Deeply bored by the lack of mental stimulus and the dull routine of existence, Sherlock Holmes is about to resort to his daily dose of cocaine when an elegantly dressed young woman called Mary Morstan enters his room and presents her case to him and Watson. Following the mysterious disappearance of her father ten years ago, and after answering, four years later, a newspaper advert enquiring for her, she has begun to receive each year, on the same date, a precious pearl in the post from an unknown benefactor. Now, with the last pearl, she has also received a message, telling her she is "a wronged woman" and asking for a meeting that very night outside the Lyceum Theatre. Will the great detective accompany her and help her unravel the mystery? First published in 1880, The Sign of the Four - the second Sherlock Holmes novel after A Study in Scarlet, published three years earlier - will sweep the readers away into a story of murders, betrayals, double-crossings and stolen treasures, and is an enduring testament to the storytelling genius of Arthur Conan Doyle.

Chickens on the loose! Spring has sprung in River Heights! Nancy's class is hatching chickens to celebrate. Some of Nancy's classmates are excited, especially Tommy Maron. Tommy has even named all the eggs! But other classmates are less thrilled about the arrival of the little birds. Catherine Spangler is peeved because the chicks are due to arrive on HER birthday -- the nerve! But when the chicks vanish from the classroom, everyone is upset. Who would steal helpless chick eggs? Nancy knows she has a real egg of a mystery to crack this time!

Sir Charles Baskerville is dead. Did the hound of the Baskervilles kill him? Can Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson stop the hound from killing again?

Penguin Readers is a series of popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction written for learners of English as a foreign language. Beautifully illustrated and carefully adapted, the series introduces language learners around the world to the bestselling authors and most compelling content from Penguin Random House. The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework and include language activities that help readers to develop key skills.

The Hound of the Baskervilles, a Starter level Reader, is A1 in the CEFR framework. Starter level is ideal for readers who are learning English for the first time. Short sentences contain a maximum of two clauses, using the present simple and continuous tenses, possessives, regular and irregular verbs, and simple adjectives. Illustrations support the text throughout, and many titles at this level are graphic novels.

A soaring and heartfelt story about love, forgiveness, and how innocence makes us all rise up.

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook is a powerful middle grade novel, perfect for fans of Wonder and When You Reach Me, from Leslie Connor, the award-winning author of Waiting for Normal and Crunch.

From comes Eleven-year-old Perry was born and raised by his mom at the Blue River Co-ed Correctional Facility in tiny Surprise, Nebraska. His mom is a resident on Cell Block C, and so far Warden Daugherty has made it possible for them to be together. That is, until a new district attorney discovers the truth—and Perry is removed from the facility and forced into a foster home.

When Perry moves to the “outside” world, he feels trapped. Desperate to be reunited with his mom, Perry goes on a quest for answers about her past crime. As he gets closer to the truth, he will discover that love makes people resilient no matter where they come from . . . but can he find a way to tell everyone what home truly means?

The heart-stopping third book in the New York Times bestselling Asylum series follows three teens as they take a senior-year road trip to one of America's most haunted cities, uncovering dangerous secrets from their past along the way. With all the thrills, chills, and eerie found photographs that led Publishers Weekly to call Asylum "a strong YA debut," Catacomb is perfect for fans for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Sometimes the past is better off buried. Senior year is finally over. After all they've been through, Dan, Abby, and Jordan are excited to take one last road trip together, and they're just not going to think about what will happen when the summer ends. But on their way to visit Jordan's uncle in New Orleans, the three friends notice that they're being followed ...and photographed. Then Dan starts receiving messages from someone he didn't expect to hear from again-someone who died last Halloween. When the trio arrives in New Orleans and the strange occurrences only escalate, Dan is forced to accept that everything that has happened to him in the past year may not be a coincidence but fate-a fate that ties Dan to a group called the Bone Artists, who have a sinister fascination with notorious killers of the past. Now Dan's only hope is that he will make it out of his senior trip alive. Don't miss Madeleine Roux's all-new gothic horror novel, House of Furies.

