Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

A wonderful collection of classic thrillers, mystery stories, crime tales and weird accounts of uncanny events.1. Query by “Seamark” 2. The Furnished Room by O. Henry 3.The Dancing Partner by Jerome K. Jerome 4. The Squaw by Bram Stoker 5. The 19 Club by A. J. Alan 6. The Interruption by W. W. Jacobs7. Laura by Saki 8. A Descent into the Maelström by Edgar Allan Poe 9. The Diver by A. J. Alan10. The Man of the Night by Edgar Wallace11. The Burglary by Arnold Bennett

Ernest William Hornung (1866-1921) was an English writer best known for tales of the gentleman thief A. J. Raffles and his sidekick, Bunny Manders in late 19th-century London. These two characters are thought to have been in part based on his friends Oscar Wilde and his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, and also on Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. In A Costume Piece Raffles is determined to steal the purple diamonds which are worn ostentatiously be the wealthy society bully Reuben Rosenthal.

Olive Schreiner (1855-1920) was a South African author, suffragist and political activist. She is best known for her novel The Story of an African Farm, but some of her most haunting and memorable works are her short stories. This collection presents four drealike short stories with multilayered meaning and allegorical significance: "A Dream of Wild Bees", "Life's Gifts", "The Artist's Secret" and "In a Far-Off World".

A brilliant anthology of weird and fantastic stories about islands and sea monsters. 'The Sea-Raiders' by H. G. Wells. 'Alone on a Wide Wide Sea' by J. S. Fletcher. 'Dagon' by H. P. Lovecraft. 'A Tropical Horror' by William Hope Hodgson. 'No Ships Pass' by Eleanor Smith. 'Aepyornis Island' by H. G. Wells. 'The Vengeance of La Maraye' by J. S. Fletcher. 'Absolute Evil' by Julian Hawthorne. 'The Shadows' by Henry S. Whitehead. 'The Lighthouse on Shivering Sand' by J. S. Fletcher. 'Over the Border' by Morgan Robertson. 'Treasure Trove' by Neil Munro.

'The Malachite Jar' is a detective story. An eminent magistrate, an antiquarian book and antique collector, has been found dead. The post mortem indicates that he was poisoned. But who could possibly have a motive for the murder? Various members of the community come forward with information, each of which points to a different solution to the puzzle...but which is correct?

Written in 1867, The Magic Fishbone is one of Charles Dickens' best loved fairy tales for children. It tells the story of an impoverished King who can barely manage to keep his nineteen children, and it is a long time until pay day. One day he meets a Fairy Godmother who tells him to give his eldest daughter, Princess Alicia, a piece of salmon, and after she has eaten everything but the bone, she is to dry and polish the bone carefully because it has magic powers.

Finding himself trapped in a compartment with a set of unruly children, the Storyteller decides to take revenge by narrating a tale with a most immoral twist. This is a wonderful example of Hector Hugh Munro’s witty and multi-layered storytelling, satirizing British Edwardian society. The listener is drawn into the story along with the children and is equally horrified and delighted by the unexpected ending.

When Theodoric Voler boards a train he finds he is not alone in the compartment. Not only is there a female companion asleep in one corner, there is a mouse which has hidden itself inside his clothes. Can the sensitive and prudish young man manage to undress and extricate the mouse without his female companion waking up? Hector Hugh Munro (Saki) at his most satirical. A superb and witty observation on the sensibilities and mores of British Edwardian society.

