Al suo arrivo nella tenuta dell'amico Wendover, il capo della polizia della contea sir Clinton Driffield pregusta la vacanza estiva che si è finalmente concesso. Lontano dalle scartoffie, ha in programma di passare ore a pescare nelle acque del lago, godendosi la pace della campagna, dove i veri crimini sono quasi inesistenti. Purtroppo, a quelli come lui non riesce facile spegnere il cervello per abbandonarsi al meritato riposo. Così, quando una telefonata reca la notizia del ritrovamento...

Next morning I still felt the effects of the shock; and decided not to go to my office. I stayed indoors all day. When the evening papers came, I found in them brief accounts of the fire-ball; and in one case there was an article by Wotherspoon under the heading: “Well-known Scientist’s Strange Experience.” One or two reporters called at my house later in the day in search of copy, but I sent them on to Cumberland Terrace. In some of the reports I figured as “a well-known motor manufacture...

COLONEL SANDERSTEAD looked gloomily at his wrist-watch for the third time. Punctual to a second himself, he expected an equal clockwork precision from others; and even his long series of disappointments in the matter had failed to reconcile him to humanity’s slipshod methods. He gave another glance down the empty avenue which fell away from the terrace of the Manor towards the gates on the Fernhurst Parva road; then he addressed the dog at his side:“If that young man doesn’t put in ...

A Ravensthorpe, un castello isolato nella campagna inglese, è in corso un ballo in maschera. Ai partecipanti è stato richiesto l'anonimato, e forse non è un'idea molto brillante ignorare l'identità dei presenti quando si possiede una collezione di pregiati oggetti d'arte. Qualcuno tuttavia ha l'idea anche peggiore di inscenare per scherzo un furto, dopo aver staccato la luce per agire con il favore dell'oscurità. Del gesto sconsiderato infatti qualcun altro approfitta per rubare una serie ...

Neville Shandon stood at the window of his brother’s study gazing contentedly out over the Whistlefield grounds. This was a good place to recuperate in, he reflected, especially when one could only snatch a couple of days at a time from the grinding pressure of a barrister’s practice. His eye travelled slowly over the prospect of greenery which lay before him, lawn beyond lawn, down to where a glint of silver showed where the river cut across the estate. Beyond that came the stretches of t...

PAUL FORDINGBRIDGE, with a faintly reproachful glance at his sister, interrupted his study of the financial page of The Times and put the paper down on his knee. Deliberately he removed his reading-glasses; replaced them by his ordinary spectacles; and then turned to the restless figure at the window of the private sitting-room.“Well, Jay, you seem to have something on your mind. Would it be too much to ask you to say it— whatever it is— and then let me read my paper comfortably? On...

Il custode di una grande villa viene trovato morto a seguito di un colpo apoplettico. O almeno così parrebbe, se non fosse per la presenza sui polsi di solchi sottili e profondi che mal si conciliano con una causa naturale. Non è solo questo a destare i sospetti di sir Clinton Driffield, invitato dalla polizia a interrompere la sua vacanza per partecipare al sopralluogo. Osservatore minuzioso, avvezzo a catalogare nella memoria le cose che catturano il suo interesse, coglie numerosi dettag...

Dr. Ringwood pushed his chair back from the dinner-table. A glance at the clock on the mantelpiece told him that on this evening he had been even later than usual in getting home for dinner. The expression in his eyes showed that he had gone short of sleep for some time past; and when he rose to his feet, every movement betrayed his over-tired condition.“Bring my coffee to the study, please, Shenstone,” he ordered. “And you might take the telephone in there as well.”He crosse...

Paul Fordingbridge, with a faintly reproachful glance at his sister, interrupted his study of the financial page of The Times and put the paper down on his knee. Deliberately he removed his reading-glasses; replaced them by his ordinary spectacles; and then turned to the restless figure at the window of the private sitting-room.“Well, Jay, you seem to have something on your mind. Would it be too much to ask you to say it—whatever it is—and then let me read my paper comfortably? One ...

Il locale delle 10.35 in arrivo da Horston porta un macabro carico. È il caposquadra dei facchini a notare per terra, nell'ultimo scompartimento della carrozza di prima classe, un cappello maschile di feltro marrone. Da sotto un sedile sgorgano due rivoli di sangue che hanno inzuppato la moquette. Il corpo di un uomo giace raggomitolato nel suo abito di tweed blu a righine bianche, con ferite di arma da fuoco alla testa. Attraverso i finestrini chiusi, ghiacciati per la brina, nessuno avre...

In un villaggio del Surrey le persone cominciano a sparire misteriosamente. Se in principio sussiste la possibilità che si tratti di sparizioni volontarie, ben presto appare chiaro come il fenomeno debba ricondursi a una matrice delittuosa. Ma, in assenza di cadaveri, per l'ispettore French di Scotland Yard sarà una vera impresa riuscire a dimostrare la sua teoria.Un tesoro vichingo viene alla luce durante uno scavo archeologico nella campagna inglese. Secondo una diceria, chiunque...

This issue, we have novels from J.J. Connington (a Golden Age mystery) and E. Hoffmann Price (a classic Weird Tales fantasy), plus our usual wide variety of short stories. Acquiring Editors Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman have selected tales by Aeryn Rudel and Janice Law, plus we have even more great stories from Dan Leicht, Tom Easton, Larry Tritten, Philip E. High, and E.C. Tubb. Rounding things out is a solve-it-yourself puzzler by Hal Charles.Here’s the complete lineu...