The Wisdom of Father Brown

The story that invented the detective genre. Poe brilliant amateur Auguste Dupin solves an impossible double murder in Paris through pure reasoning.

Edgar Allan Poe

Dupin returns to solve the killing of a young woman, a case Poe based on a real unsolved murder. A landmark of early detective fiction.

Edgar Allan Poe

The third and finest Dupin story. A stolen letter hides in plain sight, and Dupin proves the simplest hiding place can defeat the cleverest search.

Edgar Allan Poe

Often called the first English detective novel. A cursed diamond vanishes on a birthday night, and Sergeant Cuff hunts the truth through a web of suspects.

Wilkie Collins

Agatha Christie first novel and the debut of Hercule Poirot. A wealthy widow is poisoned, and the Belgian detective sorts method from motive.

Agatha Christie