Andrew90

Tiger by the Tail by Poul William Anderson. Read in English by Paul Harvey. The haughty, horned aliens from the planet Scotha had very well organized intentions of conquering the Terran Empire—and Captain Dominic Flandry, Terra's ace saboteur, suddenly found himself in a strategic position to louse up the works. How? Well, Achilles had a heel ... and what else could you call a Scothani? A great Poul Anderson story! - Summary by author

The Mikado Jewel by Fergus Hume. Read in English by VfkaBT. A widow has been murdered in the home of a relative on a foggy night in London town when all residents were off on to the theatre, and one to run an errand involving the title bauble. Who done it? Old dark house mystery full of period cliches is pulp fun for the new year. - Summary by Matt Pierard

Seven Keys to Baldpate (Play) by George M. Cohan. Read in English by thestorygirl; Alan Mapstone; Larry Wilson; Son of the Exiles; David Purdy; Tomas Peter; Devorah Allen; Mike Manolakes; TJ Burns; Jenn Broda; Kelly S. Taylor; Andrew Gaunce; Zach Hoyt; Joanna Michal Hoyt; Christopher Foeckler. Betting that he can write 10,000 words in 24 hours, a novelist locks himself into a snowbound summer resort on Baldpate Mountain with what he believes is the one and only key to Baldpate Inn. Yet his work is interrupted by a number of colorful characters who have arrived for various shady enterprises, each thinking they had the only key to the inn. Soon it is clear there must be seven keys to Baldpate. The mystery deepens as the novelist finds himself entangled in an improbable series of schemes and plans. George M. Cohan, the famous American vaudevillian and songwriter, was also a successful playwright, and he adapted this work for the stage from the novel by Earl Derr Biggers. - Summary by Mike Manolakes

Beauty's Hour by Olivia Shakespear. Read in English by Newgatenovelist The young, intelligent Mary discovers that through an act of she will transform her appearance to make herself incredibly beautiful. But will her newfound identity be all that she hopes? This recording is from the novella’s original publication in The Savoy in August and September 1896. (Newgatenovelist)

Dramatized Bible Stories of the Old Testament by King James Version (KJV). Read in English by MaryAnnS; David Olson; Beth Thomas; Rachel; Esther ben Simonides; Adele de Pignerolles; Sonia; Tomas Peter; Kristin Gjerløw; Kathrine Engan; Larry Wilson; Glenn O'Brien; Lydia; E Snow; Taysha Lynn; Teresa Bauman; michaelcjohnson; SeekWisdom; Hamlet; David Allen; Gideon Snow; Michael Landu; Jared Hess; Howard Watts; Kim; Zames Curran; Anfinwen; Florian Lengyel; Vanessa Cooley; David Lodes; David Purdy; Leanne Yau; Bethesda Lily; Levi Throckmorton; Eddy Sherman; Bethany Baldwin; Joseph Tabler; Amber Jewels; Jessie Yun; Bria Snow; Andrew Snowdon; Jay Snow; CobaltMinnow Hear the stories of the Old Testament brought to life in this Dramatised Reading of selections from the King James Version. Feel the sweep of Bible history through the stories of key people: Adam and Eve, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Saul, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah and Daniel. A full cast recording by Librivox volunteers brings to life the people of the Old Testament from Aaron to Zipporah! Please note that Ruth, Esther, Job and the Song of Solomon have been dramatised separately, and are available in the catalogue as standalone projects. (summary by Beth Thomas)

The Dark House by George Manville Fenn. Read by Lucy Burgoyne. An extremely wealthy but reclusive man has died, leaving an eccentric will which hints at great riches hidden somewhere in the house. Most of the people at the reading of the will did not know the deceased in person, but had received kindnesses from him, for instance by the payment of school and university fees. The principal beneficiary, a great-nephew, also did not know him. The only two people who really knew him were the old lawyer who dealt with his affairs, and an old Indian servant. Yet when the will had been read, and they all went to where the treasure--gold, jewels and bank-notes--were supposed to be hidden, nothing could be found. (Summary by Gutenberg)

