14 h 11 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 14 h 11 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A locked room, a hidden motive, a sudden danger: where does the truth begin?
In The Lock and Key Library: Classic Mystery and Detective Stories, editor Julian Hawthorne gathers short tales of crime, secrecy and detection. The English volume brings together stories from the nineteenth century and the years around it. A crime, a disappearance or a strange event opens the way into a puzzle, with a hidden truth waiting to be found.
Crime, atmosphere and the slow work of discovery give these tales their pull. The wider library groups stories by country and kind, tracing the growth of the puzzle story in English and other languages. Here, the English tradition takes shape beside the modern city, its police and newspaper accounts of crime. Read slowly, and let each mystery hold your attention.
What you’ll discover
- Locked rooms and secrets Enter tales where secrecy and hidden motives make the search for truth compelling.
- Crime and strange events Follow mysteries that begin with a crime, a disappearance or something difficult to explain.
- The roots of detection Explore the early puzzle story through tales chosen by a writer of detective fiction.
- An English atmosphere Discover a tradition where crime and atmosphere develop alongside city life and its police.
- One tale at a time Settle into an older pace, with room to pause between mysteries and consider each puzzle.
Who will love it
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.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Mystery takes more than one shape
- Fear makes a ready audience
- Small clues matter more than impressions
- An odd job raises practical questions
- A charming host can conceal danger
- Danger creates an uneasy alliance
- A recorded dream becomes a warning
- A mystery can also be playful
- Puzzles matter because people matter
Who’s who
- Sherlock HolmesThe Baker Street detective who reads clients from their sleeves and boots and takes on cases that others find too small or too strange.
- Doctor WatsonHolmes's friend and chronicler, who sees everything and observes too little, and who tells the cases with warmth.
- Irene AdlerAn opera singer who holds a compromising photograph of the King of Bohemia and matches Holmes in quickness.
- Jabez WilsonA stout pawnbroker with fiery red hair who takes a well-paid job copying an encyclopedia and cannot guess why it was offered.
- Mary SutherlandA typist whose bridegroom disappears on the way to the church, and who stays faithful to him anyway.
- Frank CassilisA wandering camper who loves solitude and is drawn into a siege at a seaside pavilion by love for Clara Huddlestone.
- NorthmourThe handsome, dangerous owner of the pavilion, who hides a ruined banker and wants the banker's daughter as his price.
- Francis RavenA worn hostler who dreads his birthday because of a dream of a woman with a knife.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
The Lock and Key Library: Classic Mystery and Detective Stories
Billiards seem to click in an empty room, a duke pays a false ransom, and Sherlock Holmes studies a sleeve.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
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.
The Lock and Key Library: Classic Mystery and Detective Stories at a glance
- Reading time
- About 8 h 5 min6 h 25 min fast, 9 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 115,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
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.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 9 h 15 min
- Level
- Medium level
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.
The lock and key library: Classic mystery and detective stories. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lock-and-key-library-classic-mystery-and-detective-stories
The Lock and Key Library: Classic Mystery and Detective Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lock-and-key-library-classic-mystery-and-detective-stories.
@book{anonymous2026lock,
title = {The Lock and Key Library: Classic Mystery and Detective Stories},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lock-and-key-library-classic-mystery-and-detective-stories}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Lock and Key Library: Classic Mystery and Detective Stories
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
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.
The author
Julian Hawthorne
1846–1934 · American novelist and journalist
Julian Hawthorne was an American novelist and journalist, born in Boston in 1846. He was the son of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Peabody Hawthorne. He wrote novels, short stories, biographies, and journalism. His novel Idolatry appeared in 1874. He lived in Europe and the United States and died in San Francisco in 1934.
More by Julian Hawthorne (editor)
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in mystery and crime
See all
