Aller au contenu
The Library
of Alexandria
La Bibliothèque du verrou et de la clé : récits classiques de mystère et d’enquête, the cover of this edition

Résumé

Résumé de La Bibliothèque du verrou et de la clé : récits classiques de mystère et d’enquête

8 min de lectureAudio à venir10 points clés
See the book The opening and key point 1 are free. No sign-in.

Free for 3 months

Get the full summary of La Bibliothèque du verrou et de la clé : récits classiques de mystère et d’enquête, free

  • 200,000+ classics as eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and print and large print at cost
  • Up to 5 readers in your home on one plan
Commencez 90 jours gratuitsNothing to pay today. 0,14 USD a day in the first year, then 0,27 USD a day.

Go deeper: the whole of La Bibliothèque du verrou et de la clé : récits classiques de mystère et d’enquête

About 8 h 20 min to read.Commencez 90 jours gratuits

À qui s’adresse-t-il ?

Readers who enjoy Sherlock Holmes, ghost stories told by lamplight, and puzzles touched with humor will love this anthology. It also suits anyone who likes a tale finished in one sitting.

De quoi parle ce livre ?

What would you do if you heard a billiard game in a room too small to hold a table? A tired traveler in a crumbling Indian rest house asks himself exactly that, and his night of dread opens this book. Then the pages move to a London street where a red-haired man describes a job copying an encyclopedia, to a Scottish beach where quicksand waits, and to a Polish night where starving hounds race over snow.

The Lock and Key Library is a collection of mystery and detective tales gathered by the American writer Julian Hawthorne. Kipling, Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins and Stanley Weyman all appear. Some tales are ghost stories, some are crimes, and some are jokes dressed as crimes.

Dans ce résumé

  1. 1A noisy night and a swarm of kittensFree
  2. 2Tricks, bets and a wife from nowhere
  3. 3Holmes reads a client from her sleeve
  4. 4A king, a photograph and the woman
  5. 5A pawnbroker, a will and a very odd job
  6. 6A wolf hunt where the quarry walks upright
  7. 7A king's minister and a joke that nearly hangs
  8. 8A pavilion in the dunes and a ring of enemies
  9. 9A dream that arrives on schedule
  10. 10Lighter tales of ransoms, pipes and stones

Point clé 1 sur 10

A noisy night and a swarm of kittens

Kipling opens with two Indian tales that treat the supernatural as a puzzle about belief. In My Own True Ghost Story, the narrator reaches Katmal, a rotten old rest house kept by a bent and babbling servant. Rain, rattling palms and howling jackals do half the work.

That night he hears bearers set down three litters outside. Then comes a billiard ball rolling down a table, followed by the click of a cannon shot. The next room is far too small to hold a table, and he lies awake, afraid the players will ask him to keep score.

The Sending of Dana Da mocks a society of believers who build a religion from broken teacups and letters that drop from ceilings. A ragged wanderer offers an Englishman a spirit Sending to plague Lone Sahib, a man who hates cats. Soon a blind white kitten lies on his bed, then another on his hearthrug, then one in his boots. The believers read every kitten as a sign.

People who want a marvel will supply the meaning themselves.

That’s 1 of 10 key points.

The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.

  • Nothing to pay today · Renews every year
  • We email you before you pay
  • Cancel online in two clicks
Read the rest free
Free to startthen 0,14 USD a day
Read the rest free

Take this summary with you

Send to Kindle downloads the file and opens Amazon's page: drop the file there.

Go deeper: the whole of La Bibliothèque du verrou et de la clé : récits classiques de mystère et d’enquête

About 8 h 20 min to read.Commencez 90 jours gratuits

Paperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed

About this edition

Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.

  • LengthAbout 115,200 words
  • Reading timeAbout 8 h 5 min

Questions about La Bibliothèque du verrou et de la clé : récits classiques de mystère et d’enquête

What is The Lock and Key Library about?

It is a collection of mystery, detective and ghost stories gathered by Julian Hawthorne. The tales range from Kipling's Indian ghost stories to Sherlock Holmes cases, a siege on a Scottish beach, a dream that keeps its date, and several comic puzzles.

Which Sherlock Holmes stories are in this book?

It holds three Holmes cases by Arthur Conan Doyle: A Case of Identity, A Scandal in Bohemia and The Red-Headed League. Each is narrated by Doctor Watson and shows Holmes solving a puzzle from small clues.

Is The Lock and Key Library a single novel?

No. It is a collection of separate short stories by different writers, so each tale stands on its own. You can read them in order or pick one, and each can be finished in a single sitting.

Who are the main authors in the collection?

The book includes Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins and Stanley J. Weyman, along with other writers of mystery and suspense. Julian Hawthorne chose and arranged the stories.

Is it easy to read?

Yes, the stories are short and lively, with clear plots, plenty of dialogue and strong openings. Many begin with a scene, a letter or a knock at the door, so you are in the action within a page.

Cite this edition

The Lock and Key Library: Classic Mystery and Detective Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lock-and-key-library-classic-mystery-and-detective-stories.

Free for 3 months

Get the full summary of La Bibliothèque du verrou et de la clé : récits classiques de mystère et d’enquête, free

  • 200,000+ classics as eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and print and large print at cost
  • Up to 5 readers in your home on one plan
Commencez 90 jours gratuitsNothing to pay today. 0,14 USD a day in the first year, then 0,27 USD a day.