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Library of the World’s Best Mystery and Detective Stories – Part 2
PIERRE MILLE
The Miracle of Zobéide – When a Christian and a Muslim cannot agree on the power of God, one offers a challenge to the other. Is it really God at work, first making the turtle called Zobeide larger, and then smaller until she disappears all together? Or is it a splendid trick and the Christian never catches on? This is a great short story that will stop and make you think; about the power of influence, and the strength of one determined to defend his beliefs, in a clever, non-criminal way.
VILLIERS DE L’ISLE ADAM
The Torture by Hope – A man condemned because he refuses to renounce his religion sees the opportunity to escape on the eve prior to his (and 43 others) scheduled execution. His escape does not go as planned, and one might even suspect the opportunity to escape was intentionally provided, just to torture one by hope.
EMILE ERCKMANN- ALEXANDRE CHATRAIN
The Owl’s Ear -A man, appearing to be a hobo, bum, vagabond, is arrested for no good reason other than he refused to tell the town constable what he was doing in that deep, dark cistern.
Full of despair in prison for only part of a night, the hobo hanged himself. Only later would the cousin of the constable discover the true meaning of what the hobo was doing. Out of anger at such a brilliant life and mind cut short, he refused to tell the constable the truth, or ever visit him again.
The Invisible Eye – What I would consider a bit long for a short story, this one was definitely a bit strange and disturbing. What appeared to be a haunted room at the local Inn was capable of driving each of its guests to hang themselves from the outside crossbeam before morning light. A painter who lived across the street seemed to be the only one to take notice of the local hag, called Fledermausse. Being convinced it was her driving these victims to suicide, the painter kept a close eye on her, until he saw the opportunity to even the score, and stop the curse. He was able to give the hag a taste of her own medicine, which was the last taste of anything she would ever have again.
The Waters of Death – a quick read about a cavern of mineral water that seems to have healing powers; yet after skeletons of various animals, and humans, are purged from the cavern, no one dares drink or swim there again. Except for one unlucky soul. I found this story okay enough, but more boring than what I had previously read.
There are a few more stories in this book, and I will share those that I find of interest. There are a couple I have read that are not worth mentioning, but all-in-all, I am pretty happy with this book!
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Library of the World’s Best Mystery and Detective Stories – Edited by Julian Hawthorne
One of my favorite things about older stories, especially short stories, is that there is always a lesson in morals. Sometimes it is obvious, and sometimes you never see it coming. But either way, they are fun to read, and you are more than likely to learn something while you are at it!
I will be highlighting some of these great short stories included in this book over the next couple of days. I hope you enjoy the reviews as much as I enjoyed the stories!
HENRI RENÉ ALBERT GUY DE MAUPASSANT (1850-93)
The Necklace – A charming twist on a story of trying to deceive. A woman loses her friend’s diamond necklace. Instead of being honest, her husband and herself buy another one, and spend the next ten years living in poverty as they struggle to pay off the loan. Finally feeling free by having the loan paid off, Mrs. Loisel tells the friend of the burden they had carried for 10 years.
Her friend tells her the diamond necklace she lost was paste, and only worth mere change compared to what they spent on the replacement necklace.
An Uncomfortable Bed – A man, fearing he is going to be the victim of the pranks of his friends on an overnight stay, decides to sleep elsewhere for his own safety. In doing so; he manages to set himself up for a thing exactly as he was trying to avoid.
Ghosts – Not so much a ghost story, as it is a story about how some people will go to great measures to swindle others out of financial or material gains that they have no right to.
The Confession – 2 sisters devoted to each other spend their lives unmarried, living together, rather than have one of them be alone. The great sacrifice made by one sister becomes even more apparent when the other has a death-bed confession to make.
The Horla, or Modern Ghosts – The final short story by Maupassant, it is a journey of psychosis, particularly the author’s own. Is this story true, partly true, or strictly a great dream out of the mind of this great writer? You will have to read it to decide for yourself.
Per his biography page, he did suffer from psychosis brought on by syphilis he contracted as a child. He attempted suicide by cutting his throat with a knife, and was committed to a hospital where he later died.
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Tuesday’s Thought For The Day!
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Hope Reborn – Caryl McAdoo
Another fantastic story by Caryl; if you have not had a chance to read some of her novels yet, you have got to pick one up and read it, as soon as possible.
Yes, like right now. You should get on your Amazon account, search her name, and just pick a book. Any book will do. They are all great, and it is a perfect day to start a new story.
Okay, back to the story…Hope Reborn is a historical romance novel, set in Texas in the 1850’s. It centers around Millicent May Meriwether, but do not call her Millicent. She writes romance novels, and decides to make her way to Texas both to research for future novels, as well as help a family friend.
Receiving a warm welcome into Texas, May and her personal assistance and Man-of-All-Things-Needed, Chester, end up taking temporary residence at the estate of Henry Buckmeyer. A widower with a brood of children, and a staff to help run his estate, May is afraid she may have indeed found what she has been looking for; a man to spend the rest of her life with. Afraid because she has lost and suffered so much already.
