Retrieved and republished for the first time in over a century.
[Click on each cover for book details].
A rare gem. A tantalizing impossible crime story originally published in 1897. Now available for the first time in over a century.
"Mr. Robert Ashfield is swept off the deck of a steamer into the sea, and his body is found at the same hour in a London studio, the cause of death being suffocation by salt water. That is the situation with which we are confronted. The explanation is certainly a surprise..." —A Drawing-Room Cynic. By Lorin Kaye. (Macqueen.) 1897.
About the Author
Louis Zangwill was a prominent Jewish author and activist, brother to fellow author Israel Zangwill, creator of The Big Bow Mystery.
An impossible crime novel from 1914. First time in print in over a century. A foggy night. A midnight encounter with a deadly dwarf. A ghastly murder behind locked doors. Originally published in 1914, this impossible crime tale leaps from one thrilling adventure to another before reaching its surprising dénouement.
As the train traveled through the English countryside, it carried with it an odd-shaped trunk — and a stranger with a terrible secret.
A novel of horror and intrigue by the author of the acclaimed Dr. Nikola series. Now back in print for the first time since 1902.
With a new original introduction by Brian Stableford.
A locked room puzzle, originally published in 1904, featuring one of the earliest examples of the scientist-detective. Set in turn-of-the-century Boston and faraway India, this intriguing tale of mystery and adventure is full of topsy-turvy twists and serves as an example of the early American detective.
Read the full series:
The Mystery of June 13th (1905)
Maitland's Master Mystery (1912)
The third and final adventure of scientist-detective George Maitland. Originally published in 1912, this breath-taking mystery takes place across two continents while offering up an impossible murder that will baffle even the modern reader. The novel’s hero, the dashing scientist-detective George Maitland predates today’s forensic detectives by over a century.
Read the full series:
The Darrow Enigma (1904)
The Mystery of June 13th (1905)
Originally published in 1890, this Victorian thriller takes melodrama to a new level with true Dickensian flair. A suspicious death in the midst of a record snowstorm. A disappearing body. A strange ghost. This gripping novel holds as many twists and turns as the mysterious mountaintop meeting standing at the center of this long-forgotten yet haunting tale.
By the author of Great Porter Square: A Mystery.
Also available from Red Herring Books.
A ghost-hunter and a medical doctor visit a foreboding mansion perched atop a treacherous chasm where, a century before, both husband and wife met sudden death in mysterious falls.
Will history repeat itself?
Back in print for the first time since 1905, this vintage mystery contains one of the most bizarre solutions ever put to paper.
A lost mystery classic from 1869. Set in the world of Wall Street in the years leading up to the Gilded Age.
A murder. A long-held family secret. Financial intrigue. Courtroom drama. A pioneering example of the early American detective novel from post-Civil War America. Now republished for the first time since 1869.
And the mystery continues. Even the author himself is a riddle. Can you help us discover his true identity? Join the hunt.
Originally published serially in 1889, this early mystery set in the upper-crust financial world of turn-of-the-century Boston centers around the horrific death of senior partner Paul North of the brokerage firm North & Stackhouse: a startling event that draws plotting financiers, journalists, and a posse of detectives (including two pioneering female sleuths) into a web of high-scale intrigue. This rare example of early American detective fiction was penned by the editor of The Boston Globe, who died tragically at age thirty-one of typhoid fever, only months before the publication of this novel in final book form. The text was finished by the newspaper's co-editor and immediately became a national bestseller.
Can a blind man be an eyewitness to murder? In this vintage thriller, first published in 1883, a blind man stumbles upon a horrific crime scene—an accident that will soon lead to both multiple deaths and unexpected romance. Author Hugh Conway died tragically at age thirty-seven in Monaco of typhoid fever— but not without first leaving us this engaging and unforgettable tale of mystery and mayhem—a national bestseller in its day.
For further reading:
A Family Affair by Hugh Conway
Also available from Red Herring Books.
A peculiar advertisement tempts a young man to accept a position as secretary at the secluded country estate of Sir Ralph Grimston, where dark doings soon ensue. Originally issued in 1891, this early detective novel introduces the enigmatic anti-hero Townshend, who would later feature in the bulk of James MacLaren Cobban's mystery oeuvre. Now republished for the first time in over a century.
For further reading:
Pursued by the Law (1899)
The Golden Tooth (1901)
The Terror by Night (1905)
By the same author. Soon from Red Herring Books.
A Dickensian precursor to the modern mystery thriller, originally published in 1884. A proto-detective novel with alternating points of view featuring two engaging female amateur sleuths, a sinister vagrant, a private detective, and an anonymous newspaper reporter: each vying to solve the mystery of the horrific murder of Great Porter Square.
Considered by many to be the first full-length detective novel, this landmark work of fiction, originally published in 1849, showcases a suspenseful plot entailing a centuries-old vendetta, a poisoning, and a fateful murder—all liberally sprinkled with Gothic atmospherics and even a dash of horserace hijinks.
