Annotated anthology textbook of detective stories for American high schools, containing literary history and criticism with student exercises designed to deepen similar literary sensibilities.

Contains:
Edgar Allan Poe
The murders in the Rue Morgue --
The purloined letter --
The gold bug --
Arthur Conan Doyle
Study in scarlet (excerpts) --
Final Problem
Adventure of the Empty House
The American Sherlock Holmes:
Ellery Queen
The telltale bottle --
My queer dean! --
The adventure of the president's half dome --
The others:
The problem of cell 13 by Jacques Futrelle --
The invisible man by G.K. Chesterton --
The mystery of Hunter's Lodge by Agatha Christie --
The adventurous exploit of the cave of Ali Baba by Dorothy Sayers --
Mr. Strang performs an experiment by William Brittain --
There were female sleuths before women's liberation:
Locked doors by Mary Roberts Rinehart --
Village murders by Agatha Christie --
You bet your life by Stuart Palmer --
Mom and the haunted mink by James Yaffe --
Variations:
In the heat of the night (excerpts) by John [Dudley] Ball --
The world series murder by Rex Stout --
The day the children vanished by Hugh Pentecost --
The stolen cigar case by Bret Harte.