A gripping collection of the very best classic mystery and adventure stories. 1. "Rose Rose" by Barry Pain 2. "The Perfect Crime" by Seamark 3. "The Well" by W. W. Jacobs 4. "The Tea-Leaf" by Edgar Jepson and Robert Eustace 5. "The Step" by E. F. Benson 6. "The Queer Feet" by G. K. Chesterton 7. "The Beast with Five Fingers" by W. F. Harvey 8. "The Enemy" by Hugh Walpole 9. "An Impromptu Dance" by A. J. Alan 10. "The Red-Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 11. "The Wedding Guest" by Guy Boothby

First published in 1924, Charles E. Pearce’s account of some of the most gruesome and intriguing unsolved murders of the 19th century continues to captivate amateur sleuths to this day. Pearce guides us through a fascinating world of wicked assassinations, missed clues, ingenious stratagems, and cunning deceits in one last attempt to track down historical villains who evaded justice. It is impossible to establish the truth beyond reasonable doubt in any of the cases at this distance, but the light which Pearce sheds on the investigations and contemporary testimony, encourages us to evaluate the evidence anew.

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. In 'The Secret of the Strong Room', three young men of unimpeachable character are planning to commit the perfect heist on the safe of the Illysium Theatre. But they have planned without the greater cunning of the theatre's owner, Markenstein.

Jan Nepomuk Neruda (1834-1891) was born in Prague, Bohemia, the son of a small grocer. After studying philosophy and philology, he worked as a teacher until 1860, when he became a freelance journalist and writer. 'The Vampire' is a strange tale of a group of tourists visiting an idyllic spot outside Constantinople in the company of a charming but oddly sinister Greek artist who seems to be at pains to ensure nobody can look over his shoulder and see what he is sketching.

O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), an American writer of outstanding short stories known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and surprise endings. 'A Newspaper Story' is an ingenious tale about a lost newspaper blowing through the streets of New York. Each passer-by who comes into contact with any part of it is personally impacted by one of the stories in the paper - but not in the way one would expect.

Poe's humorous political satire, recounting a bizarre story of a group of academics who unwrap a Mummy late at night, and conduct a series of experiments upon the body. Unexpectedly the embalmed body wakes up and a most unusual and entertaining conversation ensues, in which the amazing achievements of the ancient Egyptians becomes manifest...and the achievements of modern Americans less so.

Kate Chopin (1850 - 1904) was a US. author of French and Irish descent famous for her short stories and novels set in Louisiana. A Pair of Silk Stockings is the tale of a frazzled housewife and mother, Mrs. Sommers, who has come into a small fortune of $15. She plans selflessly to spend it on clothes and shoes for her children, but when she sets out on her shopping trip she is seduced by a pair of beautiful soft silk stockings and embarks on an intoxicating spending spree for her own personal pleasure.

A brilliant collection of some of the finest old sea stories ever written. 'The Overcrowded Iceberg' by Morley Roberts, 'The Substitute' by W. W. Jacobs, 'Reparation' by J. D. Beresford, 'The Paradise Coal-Boat' by Charles John Cutcliffe Hyne, 'The Registered Packet' by J. S. Fletcher, 'Treasure Trove' by Neil Munro, 'The Vengeance of La Maraye' by J. S. Fletcher, 'The Sea-Raiders' by H. G. Wells, 'No Ships Pass' by Eleanor Smith....

When a poor lad sets out to seek his fortune, he manages to acquire a magic turban which can make him invisible, a magic sword which is so strong it can cut through anything, and a magic carpet which will take him wherever he wants to go. Armed with these enchanted artefacts, he sets out to solve the mystery of where the princess disappears to every night....

A collection of 50 of the world's great creepy stories. "Creepy" does not necessarily mean ghost or horror stories but rather stories that literally make our flesh creep by shaking our false sense of security and comprehension of the world.

Fifty short stories by women writers who broke the mould.

The Voice in the Night is an uncanny story about a ship becalmed in fog in the middle of the Pacific. In the night, the watch hears a voice hailing the ship. It would seem to be a lone man in a rowing boat, but the individual does not wish to be seen. He is starving and urgently wants food - but despite this, he will not approach the ship and vehemently rejects the idea of being rescued. Instead they have to float some provisions out to him in a crate, which he takes off to a nearby island where his fiancée is dying of hunger.