Billy Whiskers at the Circus by Frances Trego Montgomery. What better place for a little goat to find adventures and mischief than a circus? What is an elephant's trunk anyway? But the circus can also be a place of mystery and danger. Will the plans of the kidnappers be foiled? Billy Whiskers always provides us with a lot of fun. - Summary by Larry Wilson

Men Like Gods by H. G. Wells. Read in English by volunteer readers. In the summer of 1921, a disenchanted journalist escapes the rat race for a drive in the country. But Mr. Barnstaple's trip exceeds his expectations when he and other motorists are swept 3,000 years into the future. The inadvertent time travelers arrive in a world that corresponds exactly to Barnstaple's ideals: a utopian state, free of crime, poverty, war, disease, and bigotry. Unfettered by the constraints of government and organized religion, the citizens lead rich, meaningful lives, passed in pursuit of their creative fancies. Barnstaple's traveling companions, however, quickly contrive a scheme to remake the utopia in the image of their twentieth-century world. - Summary that was published with the book originally

Hawaiian Sea Hunt Mystery by Andy Adams. Read in English by Peter Thomlinson. Adventure series in exotic locations. This adventure is set in the exotic Island of Hawaii and involves the search for a missing sloop and the whereabouts of a valuable mine. Biff Brewster, his father and friends become entangled with ruthless criminals who are also intending to find the sunken boat and discover the map and the mine. They have kidnapped the elderly scientist who holds the key to the discovery. An exciting adventure with lots of action on land and sea.- Summary by Peter Thomlinson

This story was first published in The Court and Society Review, in late 1887. The main character, Lord Arthur Savile, is introduced by Lady Windermere to Mr Septimus R. Podgers, a chiromantist, who reads his palm and tells him that it is his destiny to be a murderer. Lord Arthur wants to marry, but decides he has no right to do so until he has committed the murder. His first attempted murder victim is his elderly Aunt Clementina, who suffers from heartburn. Pretending it is medicine, Lord Arthur gives her a capsule of poison, telling her to take it only when she has an attack of heartburn. Reading a telegram in Venice some time later, he finds that she has died and victoriously returns to London to learn that she has bequeathed him some property. Sorting through the inheritance, his intended wife Sybil Merton finds the poison pill, untouched; thus Lord Arthur's aunt died from natural causes and he finds himself in need of a new victim. After some deliberation, he obtains a bomb, disguised as a carriage-clock, from a jovial German and sends it anonymously to a distant relative, the Dean of Chichester. When the bomb goes off, however, the only damage done seems like a novelty trick, and the Dean's son spends his afternoons making tiny, harmless explosions with the clock. In despair, Lord Arthur believes that his marriage plans are doomed, only to encounter, late at night on the bank of the River Thames, the same palm-reader who had told his fortune. Realising the best possible outcome, he pushes the man off a parapet into the river where he dies. A verdict of suicide is returned at the inquest and Lord Arthur happily goes on to marry. In a twist, the palmister is denounced as a fraud, leaving the moral of the story to show the power of suggestion. The story was the basis of the second part of the three-part 1943 film Flesh and Fantasy.

Nequa or The Problem of the Ages by Jack Adams. Read in English by Jeff Burke; Colleen McMahon; Aimee van den Berg; Cheryl; M. D. Jakubowski; Lee; Rapunzelina; Christina Fu; Jim Locke Nequa or The Problem of the Ages is one of the first feminist science fiction books published in the United States. It was first serialized in the newspaper Equity, and two editions were published in Topeka, Kansas in 1900. The voyage described in Nequa is to the Arctic. The captain of the ship is amazed to find that when they reach a certain spot, which should be close to the North Pole, the compass shows that the ship is suddenly traveling south. Actually they have sailed into the interior of the earth, where they meet the Altrurians, a people who have developed into a more cooperative society than those of the outer earth. Individual Altrurians describe how the evolution of their society took place. These explanations reflect the Populist thought of the time, with definite feminist proclivities, thereby providing the tone of a political novel. While the book was published with the pseudonym of Jack Adams, it was copyrighted under the names Alcanoan A. Grigsby and Mary P. Lowe, who are presumed to be the true authors. - Summary by Jeff Burke

