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Crime, Thrillers and Mystery — page 7
502 public-domain crime, thrillers and mystery books, summarised. Page 7 of 11.
Dead Men's Money
J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher
The quiet life of a clerk in Berwick-upon-Tweed is shattered when a series of mysterious strangers and a brutal murder pull him into a lethal, international web of deception and greed.
The Babbington case
Nicholas (House name) Carter
The master detective faces his most elusive adversary yet, unmasking a conspiracy of impersonation, murder, and sudden, desperate transformations of heart. In this high-stakes game of shadows, the truth proves as treacherous as the villains.
The clue of the silver key
Edgar Wallace
A master of disguise and a relentless detective clash in a high-stakes hunt through the fog-drenched streets of 1930s London. This is a classic cat-and-mouse mystery defined by rapid pacing and a series of lethal surprises.
The haunter of the ring
Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard
A lingering curse from a past life threatens a young couple, until a man with a dark history intervenes to confront the occult architect of their misery.
The Mandarin's Fan
Fergus Hume
A crumbling estate, a missing Chinese fan, and a string of suspicious deaths pull a young man into a dangerous game of greed and hidden history.
The Great Taxicab Robbery: A True Detective Story
James H. (James Hiram) Collins
In the heart of a bustling, modernizing New York, a brazen daylight robbery of a taxicab leaves the city in a panic and the police under fire. This true account follows the methodical, often psychological, hunt to reclaim $25,000 and restore public faith in the law.
The Lone Wolf Returns
Louis Joseph Vance
A man who has finally traded his life as a notorious jewel thief for the peace of domestic love finds his past forcibly exhumed by a blackmailing criminal syndicate.
The Pink Shop
Fergus Hume
A young woman’s quest for justice following her mother’s murder leads her into a labyrinth of secrets involving her wealthy father, a mysterious shop, and a determined investigator.
Midnight In Beauchamp Row: 1895
Anna Katharine Green
The isolation of a winter storm provides the backdrop for a chilling confrontation between a young bride, a mysterious intruder, and a secret that threatens to destroy everything. A single night of terror unravels the foundations of a marriage, revealing the dark lengths to which one man will go to secure a fortune.
Rayton: A Backwoods Mystery
Theodore Goodridge Roberts
An outsider's playful introduction of low-stakes card games to a wilderness settlement unwittingly sets off a chain of dark superstitious dread, hidden rivalries, and unhinged vengeance.
Annihilation
Isabel Ostrander
A body found in a sodden New York alley pulls a retired cop into a gated enclave of hidden fires, poison experiments, and quiet madness.
Tempest-Driven: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3)
Richard Dowling
A seaside mystery of stolen money, spectral apparitions, and romantic entanglement turns the rocky coast of Ireland into a battleground for truth and sanity.
Zero Data
Charles Saphro
Lonnie Raichi stole the world’s greatest treasures behind an invisible suit, but forgot that light never lies to a cop who understands physics.
No Shield from the Dead
Gordon R. Dickson
An ambitious official learns too late that the ultimate immunity of a high-tech shield provides no protection against the psychological reckoning of his past.
The Mystery Queen
Fergus Hume
When a wealthy man is found murdered with a mysterious insect left at the scene, an amateur sleuth must infiltrate a lethal secret society to save his reputation and his beloved.
Ashton-Kirk, Investigator
John T. (John Thomas) McIntyre
Ashton-Kirk, a man of wealth and intellect, operates not as a common detective, but as an investigator who finds the unraveling of complex human puzzles to be his primary joy.
Dorothy Dixon and the Double Cousin
Dorothy Wayne
A bold young sleuth trades places with her cousin to foil an international plot, proving that quick wits and a steady hand can outsmart the most dangerous of foes.
Out of a Labyrinth
Lawrence L. Lynch
A seasoned operative arrives in the small town of Trafton to solve a series of baffling crimes, only to find that the heart of the conspiracy beats hidden in plain sight.
The history of the London Burkers: Containing a faithful and authentic account of the horrid acts of the noted Resurrectionists, Bishop, Williams, May, etc., etc., and their trial and condemnation at the Old Bailey for the wilful murder of Carlo Ferrari, with the criminals' confessions after trial. Including also the life, character, and behaviour of the atrocious Eliza Ross, the murderer of Mrs. Walsh, etc., etc
Anonymous
The gallows-tree and the dissecting table collide in this grim chronicle of London’s illicit trade in human remains. It documents the desperate, bloody era when the demand for anatomical subjects fueled a series of cold-blooded murders.
Awdeley's Fraternitye of Vacabondes, Harman's Caueat, Haben's Sermon, &c
Awdelay, John, active 1559-1577
A sharp-eyed justice of the peace documents the elaborate deceits of Elizabethan vagabonds, revealing a hidden underworld of professional beggars, thieves, and masters of manufactured pity.
Guy Garrick
Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin) Reeve
A brilliant investigator uses cutting-edge early 20th-century technology to dismantle a web of corruption, kidnapping, and high-stakes gambling threatening a young heiress.
The Cab of the Sleeping Horse
John Reed Scott
A high-stakes game of international espionage unfolds in Washington, D.C., where a mysterious cipher letter and a beautiful woman place a diplomat in the center of a dangerous, shifting web of secrets.
