The Lock and Key Library - The most interesting stories of all nations: American

by Julian Hawthorne (Editor), F. Marion Crawford, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

Detective stories existed for centuries before the concept of the detective himself--amateur or professional--was fully formulated, and tales of mystery and intrigue have been thrilling readers since ancient times. The Lock & Key Library is the classic overview of the history of the genre, at once a rousing read for fans of the unsolved and unknown as well as an essential literary resource for anyone who seeks to understand the roots of modern pulp fiction.

Here adventurous readers will find tales from America, including classic stories from the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, among others.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Classics

370 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Julian Hawthorne was the son of Nathaniel Hawthorne. He wrote poetry, novels, non-fiction, a series of crime novels based on the memoirs of New York's Inspector Byrnes, and edited several collections of short stories. He attended Harvard, without graduating, and later studied civil engineering.

In 1898, Julian submitted an eyewitness account of the destruction of the United States battleship, Maine off of the island of Cuba for William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal (although it has been proven that Julian was in the United States at the time of the explosion). Hawthorne's eyewitness testimony of foul play and aggression by Spain was taken as fact and helped steer the United States towards war.

In 1908 Hawthorne was invited by a college friend to join him in Canada selling shares in silver mines that did not exist. They were tried, convicted of mail fraud, and served one year in prison.

There is also at least one other author named Julian Hawthorne, who writes about unexplained mysteries.

Reviews

[Zsak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more mystery than detective. Hawthorne in his introduction uses the term Riddle.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.23⭐

Introduction "Riddle Stories" by Julian Hawthorne 5⭐

Volume I American Stories
By the Waters of Paradise by Francis Marion Crawford 4⭐
The Shadow on the Wall by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman 4.25⭐
The Corpus Delicti by Melville Davisson Post 4⭐
An Heiress from Redhorse by Ambrose Bierce 3⭐
The Oblong Box by Edgar Allan Poe 4.5⭐
The Gold Bug by Edgar Allan Poe 5⭐
Wolfert Webber, or Golden Dreams by Washington Irving 4⭐
Adventure of the Black Fisherman by Washington Irving 5⭐
Wieland's Madness by Charles Brockden Brown 3.5⭐

[Lori Killion · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've listened to the audiobook version of this via Librivox. I kept asking myself "wtf is this". Not all are really mystery nor detective stories. None are the best stories in any category from any region. After many I wondered "Did the story really just end or did I miss something" & then I went over the story again. The answer was always that the story did end & should never have started in the 1st place. At best I can say that out of all of them a couple of stories were fair

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some quality pieces - Poe, obviously (though not the Dupin stories for some reason). The Brockden Brown was confusingly excerpted (though it is probably very difficult to excerpt Brockden Brown).

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

As one wrote, a good mystery is kinda-sorta a mind exercise which is a part of the entertainment value I believe.