Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

William Fryer Harvey (1885-1937) was an English writer of short stories, most notably in the mystery and horror genres, in which many of his works are recognized as masterpieces of the genre. The Ankardine Pew is one of W. F. Harvey's most famous works. It is a curious tale of a house haunted by the tortured soul of a previous owner who had once committed a most dreadful and unusual atrocity.

A delightful collection of light-hearted classic stories from some of the greatest Victorian and Edwardian-era writers.

'A School Story' is an intriguing ghost tale set in a private school near London. During a lesson one of the boys finds himself writing a strange sentence in Latin which he himself cannot properly explain. When the teacher reads it, he turns pale and appears to become suddenly very ill. A week or so later, again during class, another even more mysterious Latin message appears...and then events turn very strange and sinister indeed.

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was an English writer of 957 short stories and over 170 novels. He is widely recognized as one of the most prolific writers of his age. 'White Stockings' is a compelling and cleverly constructed story about a vengeful jilted lover with a gambling addiction, a racing tout, a gullible lover, a hairdresser and a wily old racehorse owner...most of whom are hell-bent on double-crossing each other.

The elderly spinster, Miss Cornelius appears to be the cause of a range of strange supernatural phenomena which are troubling the house where she is temporarily lodging. But when Andrew Saxon, a local schoolmaster, accuses her of being behind the mysterious haunting she turns on him with a terrifying curse. Following this the focus of the strange and terrifying phenomena mysteriously shifts to the Saxon household...and worse still, it seems as though the awful powers have transferred from Miss Cornelius to Saxon's beloved wife, Molly.

Arthur George Morrison (1863-1945) was an English writer and journalist known for his realistic novels and stories about working-class life in London's East End. The House of Haddock is the humorous story of an old rogue whose formerly genteel family has fallen on hard times. A former ancestor of his once gave a set of almshouses to the village, and our anti-hero sets out to ensure that one of these is allocated to him.

Mr. Pappas tells the story of a young female artist who has agreed to let out her studio one evening a week to a mysterious foreigner, Mr. Pappas. She is now anxious about what her sinister tenant might be getting up to in her studio...and A. J. Alan offers to hide in the place and spy on them one night. When he does so, he uncovers astounding and terrible goings on....

Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Irons Folsom Fox (1862-1935) was an American writer best known for her rich and varied short stories. 'Towers of Fame' is an unlikely love story. The indifferent, cold, calculating and wholly ambitious judge, Eric Hall, is the last person any of the assembled company could imagine ever having a love affair. And yet an old friend of his tells a romantic story that perplexes and fascinates everybody.

Arthur George Morrison (1863-1945) was an English writer and journalist known for his realistic novels and stories about working-class life in London's East End. His Tale of Bricks is a humorous tale of a set of rogues in London's East End attempting an ingenious swindle at Liverpool Street station, involving the switching of one suitcase with another filled with bricks...but the swap does not work out quite as planned.

Arthur George Morrison (1863-1945) was an English writer and journalist known for his realistic novels and stories about working-class life in London's East End. A Lucifo Match is the story of a London pickpocket who selects the wrong pocket to dip his fingers into. It belongs to a West End conjurer who exacts an extraordinary revenge for the attempted theft. But the pickpocket is not so easily beaten, and his natural cunning suggests a way to get even.

Arthur George Morrison (1863-1945) was an English writer and journalist known for his realistic novels and stories about working-class life in London's East End. The Disorder of the Bath is an engaging and humorous story about a burglary told by a cockney rogue who has double crossed his companions and is on the run.

Arthur George Morrison (1863-1945) was an English writer and journalist known for his realistic novels and stories about working-class life in London's East End. This collection contains a selection of Morrison's best work, including 'Dobbs' Parrot', 'The House of Haddock', 'The Thing in the Upper Room', 'His Tale of Bricks', and 'A Lucifo Match'.

Neil Munro (1863-1930) was a Scottish journalist, newspaper editor, author and literary critic who is now mainly known for his humorous short stories. The Student Lodger is the humorous tale of a Scottish couple who take on an English divinity student as a lodger. The trainee minister turns out rather livelier than his landlords had hoped....

The true crime story of Henri Désiré Landru, master of murder and the art of making love, captivated the whole of Europe for almost two years. Landru is known to have murdered at least a dozen women for their savings and their furniture. Moreover, the uncanny fascination which he held for his victims from the moment he fixed them with his strangely compelling eyes, has never been properly explained.

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was an English writer of 957 short stories and over 170 novels. He is widely recognized as one of the most prolific writers of his age.

'The Murder on Yarmouth Sands' is a true crime story. Towards the end of the Boer War, the body of a woman was discovered on Yarmouth Sands. She had been strangled by a mohair bootlace. There are only two clues to the crime...and the police set out to follow them up....

The Secret of the Moat Farm is Wallace's account of a real-life murder mystery which he had covered as a young journalist. Camille Holland, a spinster of 56, became enamoured of an attractive scoundrel named Dougal. When the two moved into the remote Moat Farm, it was not long before Miss Holland disappeared. Dougal remained at the farm, spending Miss Holland's money and entertaining a series of mistresses...until finally suspicions were aroused.

'Dr. Crippen, Lover and Poisoner' is Le Queux's account of the case of the famous poisoner Hawley Harvey Crippen, whom Le Queux claimed to have met personally on several occasions. Crippen, to escape the bondage of an unhappy marriage, and because he had fallen in love with another woman, Ethel Le Neve, murdered and dissected his wife and escaped with his lover in disguise, sparking a transatlantic hue and cry.

Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863-1935) was a British journalist and author. He wrote more than 230 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and nonfiction. He was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the Victorian golden age of the short story. This collection brings together some of the finest and most diverse examples of Fletcher's genius.

Skinflint is a bittersweet tale of an embittered middle-aged woman who has never recovered from being jilted as a young woman. Since that sorry episode she has thrown herself into the micro-management of her grocery and drapery business. Then one day she learns that her former lover is on the brink of ruin...and the memories of her youth come surging back....

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....