The Last Drive by Rex Stout. Read in English by Ben Tucker. From celebrated crime author Rex Stout, creator of the long-running Nero Wolfe detective stories, comes this early mystery, that served as an inspiration to the first Nero Wolfe novel [i]Fer-de-Lance[/i], of a golfer who, while out on the greens, clutches his chest and keels over from an apparent heart attack. But the coroner rules it a poisoning, and the president of the country club, Canby Rankin, takes it upon himself to track down the killer. - Summary by Ben Tucker

Mists of Mars by George A. Whittington. Read in English by Edmund Bloxam. The Wild West, reimagined as the Martian landscape, where law is defined by whoever has the biggest weapons, be they guns, ships, or things more mysterious. As stand-ins for Indigenous Americans, the Martians themselves. When Barry Williams, special investigator for the Terrestrial Bureau of Martian Affairs, finds out the state of play, he seeks to change the status quo and relieve destruction and suffering. He's going up against the nature of law itself. - Summary by Edmund Bloxam

The Pagan's Cup by Fergus Hume. Read in English by Yoganandh T A quiet seaside village with an old church and older family and its tyrannical head who tries to mould her adopted son to her whims, the vicar and his beautiful daughter and stranger looking for acceptance among the natives and the invisible bind among them forms the background for this English Mystery - Summary by Yoganandh T

SISTER SIMON'S MURDER CASE, by Margaret Ann Hubbard. Read by Maria Therese. Set in the picturesque wilds of a Midwestern resort town at the height of the tourist season, "Sister Simon’s Murder Case" begins with the murder of a terrified elderly lady, Dannie Grear. But what was she so afraid of? And who is the killer who keeps attacking anyone he thinks may know too much? The opinionated local police ran into one obstacle after another in their attempts to find the elusive killer. But the menace was effectively removed by the independent investigation of Sister Simon, a very proper nun who had learned from her policeman father never to take anything for granted in a murder case and how to fire a gun with deadly accuracy. (Summary adapted from the original jacket by Maria Therese)

The Agony Column, by Earl Derr Biggers. English romantic adventure starring a young American in London and inspired by the personal ads (agony columns) in the London papers. In this treacherous tale of murder and intrigue young American Geoffrey West tracks a killer from the posh dining room of the Carlton Hotel to the opium dens of London's Limehouse district in search of the truth and the heart of his true love only to find the culprit all too close to home. Earl Derr Biggers is better known as the author of numerous Charlie Chan novels. The Agony Column was released as a movie under the name Second Floor Mystery in 1930. While this movie was in production, its two stars, Loretta Young and Grant Withers, eloped.

The Steam House by Jules Verne. (Translated by Agnes D. Kingston.) Jules Verne is back with another action-packed adventure--this time in India with a steam-powered elephant! Maucler, Captain Hood, Banks, and Colonel Munro set out for a pleasure trip across India in their train pulled by Behemoth, their mechanical elephant, but soon realize that they are in the midst of a plot by the Colonel's archenemy, Nana Sahib, to get vengeance for past wrongs and seize control of India once and for all. Will they be able to escape from a hidden assassin and uncover a secret hidden for decades in time to stop Nana Sahib?

