Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories

What do a Babylonian philosopher, a French socialite, and a Roman noble have in common? They all inhabit this sprawling anthology of mystery and detection, a collection that stretches from ancient Rome to nineteenth-century Paris. Edited in the early twentieth century, this volume gathers tales from disparate cultures and centuries, uniting them by a single thread: the pleasure of the puzzle, the thrill of the chase, the moment when truth erupts from lies. Voltaire's witty Zadig applies reason to crime centuries before Holmes drew his pipe. Maupassant dissects vanity and obsession in 'The Necklace,' where a borrowed diamond destroys a life. Erckmann-Chatrian weaves supernatural dread into tales of invisible eyes and death waters. The stories operate on multiple registers, some pure detective fiction, others psychological studies, still others tipping into the macabre. This is not a greatest-hits album of familiar classics. It is something richer: a panoramic survey of how human beings have always told stories about crime, punishment, and the terrible allure of the forbidden.