May and Henry both seem to have secrets to hide, and May needs to decide if she can give her whole self to this man who lost so much when he lost his wife. A man of Faith might just be the undoing of May and her hopes and dreams. She never could understand why anyone would believe in fairytales like God and Jesus.
As storylines intertwine, May and Henry are not the only ones who find answers to questions long asked. More than one situation finds the resolution needed and desired.
As I try to never give away spoilers, this is one book you will need to read for yourself. It is well-written, clean, and has you hoping and cheering for everyone involved.
You can get this story free on Amazon for the next 5 days! Do not miss out on this great opportunity here: http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Reborn-Texas-Romance-Book-ebook/dp/B00RASZWEY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421018283&sr=8-1&keywords=Hope+Reborn+Caryl+McAdoo
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Don’t Miss Out On This Free Book by Caryl McAdoo!
Another fantastic story by Caryl McAdoo, Hope Reborn is a Texas Romance set in the mid 1850’s. I read this story and really enjoyed it, and if you like historical novels, romance novels (clean romance novels!), or just a story that will make you feel good, you should give this one a try!
You can’t beat free, and once you get a taste of one of Caryl’s stories, you will be wanting more! Stop by tomorrow for my review of this book!
Get your copy from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Hope+Reborn+Caryl+McAdoo and be sure to let me know how you enjoyed the story!
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I Could Live With This Plan!
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Any Day I Get To Read Is A Day Where I Achieved Something Positive!
After a Thursday I would rather forget, and a Friday spent at home that I was not happy about, I managed to get motivated and get some things done around my house.
Yesterday we had a Winter Storm Warning starting at 11 am and I seriously considered leaving work to beat the storm, since I had to stop and get cat food and milk. Against my better judgment, I stayed for my whole day, and left work at 3pm. By now we had 50 mph winds, white-outs, and as I was cleaning my car off to leave work, my driver’s side wiper broke off my car. Already frozen after 4 minutes outside (wind chills were about -15) I was in the parking lot, cussing up a storm, holding my windshield wiper in my hand.
I found someone who was able to zip tie it onto the arm, and scared out of my mind, I began my treacherous journey home. I was afraid to leave the wipers running for fear it would break off while I was driving, so I would turn them on when I absolutely could not see anything, which was basically like leaving them on non-stop.
I got to the nearest auto parts place about 30 minutes later, and half-way to my home. I bought a new set of wipers, but they could not put them on for me. He really wanted to help me out, but it was against company policy. So by now I am in tears, frustrated, stressed, and angry. I get back in my car and continue my journey heading home, still knowing I have got to stop and get milk and cat food.
After an hour and a half, I made it home. I can get home from work in less than 15 minutes on a warm day. So after only working 4 days in this new year, I had to use a vacation day for today. I would not be able to get my new wipers put on before today, and I was pretty sure my car would be snowed in anyhow (it was).
So after avoiding doing anything for the majority of the morning, including getting out of bed, I figured I had better get some use out of the day. After doing some cleaning and organizing, I was able to finally begin reading Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King. I am not very far into it, but I am loving it so far. I have read mixed reviews about this story for the past few weeks, but until I get further into it, I will not have a good idea of what I really think about it.
So my chores are done; unfortunately for my girls, who have had school closed for the last two days, I cannot say the same 🙂 I am making a big pot of spaghetti and garlic bread, and then I have nothing to do the rest of the night except continuing to read Stephen King!
If you are under a Winter Weather Warning yourself, I wish you warmth, comfort, and a great story to keep you busy!
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Capital Offence – Robert S. Scott
Have you ever done something when you were young that you regret?
Well, of course you have; we all have.
Do you hate politics? Do you love politics? Are you sure the government of wherever you may live is out to get the “little man?” Yeah; most of us are.
But what do you do when you are involved in something horrible as a young teenager, yet you become the Prime Minister of your country?
Yep. You hide it all. You build a new life; you ignore those who stood by you.
Flesh and blood? No Matter. You have to do what you have to do to protect yourself, your family, and your image.
But when you are the Prime Minister, and your brother is going to face the death penalty in 30 days; then what do you do?
This is a fast-paced, long read. But it is worth every second of it. The story moves quickly, and you will not want to put it down. This was another story where I kept telling myself, “just one more chapter”. That one more chapter usually became 3 more chapters.
For this story, I am standing by my “no-spoilers” clause. But this story definitely deserves your attention. You want to read it. And once you start, you will not want to put it down.
Trust me, I know. I wake up at 2 am like clockwork, and I was grabbing this story to continue reading.
You definitely want to get to know this author. You can do so here: https://robertsscott.wordpress.com/tag/political-thriller-capital-offence/
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Tuesday’s Thought For The Day!
booksandopinions.com 