The Childerbridge Mystery
Guy Boothby
The Childerbridge Mystery is a classic Edwardian puzzle, blending the rugged frontier spirit of colonial Australia with the suffocating, tradition-bound atmosphere of an English country estate. It explores how deep-seated secrets and personal vendettas can reach across oceans to destroy the peace of an unsuspecting…
Jewel Mysteries, from a Dealer's Note Book
Max Pemberton
A professional gem dealer navigates a world of high-stakes theft, where precious stones are not merely commodities but catalysts for obsession, danger, and social ruin. These tales map the intersection of criminal intrigue and the rigid vanity of the Edwardian elite.
The Rat Racket
David H. (David Henry) Keller
A wealthy financier takes on a criminal empire by weaponizing the very terror they use to extort the city. This dark, inventive thriller explores the intersection of myth, science, and cold-blooded justice.
The Exploits of Elaine
Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin) Reeve
HOOK A master criminal stalks New York’s elite, leaving only a chilling calling card: a clutching hand. A brilliant scientist must master the latest technology to save a young woman from this relentless web of terror.
The skeleton key
Bernard Capes
An enigmatic traveler and a local detective collide in a Hampshire country house, where a murder mystery unfolds beneath the veneer of polite society and chess games.
Gunman's bluff
Edgar Wallace
A wealthy London banker vanishes into the underworld, leaving his bride, a relentless detective, and a suave jewel thief to untangle a web of forgery and betrayal.
Old Broadbrim Into the Heart of Australia
St. George Rathborne
HOOK A determined Quaker detective pursues a cold-blooded murderer from the elegant parlors of Fifth Avenue into the rugged, dangerous heart of the Australian outback.
The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story
Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White
A mysterious kidnapping and a trail of stolen portraits unravel a decades-old vendetta, forcing a young man to confront the dark history of his guardian.
Constance Dunlap
Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin) Reeve
A desperate woman turns her sharp intelligence against a dishonest world, using her mastery of forgery, disguise, and criminal psychology to save doomed men and outwit the relentless detective who pursues her.
Mrs Peixada
Henry Harland
A young attorney takes on a mysterious inheritance case and unwittingly falls in love with the woman he is hired to track down.
Mask of Death
Paul Ernst
A mysterious figure calling himself Doctor Satan threatens a lavish Maine resort with a weapon that distorts the flow of time itself.
Clendenen's detective manual
Rufus Howard Clendenen
In the rugged hills and booming industrial towns of early twentieth-century West Virginia, crime is evolving fast—and only disciplined observation, cool common sense, and modern investigative techniques can bring lawbreakers to justice.
Harry Blount, the Detective
T. J. Flanagan
A desperate hunt for justice spanning continents and class lines, this thriller explores the high stakes of deception and the relentless pursuit of a cunning impostor.
Penny Nichols and the Knob Hill Mystery
Joan Clark
A young woman seeking a quiet summer rest stumbles into an old rural grudge, a hidden inheritance, and a series of mysterious nighttime prowlers.
The D'Arblay mystery
R. Austin (Richard Austin) Freeman
A young doctor is drawn into a labyrinthine conspiracy when his friend’s father dies under suspicious circumstances, leading him to seek the aid of a legendary expert in medical jurisprudence.
The Laughing Mill, and Other Stories
Julian Hawthorne
The supernatural often hides in plain sight, waiting for the mundane world to falter. These stories explore the thin, shimmering veil between ordinary human experience and the haunting, irrational forces that govern our deepest fears.
The Stolen Brain
Nicholas (House name) Carter
A relentless detective uncovers a labyrinth of medical depravity and criminal deceit, where surgeons moonlight as predators and identities shift like shadows. This rapid-fire mystery offers a masterclass in the mechanics of the classic American dime novel.
Agatha Webb
Anna Katharine Green
HOOK A quiet New England town is shaken by a brutal murder, setting in motion a high-stakes investigation where secrets from the past threaten the lives of the innocent.
Book of Detective Stories
Unknown
A collection of short, observational mysteries follows a persistent investigator as he deciphers the peculiar habits of criminals and the secrets hidden within seemingly mundane objects.
Shadow in the House
Sinclair Gluck
The peaceful conclusion of a family dinner is shattered by a cold-blooded murder, forcing two investigators to untangle a web of secrets hidden within a wealthy household. A puzzle of motive and method unfolds, revealing that behind the polished facade of the upper class, nothing is quite as it appears.
The aircraft boys of Lakeport
Edward Stratemeyer
A group of resourceful boys in a small town find themselves master of the skies when they stumble upon a crashed biplane and decide to master its flight.
The Castle Of The Shadows
A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson
The Mediterranean sun sets the stage for a daring rescue mission, where an American heiress risks everything to save an unjustly imprisoned man from a distant island fortress.
Suspense
Isabel Ostrander
A young woman desperate to save her father from a blackmailing syndicate infiltrates a criminal stronghold as a secretary, only to find her own search for truth entangled with a detective who is both her protector and her pursuer.
The Sacred Herb
Fergus Hume
A wealthy aristocrat finds himself embroiled in a complex murder mystery involving an ancient, hallucinogenic plant from Easter Island. This atmospheric tale blends traditional detective work with exotic, occult danger.
A Point of Testimony
Carolyn Wells
A debonair detective with a sense of humor and an imaginary partner unravels a strangulation case by finding a single, mismatched pencil in a tidy library.
The Leak
Jacques Futrelle
The Thinking Machine applies cold, absolute logic to a financial mystery that has baffled the experts, proving that even the most invisible crime leaves a trail for a mind that refuses to accept the impossible.