Holmes and Watson were not the only ones foiling the plans of villainous
masterminds in Victorian and Edwardian England. The years 1890-1914 were
a golden age for English magazines, and the success of the Holmes
stories spawned countless imitators. The 15 tales in this anthology
introduce readers to such sleuths as Jacques Futrelle's dazzlingly
intellectual genius Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, aka the
Thinking Machine; Carnacki the Ghost Finder, detective of the occult
created by legendary horror writer William Hope Hodgson; Eugene Valmont,
a sophisticated and urbane French detective who lives in exile in London
and uses his Gallic wit and wisdom to solve mysteries; November Joe,
Hesketh Prichard's Canadian woodsman who uses his powers of observation
to bring villains to justice; Craig Kennedy, a scientific detective
created by the American writer Arthur B. Reeve, who uses new
technological advancements like X-rays and microphones to solve crime;
and Hagar of the Pawn Shop, Fergus Hume's feisty gypsy woman who
investigates strange stories associated with the objects that customers
bring to her London shop.