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  The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

  Arthur Conan Doyle

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  The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the eleventh of the twelve stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The story was first published in Strand Magazine in May 1892.A banker, Mr. Alexander Holder of Streatham, makes a loan of £50,000 to a socially prominent client, who leaves a beryl coronet—one of the most valuable public possessions in existence—as collateral. Holder feels that he must not leave this rare and precious piece of jewellery in his personal safe at the bank, and so he takes it home with him to lock it up there. He is awakened in the night by a noise, enters his dressing room, and is horrified to see his son Arthur with the coronet in his hands, apparently trying to bend it. Holder's niece Mary comes at the sound of all the shouting and, seeing the damaged coronet, faints dead away. Three beryls are missing from it. In a panic, Mr. Holder travels to see Holmes, who agrees to take the case.The case against Arthur seems rather damning, yet Holmes is not convinced of his guilt. Why is Arthur refusing to give a statement of any kind? How could Arthur have broken the coronet (even Holmes, who has exceptionally strong hands, cannot do it) and without making any noise? Could any other people in the household be involved, such as the servants, or Mary? Could some visitor, such as the maid's wooden-legged suitor, or Arthur's rakish friend Sir George Burnwell, have something to do with what happened to the coronet? The failure to resolve the case will result in Mr. Holder's dishonour, and a national scandal.Famous works of the author Arthur Conan Doyle's: "A Study in Scarlet", "Silver Blaze", "The Hound of the Baskervilles", "The Yellow Face", "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Red-Headed League", A Case of Identity", "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", "The Five Orange Pips", "The Man with the Twisted Lip", "The Blue Carbuncle", "The Speckled Band", "The Engineer's Thumb", "The Noble Bachelor", "The Beryl Coronet", "The Copper Beeches" and many more.

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  The Black Cat

  Edgar Allan Poe

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  Title: The Black Cat 
  Author: Edgar Allan Poe 
  Narrator: Jonathan Dunne 
  Original Publication: 1843 
  Public Domain: Yes 
  Series Placement: Number 12 in the Timeless Terrors series 
  Description: 
  The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe is a dark tale of guilt, madness, and the supernatural. First published in 1843 in The Saturday Evening Post, it tells the story of a man whose descent into alcoholism and cruelty leads to shocking acts of violence, culminating in a horrifying confrontation with a seemingly malevolent feline. 
  Told through the first-person perspective of the increasingly unreliable narrator, the story explores themes of conscience, obsession, and the terrifying consequences of unchecked human depravity. Poe’s mastery of psychological horror and gothic atmosphere makes this a timeless classic. 
  This recording, narrated by Amazon bestselling horror author Jonathan Dunne, brings to life the creeping tension, psychological dread, and macabre details that define Poe’s work. While the text is in the public domain, this performance is an original work and copyright © 2025 Jonathan Dunne. 
  Listeners should be prepared for a disturbing meditation on guilt, horror, and the dark impulses that lurk within the human psyche.

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  The Canterville Ghost

  Oscar Wilde

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  "The Canterville Ghost" The first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in the magazine The Court and Society Review in February 1887. When a family from the United States buys Canterville Chase, they are told it is haunted by a horrible spirit, but this does not deter them in the slightest. Indeed, when they find a recurring blood stain on the floor, and hear creaking chains in the night, even seeing the ghost himself, all they do is clean up the blood and insist that the ghost oil his manacles if he is going to keep living in the house. This perturbs the ghost to no end, and he does everything he can to try to frighten the family.

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  The Complete Tragedies - Oedipus...

  Lucius Annaeus

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  The second of two volumes collecting the complete tragedies of Seneca. Edited by world-renowned classicists Elizabeth Asmis, Shadi Bartsch, and Martha C. Nussbaum, the Complete Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca offers authoritative, modern English translations of the writings of the Stoic philosopher and playwright (4 BCE–65 CE). The two volumes of The Complete Tragedies presents all of his dramas, expertly rendered by preeminent scholars and translators. The first volume contains Medea, The Phoenician Women, Phaedra, The Trojan Women, and Octavia, the last of which was written in emulation of Senecan tragedies and serves as a unique example of political tragedy. This second volume includes Oedipus, Hercules Mad, Hercules on Oeta, Thyestes, and Agamemnon. High standards of accuracy, clarity, and style are maintained throughout the translations, which render Seneca into verse with as close a correspondence, line for line, to the original as possible, and with special attention paid to meter and overall flow. In addition, each tragedy is prefaced by an original translator’s introduction offering reflections on the work’s context and meaning. Notes are provided for the reader unfamiliar with the culture and history of classical antiquity. Accordingly, The Complete Tragedies will be of use to a general audience and professionals alike, from the Latinless student to scholars and instructors of comparative literature, classics, philosophy, drama, and more.

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  Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure...

  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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  The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb, one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the ninth of the 12 stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The story was first published in Strand Magazine in March 1892. 
  An engineer, Victor Hatherly, attends Dr. Watson's Surgery after his thumb is chopped off, and recounts his tale to Watson and Holmes. Hatherly had been hired for 50 guineas to repair a machine he was told compressed Fuller's earth into bricks. 
  Hatherly was told to keep the job confidential, and was transported to the job in a carriage with frosted glass, to keep the location secret. He was shown the press, but on closer inspection discovered a "rust of metallic deposit" on the press, and he suspected it was not being used for compressing earth. He confronted his employer, who attacked him, and during his escape his thumb is chopped off. Holmes deduces that the press is being used to produce counterfeit coins, and works out its location. However, when they arrive, the house is on fire, and the criminals have escaped. 
  ©2016 Rick Sheridan (P)2016 Rick Sheridan

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  The Prince and the Pauper

  Mark Twain

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  The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain tells the story of two identical boys from opposite worlds: Prince Edward, heir to the English throne, and Tom Canty, a poor London beggar. By chance, they end up switching places. Prince Edward experiences the harsh realities of poverty, while Tom grapples with court life.

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