Can an almost perfectly planned crime be solved? That question is answered in this classic mystery by one of the early 20th Century's most popular, fictional medical detectives, Dr. Thorndyke.Sandwiched between the Sherlock Holmes mysteries of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the whodunnits of Agatha Christie are R. Austin Freeman's "whocatchums." Freeman pioneered the concept of the inverted detective story, in which the whole crime is explained before the investigation. Learn more about your ad choices

Unlike Christmas stories Thanksgiving stories are sparse. To celebrate the season, here is the tale of a proper New England celebration combined with a classic love story.The 19th century novels and stories of Edward Payson Roe were very popular in their day. Being a Presbyterian minister, his works had a religious and moral foundation. One of his greatest criticism were the sermonly characteristics of his stories which may explain their wide acceptance during the Victorian age. Learn more about

A young woman stumbles upon a drunk with whom she forms a bond until she learns more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professional baseball in United States dates back more than 150 years. It has been considered the great American sport since the 19th century. Popular sports attract rabid fans as was the case even back in 1910 when Zane Grey wrote Old Well Well.Known for his Western novels, Zane Gray was one of the most popular authors of the 20th century. Gray was also a huge baseball fan and published a number of stories about the sport. One of the first American authors to become a millionaire, more than 100

Not all dragons are fire breathing monsters bent on destruction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is nothing like a corporate bureaucracy to raise someone's ire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is something special about the Old West. Life is the western United States for much of the 19th century was akin to living in another country, which makes sense as it was cobbled together from many diverse societies. Our next story takes place in the Great Southwest and involves a potential love triangle gone very wrong.During his short life, Frank Norris had an outsized impact on American Literature. A painter turned author, Norris travelled globally as a news correspondent writing several

What would you do if your conscience no longer nagged you? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A young man's longing for love is briefly fulfilled on one moonlight evening on the sea off the coast of Cannes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new love springs from the conversations of two sisters and a couple of moles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are complex creatures and grow more so with time. Every relationship adds or subtracts from who we are. No relationship is more life changing than marriage and for a woman thrice married in pre-suffrage America the stigma of mutual divorce seems insurmountable until her third husband’s comes to a startling revelation.Best known for her novels, Edith Wharton was a prolific writer of short stories. Growing up among New York’s upper class, she created realistic portrayals of America’s Gilded Age

Happiness has always been elusive, usually found in unexpected places and, often, in the wake of the worst life eventsIn this heart-warming story, an affluent couple discovers what is truly important in life in the wake of both a fiscal and physical tragedy.Kathleen Norris was, for a time, the highest paid female writer in early 20th-century America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is truth? How does our perception color the facts as we observe them. Those differences how we see the world complicates this Japanese murder investigation in this renowned short story.This profound modernist fable has echoed for almost a century. Also called "In a Bamboo Grove," this 1929 short story was inspiration for the critically acclaimed 1950 Japanese film, "Rashomon." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Would it be better to start life as an old man and end it as an infant? That was the question posed by Mark Twain that inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald to write his short story, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People dream of success. Those ambitions can often be prodigious. Rarely, however, do our future business strategies develop as quickly as do those in this story that encapsulates the economic concerns of the early 20th Century.For a full-time banker and part-time author Ellis Parker Butler was prolific writing more than 2,000 stories that were published in well over 200 magazines in the early 20th Century. His most famous story is "Pigs is Pigs" which a narrated in 2019. Learn more about your ad

Prepare to be moved by one of the most unusual short stories ever written, which tells a chilling tale of the simple life and complex death of a slave-owning planter in Union-occupied Alabama during the Civil War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This classic Mark Twain tale is a witty commentary on poverty and wealth. There is much of Twain’s personal circumstance reflected in the story, as Twain had himself recently gone from riches to bankruptcy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Falling in love is one of humanities most common events and biggest mysteries. What is it that ignites one person's passion for another. This poignant tale of surprisingly falling for someone was penned by the first woman playwright to win a Pulitzer Prize.A brilliant author author of novels, short stories and plays, Zona Gale was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prie for Drama for the stage adaptation of her novel, Miss Lulu Bett. She sold her first story at age 16 for $3. Learn more about your ad

Life can deal any of us some terrible blows. In this semi-auto biographical tale we explore the life of a once wealthy merchant, Jimmy Rose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here is a wonderfully nostalgic tale of a time when boys could enjoy a taste of freedom, share ideas, and let’s their imaginations run wild, before the responsibilities of life overrode such fancies. You're invited to get lost at the foot of "The Enchanted Bluff."Willa Cather published "The Enchanted Bluff" in "Harper's Magazine" in 1909 during a period when her writing skills were blossoming in stories about her experiences living on the Nebraska prairie. Her efforts culminated in a Pulitzer Prize