Other books that might interest you

• 

  The Adventure of the Empty House

  Arthur Conan Doyle

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The Adventure of the Empty House, one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes.Public pressure forced Conan Doyle to bring the sleuth back to life, and explain his apparently miraculous survival of a deadly struggle with Professor Moriarty. This is the first Holmes story set after his supposed death at the Reichenbach Falls, as recounted in "The Final Problem". The Hound of the Baskervilles had seen the return of a pre-Reichenbach Falls Sherlock Holmes, which only served to whet readers' appetites.Doyle ranked "The Adventure of the Empty House" sixth in his list of his twelve favorite Holmes stories.The story takes place in 1894, three years after the death of Sherlock Holmes. On the night of March 30, an apparently unsolvable locked-room murder takes place in London: the Park Lane Mystery, the killing of the Honourable Ronald Adair, son of the Earl of Maynooth, a colonial governor in Australia. He was in his sitting room, working on accounts of some kind, as indicated by the papers and money found by police. Adair liked playing whist and regularly did so at several clubs, but never for great sums of money. It does, however, come out that he won as much as £420 in partnership with Colonel Sebastian Moran. The motive does not appear to be robbery as nothing has been stolen, and it seems that Adair had not an enemy in the world. It seems odd that Ronald's door was locked from the inside. The only other way out was the open window, and there was a 20-foot (about 6 m) drop below it onto a flower bed, which now shows no sign of being disturbed. Adair was killed with a soft-nosed revolver bullet to the head. No one in the area at the time heard a shot...Famous works of the author Arthur Conan Doyle: A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Valley of Fear, His Last Bow, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, Stories of Sherlock Holmes, The Lost World.

  Show book

• 

  South by Java Head: An epic and...

  Alistair MacLean

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The 50th anniversary edition of this classic World War 2 adventure set in south-east Asia. 
  February, 1942: Singapore lies burning and shattered, defenceless before the conquering hordes of the Japanese Army. 
  The last boat escapes out of the harbour into the South China Sea, and on board are a desperate group of strangers, each with a secret to guard, each willing to kill to keep that secret safe. 
  Dawn sees them far out to sea but with the first murderous dive bombers already aimed at their ship. Thus begins a nightmare succession of disasters wrought by the hell-bent Japanese, the unrelenting tropical sun and, ultimately, by the survivors themselves, as they head south by Java Head. 
  Alistair MacLean, the author of this best-seller, masterfully weaves a story of suspense and action. The adventure unfolds as the desperate group battles not only the hell-bent Japanese and the unrelenting tropical sun, but also their own secrets. 
  For fans of Frederick Forsyth (The Veteran), Nevil Shute (A Town Like Alice), Ken Follett (The Armour of Light), Edward Marston (The Railway Detective's Christmas Case), and Eric Ambler (The Mask of Dimitrios). 
  HarperCollins 2024

  Show book

• 

  Two Sides of Life (Unabridged)

  Booker T. Washington

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 - November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African American community and of the contemporary black elite. Washington was from the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery and became the leading voice of the former slaves and their descendants. They were newly oppressed in the South by disenfranchisement and the Jim Crow discriminatory laws enacted in the post-Reconstruction Southern states in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
  TWO SIDES OF LIFE: There are quite a number of divisions into which life can be divided, but for the purposes of this evening I am going to speak of two; the bright side of life and the dark side.

  Show book

• 

  The Island of Doctor Moreau

  H. G. Wells

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  "The Island of Doctor Moreau" is a science fiction novel by H.G. Wells, first published in 1896. The story revolves around Edward Prendick, a shipwreck survivor who finds himself on a remote island controlled by the mysterious Doctor Moreau. Moreau, a disgraced vivisectionist, is conducting horrifying experiments, transforming animals into human-like creatures. As Prendick explores the island, he grapples with themes of identity, morality, and the ethical limits of scientific exploration.

  Show book

• 

  The Adventure of the Three Students

  Arthur Conan Doyle

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The Adventure of the Three Students, one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes.Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson find themselves in a university town when a tutor and lecturer of St Luke's College, Mr. Hilton Soames, brings him an interesting problem. Soames had been reviewing the galley proofs of an exam he was going to give when he left his office for an hour. When he returned, he found that his servant, Bannister, had entered the room but accidentally left his key in the lock when he left, and someone had disturbed the exam papers on his desk and left traces that show it had been partially copied. Bannister is devastated and collapses on a chair, but swears that he did not touch the papers. Soames found other clues in his office: pencil shavings, a broken pencil lead, a fresh cut in his desk surface, and a small blob of black clay speckled with sawdust.Soames wants to uncover the cheater and prevent him from taking the exam, since it is for a sizeable scholarship. Three students who will take the exam live above him in the same building. The first, Gilchrist, is athletic, being a hurdler and a long-jumper, and industrious (in contrast to his father who squandered his fortune in horse racing); the second, Daulat Ras, is described as quiet and methodical; the third is Miles McLaren, a gifted man but thoroughly dissolute and given to gambling.Famous works of the author Arthur Conan Doyle: A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Valley of Fear, His Last Bow, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, Stories of Sherlock Holmes, The Lost World.

  Show book

• 

  Leda

  Aldous Huxley

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  “Their Ethiop wives—sleek wineskins of black silk, Jellied and huge from drinking asses’ milk Through years of tropical idleness, to pray For offspring (whom he ever sent away With prayers unanswered, lest their ebon race Might breed and blacken the earth’s comely face.”? Aldous Huxley, LedaThough he gained recognition for his later essays and novels, Aldous Huxley started his writing career as a poet. Published in 1920, Leda is his fourth compilation of poetry. It begins with the passionate and slightly erotic poem "Leda", which recalls the love affair between Queen Leda, the mother of Helen of Troy, and her swan, Zeus in disguise. Some short poems follow. The book ends with two long sections. The first, "Beauty," is a short collection of vignettes where the author reflects on the concept of beauty through an ideal model of physical desire, Helen of Troy. The second, "Soles Occidere et Redire Possunt," or "Suns Can Set, and Suns Can Rise Again," is another long poem that reflects a day in the life of John Ridley, a deceased friend of Huxley's, who was mentally challenged throughout his entire life. Author Aldous Huxley was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly fifty books, both novels and non-fiction works—as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.Born into the prominent Huxley family, he graduated from Oxford, with an undergraduate degree in English literature. Early in his career, he published short stories and poetry and edited the literary magazine Oxford Poetry, before going on to publish travel writing, satire, and screenplays. Huxley spent the latter part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death. By the end of his life, Huxley was widely acknowledged as one of the foremost intellectuals of his time.

  Show book