Play Audiobook Sample
The Lock and Key Library: Modern English Stories: Classic Mystery and Detective Stories Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(0.00) - 0 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
Assembled and edited by Julian Hawthorne and first published in 1909, the Modern English volume of The Lock and Key Library features sixteen classic mystery and detective stories by such luminaries as Rudyard Kipling, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Wilkie Collins.
Detective stories existed for centuries before the concept of the detective itself—amateur or professional— was fully formulated, and tales of mystery and intrigue have been thrilling readers since ancient times. The Lock and Key Library is the classic overview of the history of the mystery genre, at once a rousing listen for fans of the unsolved and unknown as well as an essential literary resource for those seeking to understand the roots of modern pulp fiction.
The Modern English volume of The Lock and Key Library features sixteen stories that explore the genre, from Rudyard Kipling’s supernatural mysteries in India to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved and classic tales of detection (including the introduction of Irene Adler into the Sherlock Holmes canon). Other special additions include the reality-bending “The Dream Woman: A Mystery in Four Narratives” by Wilkie Collins, whom T. S. Eliot called “a master of plot and situation”; and Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Pavilion on the Links,” which was regarded by Doyle as “the high-water mark of [Stevenson’s] genius” and “the first short story in the world.” And the mystery goes beyond the ordinary in this comprehensive collection: the last five stories are all written by anonymous writers, giving the listener an extra shroud of secrecy to peek behind.
This volume of The Lock and Key Library is sure to delight and enthrall armchair detectives and fans of classic mysteries alike.
Full contents:
“My Own True Ghost Story” by Rudyard Kipling—read by Stefan Rudnicki
“The Sending of Dana Da” by Rudyard Kipling—read by Stefan Rudnicki
“In the House of Suddhoo” by Rudyard Kipling—read by Stefan Rudnicki
“His Wedded Wife” by Rudyard Kipling—read by Stefan Rudnicki
“A Case of Identity” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—read by John Rubinstein
“A Scandal in Bohemia” by Sir Arthur Conan Conan Doyle—read by John Rubinstein
“The Red-Headed League” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—read by John Rubinstein
“The Baron’s Quarry” by Egerton Castle—read by Paul Boehmer
“The Fowl in the Pot” by Stanley J. Weyman—read by John Rubinstein
“The Pavilion on the Links” by Robert Louis Stevenson—read by Stefan Rudnicki
“The Dream Woman: A Mystery in Four Narratives” by Wilkie Collins—read by Paul Boehmer, Stefan Rudnicki—and John Rubinstein
“The Lost Duchess” by Anonymous—read by John Lee
“The Minor Canon” by Anonymous—read by Stefan Rudnicki
“The Pipe” by Anonymous—read by John Rubinstein
“The Puzzle” by Anonymous—read by John Rubinstein
“The Great Valdez Sapphire” by Anonymous—read by Stefan Rudnicki
Download and start listening now!
The Lock and Key Library: Modern English Stories Listener Reviews
Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
About the Authors
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was born of English parents in Bombay, India. At seventeen, he began work as a journalist and over the next seven years established an international reputation with his stories and verses of Indian and army life, including such classics as The Jungle Book and Kim. In 1907 he became the first English writer to receive the Nobel Prize.
Wilkie Collins (1824–1889) was an English novelist. He studied law and was admitted to the bar but never practiced. Instead, he devoted his time to writing and is best known for his novels The Woman in White, No Name, Armadale, and The Moonstone, which has been called the finest detective story ever written. A number of his works were collaborations with his close friend, Charles Dickens. The Woman in White so gripped the imagination of the world that Wilkie Collins had his own tombstone inscribed: “Author of The Woman in White.”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) was born in Scotland. He studied engineering and law at the University of Edinburgh and then began writing while traveling in France. The publication of Treasure Island in 1883 brought him fame and entered him on a course of romantic fiction beloved by young and old alike.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was born of Irish parentage in Scotland. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but he also had a passion for storytelling. His first book introduced that prototype of the modern detective in fiction, Sherlock Holmes. Despite the immense popularity Holmes gained throughout the world, Doyle was not overly fond of the character and preferred to write other stories. Eventually popular demand won out and he continued to satisfy readers with the adventures of the legendary sleuth. He also wrote historical romances and made two essays into pseudoscientific fantasy: The Lost World and The Poison Belt.
Julian Hawthorne (1846–1934) was an American writer and journalist, the son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Peabody. He wrote numerous short stories, mystery and detective fiction, essays, travel books, biographies, and histories.
Stanley John Weyman (1855–1928) was an English novelist most famous for his historical romances set in the turmoil of sixteenthth- and seventeenth-century France.
Egerton Castle (1858–1920) was born in London to a wealthy family, which included the publishing magnate, his grandfather Egerton Smith. Castle grew up to be an author, an antiquarian, and a swordsman. He was a champion in reconstruction of historical fencing techniques, and was even the captain of the British épée and sabre teams in the 1908 Summer Olympics. He wrote important books on the art and history of fencing and became an expert on and collector of bookplates. Many of his fiction novels were adapted into films in the early twentieth century, and he even co-wrote many other novels with his wife, Agnes Castle (née Sweetman).
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.
About the Narrators
Paul Boehmer is an American actor best known for his numerous appearances in the Star Trek universe, in addition to Frasier, Judging Amy, Guiding Light, and All My Children. He is a 1992 Masters of Fine Arts graduate of the Professional Theater Training Program at the University of Delaware. As a narrator, Paul has won several AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as an Audie Award.
John Lee is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He has twice won acclaim as AudioFile’s Best Voice in Fiction & Classics. He also narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays. He is an accomplished stage actor and has written and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit. He played Alydon in the 1963–64 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.
John Rubinstein is an actor, composer, and director who won a Tony Award for his starring role in Broadway’s Children of a Lesser God. He has narrated dozens of audiobooks, earning several AudioFile Earphones Awards and being named a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration in 2013.
Paul Boehmer is an American actor best known for his numerous appearances in the Star Trek universe, in addition to Frasier, Judging Amy, Guiding Light, and All My Children. He is a 1992 Masters of Fine Arts graduate of the Professional Theater Training Program at the University of Delaware. As a narrator, Paul has won several AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as an Audie Award.
Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than five thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than nine hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014, and was named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices in 2012.
Tavia Gilbert is an acclaimed narrator of more than four hundred full-cast and multivoice audiobooks for virtually every publisher in the industry. Named the 2018 Voice of Choice by Booklist magazine, she is also winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She has earned numerous Earphones Awards, a Voice Arts Award, and a Listen-Up Award. Audible.com has named her a Genre-Defining Narrator: Master of Memoir. In addition to voice acting, she is an accomplished producer, singer, and theater actor. She is also a producer, singer, photographer, and a writer, as well as the cofounder of a feminist publishing company, Animal Mineral.