Historical crime and mysteries Books

Review from the former Director of the C.I.A.A thoroughly enjoyable, engrossing thriller with a captivating young, beautiful American botanist at the center of the fast paced action. Rooting for Sara West as she evades a Russian assassination team...

When the Sea Gives Up Its Dead: A Thrilling Detective Story (1894) is a novel by Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett. While she is mostly remembered today for New Amazonia, a feminist utopian novel which depicts the emergence of an advanced society of women in...

The Dead Letter (1867) is a detective novel by Metta Victoria Fuller Victor. Published under the pseudonym Seeley Regester, The Dead Letter is the first full-length work of crime fiction in American literature. "I paused suddenly in my work. Over a...

Whom God Hath Sundered (1910-1913) is a trilogy by Oliver Onions. Published toward the beginning of Onions' career as a leading novelist and short story writer specializing in genre fiction, Whom God Hath Sundered is a largely unknown trilogy of crime...

The Adventures of Joseph Rouletabille (2021) is a trilogy of novels by French writer Gaston Leroux. Originally a journalist, Leroux turned to fiction after reading the works of Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe. This collection compiles the first...

The Dead Secret (1856) is a novel by Wilkie Collins. Written in the aftermath of Antonina (1850), his successful debut, The Dead Secret finds the author honing the trademark sense of mystery and psychological unease that would make him a household name...

Hide and Seek (1854) is a novel by Wilkie Collins. Written in the aftermath of Antonina (1850), his successful debut, Hide and Seek finds the author honing the trademark sense of mystery and psychological unease that would make him a household name...

The Seven Secrets (1903) is a mystery novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the height of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Seven Secrets is a story of mystery, murder, and amateur sleuthing. Using his...

"As a child, my hero was Jo March [...] But as an adult, it's Louisa May Alcott." Greta GerwigThe Mysterious Key and What It Opened (1867) is a novella by American author, feminist, and abolitionist Louisa May Alcott. Although less popular than her famed...

Elusive Isabel (1909) is a spy novel by Jacques Futrelle. Published at the height of his career as a leading popular detective and science fiction writer, Elusive Isabel was adapted for a 1916 silent film of the same name starring Florence Lawrence...

The Diamond Master (1909) is a mystery novel by Jacques Futrelle. Published at the height of his career as a leading popular detective and science fiction writer, The Diamond Master was adapted for two silent films in 1921 and 1929. Celebrated for his...

Wieland (1798) is a novel by American author Charles Brockden Brown. Considered the first American Gothic novel, this a story of psychological horror and occult mystery based on the real-life James Yates Murders.The novel follows the Wieland family,...

A sharp-witted detective investigates the mystery of a gem, plundered from India and now vanished in England, and discovers shifting motives, unreliable testimony and growing danger in this foundational classic of mystery fiction.The Moonstone justly...

Checkmate (1871) is a novel by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Although less well-known than his more popular works of Gothic horror and mystery, including the vampire novella Carmilla (1872) and the novel The House by the Church-Yard (1863), Checkmate remains...

The House by the Church-Yard (1863) is a novel by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. An important source for James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, The House by the Church-Yard is a hybrid of the mystery and historical genres of fiction. With its complex use of side plots...

The Red House Mystery (1922) is a detective novel by A.A. Milne. Known more for his series of Winnie-the-Pooh stories and poems for children, Milne also wrote novels and plays for adults, including this successful whodunnit. The Red House Mystery,...

As We Forgive Them (1904) is a mystery novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the height of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, As We Forgive Them is a story of espionage, mystery, and murder. Using his own...

A young apprentice is framed for the murder of her mentor, a wealthy woman who had a serious penchant for spiritualism, theatrics and staged seances. When the woman is suddenly killed all signs point to her longstanding partner. Madame Dauvray was...

The Czar's Spy: The Mystery of Silent Love (1905) is an espionage adventure novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the beginning of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Czar's Spy: The Mystery of Silent...

The Day of Temptation (1899) is a mystery novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the beginning of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Day of Temptation is a story of mystery, romance, and international...

In the midst of World War I, the son of a British aristocrat and daughter of an English colonel are roped into a treasonous plot. They must navigate secret agents and spies who are convinced of their guilt. A chance meeting between Catherine Abbeway and...

The Doctor of Pimlico (1919) is a mystery novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the height of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Doctor of Pimlico is a story of mystery, idolization, and international...

