verge of total annihilation.

Holmes is confronted with the disappearance of the bride of a nobleman - just minutes after the ceremony. "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" is one of the 56 original Sherlock Holmes stories and was first published in Strand Magazine in April 1892. It served as the (loose) basis for The Eligible Bachelor, a film starring Jeremy Brett as Holmes, Edward Hardwicke as Watson, and Simon Williams as Lord St. Simon.

Two fake psychics, one real haunted house - what could go wrong? A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

River and Niko find their dad is missing, and they have no choice but to track him down. But when they discover the clues lead to a shady reptile dealer, they start to think they might have gotten in over their heads.