The Sign of the Four

The Man Who Knew Too Much and other stories (1922) is a book of detective stories by English writer G. K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Eight stories recount the adventures of Horne Fisher, a socialite who uses his powerful deductive gifts to investigate crimes committed on the sprawling country estates of the aristocracy. Evocative portraits of pre–World War I Britain.

The Secret of Sarek, also known as The Island of Thirty Coffins, is the tenth novel in the Arsène Lupin series of books by Maurice Leblanc. First published in 1919, it is the story of Véronique Degremont. Fourteen years previously, her own father had kidnapped her baby in an act of revenge for Veronique’s marriage, and both her father and her child drowned at sea. While watching a film, she spots her childhood signature on the side of a hut in the background of a scene, and after visiting the place where the film was shot, she becomes trapped in a mystery of prophecies, sinister forces, long lost relations, and ancient secrets.

The Castle of Otranto tells the story of Prince Manfred and his family, which includes his wife Hippolita and his children Conrad and Matilda. It purported to be a translation of an Italian story of the time of the crusades. In it Walpole attempted to blend the two kinds of romance: the ancient and the modern. Crammed with invention, entertainment, terror, and pathos, the novel was an immediate success and created the literary genre of Gothic literature.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is an exciting collection of detective cases featuring the brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion, Dr. Watson. Immerse yourself in a world of intrigue, mystery, and deductive brilliance that will keep you captivated from beginning to end

THE LEATHER FUNNEL My friend, Lionel Dacre, lived in the Avenue de Wagram, Paris. His house was that small one, with the iron railings and grass plot in front of it, on the left-hand side as you pass down from the Arc de Triomphe. I fancy that it had been there long before the avenue was constructed, for the grey tiles were stained with lichens, and the walls were mildewed and discoloured with age. It looked a small house from the street, five windows in front, if I remember right, but it deepened into a single long chamber at the back. It was here that Dacre had that singular library of occult literature, and the fantastic curiosities which served as a hobby for himself, and an amusement for his friends.

A rich American art-collector and his daughter Maggie buy in for themselves and to their greater glory a beautiful young wife and noble husband. They do not know that Charlotte and Prince Amerigo were formerly lovers, nor that on the eve of the Prince’s marriage they had discovered, in a Bloomsbury antique shop, a golden bowl with a secret flaw. In this, the last of his three great poetic masterpieces, James combined with a dazzling virtuosity elements of social comedy, of mystery, terror, and myth.