The Great Court Scandal (1907) is a novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the beginning of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Great Court Scandal is a story of international espionage, intrigue, and...

When a German spy meets an English lookalike, he devises a plan to travel to London, assume his identity, and gather intel for his government. The Englishman's new persona catches several people off guard including his wife. While living in East Africa,...

The Great War in England in 1897 (1894) is a novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the height of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Great War in England in 1897 is a story of broken alliances,...

The Great White Queen (1896) is an adventure novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the beginning of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Great White Queen is a story of empire, myth, and war. Using his own...

Originally published in 1911, The Innocence of Father Brown is the first of five official collections of short stories focused on the crime-solving Roman Catholic.He is an endearing character often compared to another famous detective, Sherlock Holmes...

The Invasion of 1910 (1906) is a novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the height of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Invasion of 1910 is a story of espionage, resistance, and international conflict...

Madame Midas (1888) is a mystery novel by Fergus Hume. Although not as successful as The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886), an immediate bestseller for Hume, Madame Midas is a gripping novel with forbidden romance and a tightly wound mystery worthy of the...

Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo (1921) is a thriller by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the height of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo is a story of mystery, murder, and international...

Miss Mephistopheles (1890) is a mystery novel by Fergus Hume. Although not as successful as The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886), an immediate bestseller for Hume, Miss Mephistopheles is a gripping novel with forbidden romance and a tightly wound mystery...

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886) is a mystery novel by Fergus Hume. An immediate bestseller for Hume, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is a gripping novel with an atmospheric intensity and tightly wound mystery worthy of the best of Victorian fiction...

When a man is implicated in a grisly murder, he is committed to clearing his name, finding the real culprit and bringing them to justice. He uses unconventional methods and schemes to ensure his freedom. A novelist's life is violently disrupted when he...

At a local tea shop, a lady journalist encounters a brilliant detective who's able to decode and solve some of the city's most complicated crimes. This is a thrilling narrative that hinges on the unique dynamic between its two protagonists. Polly Burton...

Paul Ferroll (1855) is a novel by Caroline Clive. Published to widespread critical and commercial acclaim, Paul Ferroll gained comparisons to Jane Eyre and predated the rise of popular detective fiction, but has since been largely forgotten. A...

The Secret Passage (1905) is a mystery novel by Fergus Hume. Although not as successful as The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886), an immediate bestseller for Hume, The Secret Passage is a gripping novel with an atmospheric intensity and tightly wound...

The Sign of Silence (1915) is a mystery novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the height of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Sign of Silence is a story of stolen identity, mystery, and international...

The Silent House (1899) is a mystery novel by Fergus Hume. Although not as successful as The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886), an immediate bestseller for Hume, The Silent House is a gripping novel with an atmospheric intensity and tightly wound mystery...

The White Lie (1915) is a mystery novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the height of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The White Lie is a story of espionage, mystery, and murder. Using his own research and...

Why Paul Ferroll Killed his Wife (1860) is a novel by Caroline Clive. Published to widespread critical and commercial acclaim, Paul Ferroll gained comparisons to Jane Eyre and predated the rise of popular detective fiction, but has since been largely...

The Wiles of the Wicked (1900) is a mystery novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the beginning of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Wiles of the Wicked is a story of mystery, murder, and redemption...

Originally published in 1903, The Yellow Crayon further explores the adventures of Mr. Sabin whose wife Lucille has been targeted by a mysterious secret society. Mr. Sabin has returned for a case involving an unexpected victim-his wife. When she goes...

LARGE PRINT EDITION.The Mystery of the Yellow Room (1908) is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. Originally serialized in L'Illustration from September to November 1907, The Mystery of the Yellow Room marked the first appearance of popular character...

LARGE PRINT EDITION.The Secret of the Night (1913) is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. The Secret of the Night marked the third appearance of popular character Joseph Rouletabille, a reporter and part-time sleuth who features in several of...

An American Tragedy (1925) is a novel by Theodore Dreiser. Written and rewritten over a number of years, An American Tragedy is a weighty epic with a cleareyed vision of the decay at the heart of industrialized society. Based on the murder of Grace Brown...

The Perfume of the Lady in Black (1908) is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. The Perfume of the Lady in Black marked the second appearance of popular character Joseph Rouletabille, a reporter and part-time sleuth who features in several of Leroux's...