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Stanley Hart Page



Barry Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer. He was particularly known for parodies and light humor.



Sinister Cargo



The murder of a beautiful actress sets the stage for a puzzling mystery combined with escalating action, as master criminologist Christopher Hand and his sidekick-narrator Ralph Clark confront a shadowy criminal gang. The villains’ motivation for targeting a wealthy businessman remains murky as Hand and Clark attempt to sort through a range of suspicious characters, until a showdown on a ‘haunted island’ off the coast of Maine brings the adventure to a dangerous climax.


Coachwhip's print edition includes a bibliographic introduction by Curtis Evans.


Sinister Cargo was published in 1932.


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The Resurrection Murder Case



Summoned to a family friend’s New Jersey estate, criminologist Christopher Page and his man-Friday Ralph Clark intend to track down a missing servant but are quickly embroiled in a murder mystery. The dead man has a dagger in his chest, and events rapidly develop into an action-packed, yet puzzling mystery. Page uses not only his brain, but his hands, as his sculpting skills ‘raise the dead’ from a discovered skull to identify a skeleton.


Coachwhip's print edition includes a bibliographic introduction by Curtis Evans.


The Resurrection Murder Case was published in 1932.


Amazon epub

Fool's Gold



A prospector raising funds for an expedition to an Alaskan gold mine is found dead—but the body vanishes before the police arrive. Criminologist Christopher Page and his assistant (and narrator) Ralph Page are called in to investigate. The prospector’s partner is also missing, with foul play suspected. Members of a local church congregation have invested money (also, missing), so there are plenty of suspects.


Coachwhip's print edition includes a bibliographic introduction by Curtis Evans.


Fool's Gold was published in 1933.


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Tragic Curtain



Bernice Holloway comes to Christopher Hand for help in clearing her absentee father from the charge of murder. The dead man appears to have been killed by mistake, with the actual target being Bernice’s great-uncle Leander Holloway, a wealthy, but eccentric, old man. Several of Leander’s heirs are eager for their inheritance, and it soon appears that someone is willing to knock off rival relatives. Hand’s assistant, Ralph Clark, plays his role, finding romance as well as mystery.


Coachwhip's print edition includes a bibliographic introduction by Curtis Evans.


Tragic Curtain was published in 1935.


Amazon epub

Barry Pain



Barry Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer. He was particularly known for parodies and light humor.



Barry Pain's Puzzle Stories: Detection Without Crime / The Problem Club



Detection Without Crime: From the Note-Book of the Late Horace Fish, presents four light mysteries which on the surface could indicate serious criminal activity, but as Fish investigates, it becomes clear that the answers lie elsewhere.


Barry Pain's humor comes especially to the forefront in the Problem Club stories. Each month, members are tasked with a problem or puzzle to solve. (How many things can they borrow that start with the letter Q? How many hankerchiefs can they steal from other members?) The lengths to which some members will go make these stories an enjoyable read, and a nice change of pace from cases of murder and mayhem.


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Maude parker



Maude Pavenstedt, 1892-1959, wrote under her maiden name, Maude Parker. Born in Galveston, Texas, she studied at the University of Wisconsin. She married Richard Washburn Child, who became ambassador to Italy (and she wrote about her experiences there as Mussolini rose to power). She later married New York lawyer Edmund W. Pavenstedt. She wrote ten books, most being mysteries.



Murder in Jackson Hole



A solution to money troubles at a western dude ranch hinge on upcoming nuptials, but the unwelcome intrusion of an ex-Hollywood western star with a roving eye leads to deadly circumstances.


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charles parmer



Charles Brower Parmer (1893-1958) was a journalist and newspaper editor, and author of the horse-racing title For Gold and Glory.



Murder at the Kentucky Derby



Major Roderick Austen was investigator for the State Racing Commission. On the eve of Derby Day he was to arbitrate the question of ownership of the favorite starter in the great race, Red Moon. Austen made his decision honestly and justly, but was not successful in preventing a prophesied murder, which, because it involved many people connected with racing, came under his immediate jurisdiction. Austen was so busy that he had no chance to see the Derby run, but he was clever enough to use the radio broadcast of the race to break down the most important witness and obtain information which led to the solution of the murder.


Murder at the Kentucky Derby was published in 1942.


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Sidney C. Partridge



Sidney Catlin Partridge (1857-1930) was born in New York City. He graduated from Yale in 1880, where he was a member of Skull and Bones, and from Berkeley Divinity School in 1884. He worked as a missionary in China and was consecrated first Bishop of Kyoto on February 2, 1900 in Trinity Cathedral, Tokyo. He was decorated as a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog following his marriage to the daughter of the Danish consul general at San Francisco on November 27, 1901. He was the second Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri (1911-1930). He died in Kansas City, Missouri.



