Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

The Speckled Band: one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes adventures, published in 1892. Doyle considered this tale to be his best Holmes story - a "locked door" mystery. It has been adapted for stage, film, radio, and TV and is now available in audiobook format, where Phillip J. Mather's masterful delivery transports the listener back over 100 years to Victorian England.

When Janice Gale is offered a job as a housekeeper at a country place near Pine Cone, she is grateful and looking forward to finally attaining some stability and peace. The last thing Janice expects is to become involved in the search for stolen Russian jewels. To further complicate matters, Janice finds herself dangerously attracted to Paul Dabney, the charming and suspicious houseguest.

Tal Howard is trying to adjust to life after being held prisoner by the Chinese during the Korean War. During his time in camp, he befriended a dying soldier who confessed a secret about a small fortune he had stolen from his brother and hidden somewhere in his hometown. After repatriation, Tal finds it hard to settle down in his old life. He decides to visit the dying prisoner's hometown and retrieve the money, which he hopes will change his life for the better.

Friend to those who have no friend! Enemy to those who would make him an enemy! It's Boston Blackie, safecracker supreme and inspiration for countless Hollywood films as well as radio and TV shows. Jack Boyle's crime fiction short stories and novellas, set in San Francisco, featuring this timeless character were originally published in magazines in 1915 then compiled into this suspense collection in 1919. The stories, however, link from one to the next, so there is continuity throughout the audiobook.

Written in 1915, Beyond Thirty is a fascinating tale of the future after World War I as seen from 1915 - as the carnage and slaughter on the fields of France stunned the world, and men of good will all wondered where civilization was headed. For Edgar Rice Burroughs, "The Great War" results in a two century division between the eastern and western hemispheres. Inhabitants of Pan-America are forbidden to cross the 30th parallel. Europe and the Old World are forever cut off from America.

An Original Revenge by W. C. Morrow, read by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti, takes some interesting turns and leaves you wondering at the end.

This Father Brown mystery by Chesterton deals with a killer who is invisible. But how is it possible for someone to be invisible? To have people hear your voice and not see you? To walk right past their eyes and yet remain unseen? G. K. Chesterton explores not physics here but human nature, in this intriguing and quirky murder mystery.

In this classic Hawthorne short story set in the late 18th century, the ambitious young scientist Aylmer cannot bear the fact that his otherwise flawlessly beautiful wife Georgiana bears a tiny birthmark on her cheek, an imperfection that he believes his scientific methods can cure. Devoted wholeheartedly to her husband, Georgiana allows Aylmer to work his scientific wonders upon her, so that the blemish no may no longer torment him. But tampering with nature can prove a fearful business....

If, after a great struggle, the East were to prevail over the world, what sort of civilization would be imposed by the victors? Would it be an oriental version of the societies we know - or might the great old culture be superimposed upon what was left of Western technology? The story is set in a post-apocalyptic future where global civilization is governed by a hierarchical, religious society centered around belief in karmic-based reincarnation metaphorically viewed as moving forward or backward on a turning wheel.

The Trial by Franz Kafka, narrated by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti, begins like a nightmare - only K is awake, and he is being arrested and indicted on charges he never learns. He is caught up in a legal system that will destroy his life. This is a text that often is used in English classes because it is so deep. Kafka attacks the norms of society, religion, and the legal system.

It begins innocently enough, until a beautiful lady passes his table and then returns and drops a card on the table. The message is written in French, and he does not understand what is written there; and it seems that anyone who can read what is written on the card become so aghast that they refused to tell the gentleman what it says.

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.

The Mysterious Card Unveiled by Cleveland Moffett narrated by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti is the sequel to The Mysterious Card, which left the mystery unsolved. This sequel is far more evil than the original.

A brilliant short story demonstrating how a truly balanced set of dilemmas can allow a reader to conclude two different endings. In this case a young man is faced with two doors. One holds a door with a ferocious tiger. The other? A beautiful lady whom he would immediately marry. The struggle comes not so much in defining a choice, but the reasons that brought the young man to the choice, and who helps him make the choice.

When men are plotting to assassinate European leaders, some take justice into their own hands. A train never makes it to its destination, in this short story penned in the 1890's.

A banker who has people's fortunes leaves his wife and son. They receive letters from Paris describing his life and know nothing of what is behind the sealed door.

A man tries to save his brother, mixed up in a scam, and the calamity that befalls them. Written in 1898 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Wilkie Collins may have had issues with women, and it becomes apparent in this short story by Collins when Isaac Scatchard, not the brightest bulb on the tree, an itinerant ostler, wakes on the night of his birthday to see the apparition of a woman trying to stab him with a clasp knife. Seven years later he marries Rebecca Murdoch, against the wishes of his mother who recognizes her from Isaac's description as the dream woman. Rebecca takes to drink and fulfills the prophecy by attacking him on his birthday.

Sherlock Holmes and Watson are awoken early by a distraught woman desperately seeking their aid. Something is terribly wrong and she fears for her life. Upon hearing her story, Sherlock agrees and springs into action to track down and deal with the sinister Speckled Band who have killed once already. Listen to another exciting adventure of the super sleuth as he uses his powers of observation and deduction to solve this perplexing case.

"The Red-Headed League" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Conan Doyle ranked "The Red-Headed League" second in his list of his 12 favorite Holmes stories.