The Palace in the Garden, by Mary Louisa Molesworth. Read by Ilianthe. The Palace in the Garden is the engaging story of three orphans sent to live in the mysterious country cottage of Rosebuds. The inquisitive children piece together the unexpected mystery of the Palace in the garden & all that goes with it. The story has a few twists. This book put me in mind of the Secret Garden. ( Summary by ilianthe )

Swordsman of Lost Terra by Poul William Anderson. Read in English by Paul Harvey. Proud Kery of Broina felt like a ghost himself; shade of a madman flitting hopelessly to the citadel of Earth's disinherited ... to recapture the resonant pipes of Killorn—weapon of the gods—before they blared forth the dirge of the world. A great one from Poul Anderson! - Summary by author

News From Nowhere by William Morris. Read by Elizabeth Klett. News from Nowhere (1890) is a classic work combining utopian socialism and soft science fiction written by the artist, designer and socialist pioneer William Morris. In the book, the narrator, William Guest, falls asleep after returning from a meeting of the Socialist League and awakes to find himself in a future society based on common ownership and democratic control of the means of production. In this society there is no private property, no big cities, no authority, no monetary system, no divorce, no courts, no prisons, and no class systems. This agrarian society functions simply because the people find pleasure in nature, and therefore they find pleasure in their work. In the novel, Morris tackles one of the most common criticisms of socialism; the supposed lack of incentive to work in a communistic society. Morris' response is that all work should be creative and pleasurable. (Summary by Wikipedia)

Tom Ossington's Ghost, by Richard Marsh. Read by Patti Cunningham. Madge and Ella have lived at Clover Cottage but six weeks when a series of strange events begin to occur. A gentleman who arrives asking for a piano lesson from Madge, suddenly bolts out the back door and over the hedge when he sees a rough-looking character watching him from the street in front of the cottage. This man in turn, runs away when he sees a shabbily dressed woman come around the corner. The woman, marches into the cottage, declaring that the cottage is haunted, and she is the wife of the ghost! An attempted burglary, and a cryptic note left at the scene, just add to the mystery. (Summary by ppcunnigham)

From the Deep Woods to Civilization: Chapters in the Autobiography of an Indian by Charles Alexander Eastman. Read in English by Laura Victoria. From the Deep Woods to Civilization is the sequel to Indian Boyhood. Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) gives his account of what it was like to transition from the ways of his Inidan life to that of the white man. His father, long thought dead, had converted to Christianity and wished the same for his son as well as receiving education in the white man's school. At the age of 15, Ohiyesa must learn to balance the old familiar life of the American Indian with that of the new in the world of the white man, one of his first acts being the cutting of his long hair and attending school. It also chronicles his life of college to becoming a doctor at Pine Ridge in South Dakota, his marriage to Elaine Goodale, and his involvement in politics, the YMCA, and Boy Scouts of America. (Laura Victoria)

The Expressman and the Detective, by Allan Pinkerton. Read by Pete Williams. Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884), a Scotsman by birth and a barrel-maker by trade, settled in Chicago in its infancy and founded the Pinkertons, the world's first detective agency. Though events associated with the agency after his death have tarnished the name, Pinkerton himself was one of the original human rights advocates. He was a dear friend to John Brown, an advisor to Abraham Lincoln, and 80 years ahead of his time in hiring female detectives. He was also stubborn, irascible, and an egomaniac. The Expressman and the Detective (1874) is Pinkerton's first attempt at putting his real-life experiences into novel form. Though many later works attributed to Pinkerton are understood to have been ghostwritten, this is the work of the man the London Times calls "a man at once deeply admirable and quite obnoxious." (Summary by Pete Williams)

Gladiator, by Philip Wylie. Read by Mike Pelton. Gladiator by Philip Wylie is the story of a man who although normal in all other ways, through the genius of his Father a biologist attains the strength and impregnability of a superman. The problems he encounters in trying to fit into a society of normal human beings who show fear and hatred whenever they view his abnormal strength and physical ability pains him to the point of having to leave civilization. (Summary by the Reader, Mike Pelton)

The Amethyst Box, by Anna Katharine Green. Read by Carolin. On the evening before his marriage, Sinclair loses a precious curiosity from his collection: an amethyst box, containing a tiny flask of deadly poison. He suspects that this poison is in the possession of either his betrothed or her cousin, the girl his best friend Worthington loves. Turning to Worthington for help, they try to recover the box before the poison can be administered... (Summary by Carolin)