Showing results by author "Wilkie Collins" in All Categories

First published in 1872, Poor Miss Finch tells the story of Lucilla Finch, a young woman who is blind due to an accident. Lucilla lives with her devoted companion, Madame Pratolungo, and fiancé, Oscar Dubourg. However, experimental surgery offers Lucilla the possibility of regaining her sight. Over time a love triangle emerges between Lucilla, Oscar and Oscar’s identical twin, Nugent.

A tale of unanticipated events unfolds as a prominent chemist and a savvy businessman breathe their last on the same day. The chemists widow, Mrs. Fontaine, inherits the toxic substances her husband was meticulously studying. Simultaneously, Mrs. Wagner, the businessmans widow, is left to carry out her husbands ambitious reforms for mental health institutions and his groundbreaking plans for gender equality in their business. A strong advocate for compassionate treatment of the mentally ill, Mrs. Wagner seeks the release of the intriguing character, Jack Straw, from an asylum. Meanwhile, her ...

Walter Hartright se traslada a Limmeridge para dar clases de dibujo a Laura, una joven rica heredera sobrina del barón Frederick Fairlie. Poco antes de irse, tropieza con una misteriosa dama vestida de blanco que le habla de Limmeridge y de su propietaria fallecida, la señora Fairlie. Desde el principio Walter siente una gran atracción por Laura, quien está prometida con sir Percival Glyde, que solo busca arrebatarle su herencia. Solo se interpone en su camino la misteriosa dama de blanco.

The Moonstone, a yellow diamond looted from an Indian temple and believed to bring bad luck to its owner, is bequeathed to Rachel Verinder on her 18th birthday. That very night the priceless stone is stolen again, and when Sergeant Cuff is brought in to investigate the crime, he soon realizes that no one in Rachel’s household is above suspicion. The Moonstone is a marvellously taut and intricate tale of mystery, in which facts and memory can prove treacherous, and not everyone is as they first appear.

This choice collection of spine tingling tales runs the gamut from slightly spooky to "I'm sleeping with all the lights on tonight!" A splendid grouping of tales from the pens of some of the great writers of the past. Enjoy these classic stories alone or with a friend, whenever your ears are free.

Wilkie Collins' most financially successful novel, The Evil Genius, opens with a jury determining the fate of a sea captain whose ship allegedly facilitated a diamond theft. The story develops into a powerful novel of Victorian private life, including deception, adultery, and divorce...

Included in this collection: "Who Killed Zebedee" by Wilkie Collins, read by Sean Barrett; "Blue Suit" by Edgar Wallace, read by Paul Panting; "A Mysterious Case" by Anna Katharine Green, read by Liza Ross; "The Crooked Man" by Arthur Conan Doyle, read by Stephen Thorne; "Vendetta" by Guy de Maupassant, read by Liza Ross; "The Sapient Monkey" by Headon Hill, read by Paul Panting; and more....

Just days after the wedding of Valeria Brinton and Eustace Woodville, a series of strange incidents causes Valeria to believe her husband is hiding a dark secret. She discovers he has been living under a false name, and when questioned, Eustace refuses to discuss it. Upon further digging, Valeria finds Eustace had been on trial three years ago for the murder of his wife. However, the verdict had come down as the scotch verdict of not proven. This implied his guilt, but there was not enough evidence for a conviction nor did it exonerate him.

The Devil's Spectacles is perhaps Wilkie Collins' most unusual and bizarre tale. It tells the story of Alfred, a young landed gentleman who is given by Septimus Notman, a sailor on his deathbed, a pair of unusual spectacles. These, Septimus had received from the Devil in person, under most unusual circumstances. The spectacles have strange supernatural powers, enabling the wearer to see the thoughts and emotions of others around him.

Nancy Morris, a shopkeeper's daughter from Sandwich, becomes a governess with the help of a benefactor, Sir Gervase Damian. One day she helps a stranger whose advances she gently rebuffs, only to meet him again when she takes a new position in the North.

Wilkie Collins was born on 8th January 1824 in Marylebone, London. He pursued his education at Mr Cole’s private boarding school in Highbury, Islington. Here, he began his literary career under unusual circumstances: the school bully would give him no peace until he had been told a bedtime story. This ‘little brute’ helped create one of England’s greatest writers.

The Moonstone, a yellow diamond looted from an Indian temple and believed to bring bad luck to its owner, is bequeathed to Rachel Verinder on her eighteenth birthday. That very night the priceless stone is stolen again and when Sergeant Cuff is brought in to investigate the crime, he soon realizes that no one in Rachel's household is above suspicion.

These five chilling tales make perfect night time listening - and, for the fearful, can be heard in a group, rather than experienced as solo bedtime reading. Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, W. L. George, A. M. Burrage, and Guy de Maupassant provide the terrifying text; Ian Holm and Julie Peasgood provide the spoken spooks.

Claimed as the first detective story in the English language, Wilkie Collins weaves his classic mystery through a series of often "meandering" narratives by various characters in the book who had first hand knowledge surrounding the disappearance of a large valuable yellow diamond (the Moonstone) from the room of it's young owner, Rachel Verinder.

Une légende indienne prédit un désastre au mortel assez fou pour porter ses mains sur le joyau sacré « La Pierre de lune », un diamant de taille extraordinaire qui brille d'un éclat jaune.

Delve into the mysterious world of the Meadowcroft estate, where resentment festers between the sons of the house and the estates foreman, John Jago. Suddenly, John Jago goes missing and a corpse is discovered in a kiln. The Meadowcroft brothers become the primary suspects, but is everything as it seems? Dead Alive is a thrilling novel by Wilkie Collins, inspired by the infamous Boorn Brothers murder case of 1819. Jesse and Stephen Boorn were condemned for the murder of their brother-in-law, but were they truly guilty? Immerse yourself in this riveting tale of conviction, doubt and the quest ...

"Hide and Seek" (1854) is a story with an intricate plot, in two parts: the history of "Madonna" Grice and Matthew Grice's discovery of her. Mary Grice is courted and seduced by a man. Mary's sister, Joanna drives the pregnant, unmarried Mary from the family home. Mary gives birth to a daughter and dies miserably, attended only by performers from a travelling circus. Martha, wife of one of the clowns, adopts the baby (also Mary), who becomes a circus performer and is struck deaf and dumb after a riding accident.

The story is told by the clergyman to his brother as a later-life confession concerning a brush with the supernatural which he has kept a secret for many years. Before he joined the church he met and fell in love with Miss Jeromette, a Frenchwoman living alone in London. They enter into a relationship but she tells him candidly she loves another man who has deserted her. Miss Jeromette predicts the man will return to her but that she will die young and miserably.

Wilkie Collins was born on 8th January 1824 in Marylebone, London. He pursued his education at Mr Cole’s private boarding school in Highbury, Islington. Here, he began his literary career under unusual circumstances: the school bully would give him no peace until he had been told a bedtime story. This ‘little brute’ helped create one of England’s greatest writers.

Ernest Medhurst is unwittingly caught up in a minor political intrigue while second secretary to a small German Court. The Princess falls in love with him and to avoid the possibility of scandal affecting her forthcoming marriage her father ensures that Medhurst is duped into leaving the country.