The Mysterious Ways of Wang Foo, Volume 1



Wang Foo, “Prince of Chinese Detectives,” is an educated, well-traveled Confucian scholar who has dedicated himself to unraveling mysteries on behalf of the Chinese people and their Western allies for justice and peace. Particularly adept at ferreting out cultural misunderstandings, Wang Foo goes undercover in search of the truth and will use both Eastern and Western methods to capture the criminals, if crime there be. He is always willing to lend a hand to the police, diplomats, and government officials.


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The Mysterious Ways of Wang Foo, Volume 2



Sidney C. Partridge, a former missionary to China and Japan, wrote five series of the Wang Foo stories for newspapers in the early 1900s. They were very popular for the appreciative insights they gave into Chinese culture (unlike the many “Yellow Peril” stories circulating at the time). This volume collects the second half of The Mysterious Ways of Wang Foo.


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Tyline Perry



Tyline Perry (1897-1978) was born in Brownwood, Texas. She wrote many short stories and at least two mystery novels. Her short stories in the 1920s included a series detective.



The Owner Lies Dead



Fire rages through Haunted Mine, economic mainstay of the coalmining town of Genesee, Colorado. Some miners have been rescued, but seventeen still are tragically trapped in the mine’s depths. Tony Sheridan, the handsome, outgoing and seemingly much-adored nephew of Genesee’s “benevolent despot,” old Matthew North, heroically descends to the bottom of the mine in a desperate last effort at rescue. He does not return, however, nor do any of the missing men. All hope is abandoned, the ventilating shaft is shut off and both downcast and upcast are covered over by boards. Five weeks later, after the fire has exhausted itself, the shafts are opened and men descend to clear out the wreckage. At the foot of the main shaft Tony’s scorched body is found—with a bullet through his heart! The bullet entered from the young man’s back in such a way as to preclude suicide. The seventeen men whom Tony had tried to rescue are found dead in the mine behind a half-built barricade, under such circumstances that beyond any possibility of doubt they all must have been dead long before Tony made it into the mine. So who or what on earth could have killed Tony Sheridan?​


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Edgar Allan poe



Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is widely credited for creating the first fictional detective, setting the stage for a new genre of literature.



The Dupin Mysteries



The three Dupin stories are collected here, along with Poe's two other "puzzle" stories: The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Rogêt, The Purloined Letter, The Gold-Bug, and Thou Art the Man.


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edgar allan poe, jr.



Edgar Allan Poe, Jr. (c.1896-1983) was a distant cousin of the original, a Baltimore native, and a graduate of Princeton University and Georgetown University law school. He started The House Party Murders on a bet, but it wasn't until a publisher friend expressed interest that he finished it. One problem, though, was that he had never read a detective novel, but a malady kept him in bed for a time, so he took the opportunity and read a couple dozen mysteries to understand the genre. “I had a grand time writing it . . . I’ve got everything in it except the kitchen stove.”



The House Party Murders



“When Wayne Schofield planned that week-end party—which he didn’t attend—at his great country estate, he seemed strangely careless in his selection of guests. Each one seemed to be illicitly involved, and the amorous complications predicate an explosive affair. The surprise the absent host had arranged for his guests, however, turned out less gruesome than planned—two real cadavers in the well under the summer house left the illuminated skeleton provided practically unnoted.” (1940 reviewer)


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Melville davisson post



Melville Davisson Post (1869-1930) was born in Harrison County, West Virginia. He earned a law degree from West Virginia University, but found his calling in fiction writing, with over 200 stories and several series characters.



The Nameless Thing



A strange death brings together a priest, a doctor, and a judge, who present their own perspectives on justice, crime, and fate while pondering the mystery before them.


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The Legal Exploits of Randolph Mason



Melville Davisson Post created several fascinating characters in the field of crime and mystery (including detective Uncle Abner). In stark contrast to his detectives, was Randolph Mason, an amoral lawyer who viewed his clients as pawns in his games to cheat Fate & Destiny (and often punishment by the courts). All three of Mason's short story collections are included here: The Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason, The Man of Last Resort, and The Corrector of Destinies.


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The Uncle Abner Mysteries



Uncle Abner was a strong, courageous Virginian, set in the years prior to the Civil War. He had a strong sense of justice, and a remarkable talent for solving mysteries as he sought to aid the afflicted and bring murderers and thieves to trial.


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