by John Buchan
First published 2016
C. Auguste Dupin examines the brutal murders of a mother and daughter in their locked Parisian apartment, then pursues another killer in a case mirroring a real Manhattan crime. A clever lawyer devises an elaborate scheme to retrieve stolen correspondence from a blackmailer. In Scotland, a wealthy man returns home confident in his fortune until he meets Clara Etheridge and must compete for her affections against a local rival. Ancient Pictish mysteries lurk in the Scottish highlands in an occult investigation. Fleming Stone confronts both a big house murder and an impossible locked room killing. Professor Craig Kennedy applies scientific methods and modern equipment like lie detectors and seismographs to solve crimes at Columbia University. These six stories span the evolution of detective fiction from Poe's pioneering tales through the golden age, featuring analytical minds confronting seemingly impossible crimes across continents and decades.
Genres: fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, detective, 19th-century
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, impossible-crime
Setting: Columbia University, Manhattan, Paris, Scotland
Period: Golden Age, Poe's Era
420 pages · Paperback · CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform