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The Lock and Key Library: Old-Time English Stories: Classic Mystery and Detective Stories Audiobook
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Publisher Description
Assembled and edited by Julian Hawthorne and first published in 1907, the Old Time English volume of The Lock and Key Library features ten classic mysteries and ghost stories by Charles Dickens, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Thomas de Quincey, Charles Robert Maturin, Laurence Sterne, and William Makepeace Thackeray.
The Old Time English volume opens with two classic ghost stories from Charles Dickens: the first takes place in the traditional (and titular) “Haunted House,” while the second follows the haunting of a railroad, of all places. Then you’ll be treated to two stories by Edward Bulwer-Lytton: one a tale of a rationalist investigating a haunted house, and another a tale of the search for the elixir of life itself! Up next is a ghastly story of murder in a small German town from the mind of Thomas de Quincy, followed by a selection from the classic Irish yarn Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Robert Maturin.
But not every tale featured here is doom and gloom. In Laurence Stern’s “A Mystery with a Moral," you’ll be subjected to the eccentric musings of an English parson as he tries to make sense of a mystery that might not even be real. And then in “The Notch in the Axe", William Makepeace Thackeray contemplates the nature of crime and guilt and judgment, reaching some rather Swiftian conclusions himself. Finally, the last two stories, about another murder in a small German town and about a longstanding family curse, respectively, are both written by anonymous writers, as Julian Hawthorne often chose to include in his collections.
This volume of The Lock and Key Library is sure to haunt and charm fans of ghost and detective mysteries alike.
Full Contents:
“The Haunted House” by Charles Dickens
“No. 1 Branch Line: The Signal Man” by Charles Dickens
“The Haunted and the Haunters; or, The House and the Brain” by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
“The Incantation” by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
“The Avenger” by Thomas de Quincey
Melmoth the Wanderer (selection) by Charles Robert Maturin
“A Mystery with a Moral” by Laurence Sterne
“The Notch on the Ax” by William Makepeace Thackeray
“Bourgonef” by Anonymous
“The Closed Cabinet” by Anonymous
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About the Authors
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.
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was born in Landport, Portsmouth, England, the second of eight children in a family continually plagued by debt. A legacy brought release from the nightmare of debtors’ prison and child labor and afforded him a few years of formal schooling. He worked as an attorney’s clerk and newspaper reporter until his early writings brought him the amazing success that was to be his for the remainder of his life. He was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era, and he remains popular, responsible for some of English literature’s most iconic characters.
Gabrielle de Cuir, award-winning narrator, has narrated over three hundred titles and specializes in fantasy, humor, and titles requiring extensive foreign language and accent skills. She was a cowinner of the Audie Award for best narration in 2011 and a three-time finalist for the Audie and has garnered six AudioFile Earphones Awards. Her “velvet touch” as an actor’s director has earned her a special place in the audiobook world as the foremost producer for bestselling authors and celebrities.
Thomas De Quincey (1785–1859) was born in Manchester, England, the son of a textile merchant. After his father’s early death, he was sent away to school, but he ran away to wander in North Wales and London. He later attended Oxford where he befriended Coleridge and William and Dorothy Wordsworth. The success of his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater launched him in a career as an essayist and critic. De Quincey’s work was widely admired, but he spent much of his life in poverty and debt until the last decade of his life.
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.
Laurence Sterne (1713–1768) was an Irish-born English novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, but he also published many sermons, wrote memoirs, and was involved in local politics.
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) was born and educated to be a gentleman but gambled away much of his fortune while at Cambridge. He trained as a lawyer before turning to journalism. He was a regular contributor to periodicals and magazines and Vanity Fair was serialised in Punch in 1847–8.
Xe Sands has more than a decade of experience bringing stories to life through narration, performance, and visual art, including recordings of the Nightwalkers series from Jaquelyn Frank. She has received several honors, including AudioFile Earphones Awards and a coveted Audie Award, and she was named Favorite Debut Romance Narrator of 2011 in the Romance Audiobooks poll.
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.
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.
Gabrielle de Cuir, award-winning narrator, has narrated over three hundred titles and specializes in fantasy, humor, and titles requiring extensive foreign language and accent skills. She was a cowinner of the Audie Award for best narration in 2011 and a three-time finalist for the Audie and has garnered six AudioFile Earphones Awards. Her “velvet touch” as an actor’s director has earned her a special place in the audiobook world as the foremost producer for bestselling authors and celebrities.
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.
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.
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.