Mystery in Children's Literature charts a development from religious mystery through rationally solved detective fictions to insoluble supernatural and horror mysteries. Written by internationally recognized scholars in the field, these 13 original essays offer challenging and innovative readings of both classic and popular mysteries for children. This volume will be essential and stimulating for anyone with an interest in children's literature or in mystery fiction.

"Hysterical. I couldn’t put it down.” (Nic Stone) "I laughed, I gasped, I church grunted through every chapter." (Tiffany D. Jackson) "Heartfelt and hilarious on every page!" (Justin A. Reynolds)

4 starred reviews! * An Indie Next List Pick!

Two-time Edgar Award finalist Lamar Giles spotlights the consequences of societal pressure, confronts toxic masculinity, and explores the complexity of what it means to be a “real man.”

Del has had a crush on Kiera Westing since kindergarten. And now, during their junior year, she’s finally available. So when Kiera volunteers for an opportunity at their church, Del’s right behind her. Though he quickly realizes he’s inadvertently signed up for a Purity Pledge.

His dad thinks his wires are crossed, and his best friend, Qwan, doesn’t believe any girl is worth the long game. But Del’s not about to lose his dream girl, and that’s where fellow pledger Jameer comes in. He can put in the good word. In exchange, Del just has to get answers to the Pledgers’ questions…about sex ed.

With other boys circling Kiera like sharks, Del needs to make his move fast. But as he plots and plans, he neglects to ask the most important question: What does Kiera want? He can’t think about that too much, though, because once he gets the girl, it’ll all sort itself out. Right?

"With true-to-life characters and a straightforward handling of sex, including often ignored aspects of male sexuality, Giles’s thoughtful, hilarious read offers a timely viewpoint on religion, toxic masculinity, and teen sexuality." (Publishers Weekly, "An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List")

Nate the Great, super sleuth, has his work cut out for him when Rosamond loses his birthday present.  He and his faithful dog Sludge must face snow, ice, and ferocious-looking Fang, Annie's dog, to solve the case.  But how can Nate find his missing present when Rosamond won't tell him what it is?

A stunning companion piece to Brock from award-winning Anthony McGowan. Nicky and Kenny return in Pike as a fishing expedition nosedives into near tragedy. The Bacon Pond is famous for its monster-sized fish and Kenny is determined to catch one. And as usual, Nicky is dragged along for the ride. But when the boys glimpse what could be a body in the water - the body of a well-known local criminal who's just been announced missing - the secrets of the Bacon Pond might just take them all down. Sometimes it's better not to look too deep.

The start of a thrilling new mystery series from the number-one-bestselling, award-winning author of Murder Most Unladylike. Britain is at war, and a secret arm of the British government called the Ministry of Unladylike Activity is training up spies. And who better to become a spy than a child? A child can go places, see things and listen in on conversations in a way that no adult ever can. Enter May Wong and her friends. Trained up at the Ministry, they soon embark upon their first mission: masquerading as evacuees, they are sent to a wealthy manor house to spy on the owner, who is suspected of working for the enemy. And then the murder happens...

In this New York Times bestselling sequel to Kerri Maniscalco's haunting #1 debut Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer . . . or has the depraved prince been brought back to life? Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper's true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe's best schools of forensic medicine . . . and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend. But her life's dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school's forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

Stevie Bell solved the case of Truly Devious, and now she's taking her detecting skills abroad when she becomes embroiled in a mystery from 1990s England. Another pulse-pounding and laugh-out-loud stand-alone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson. Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn't going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain-questions about college, love, and life in general. Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax. The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can't explain. This was no break-in. Someone's lying about what happened in the woodshed. Seven suspects. Two murders. One killer still playing a deadly game.

Cass may be in grave danger. She's eaten the dreaded Time Travel Chocolate--and you know what "that" means. I won't even begin to tell you what trouble this delicacy has caused in the past. If only Cass could leave the past behind But it appears she is literally stuck in it.
Meanwhile, Max-Ernest is worried for his best friend. Can our expert hypochondriac diagnose Cass's condition before it's too late? And will he have what it takes to save the survivalist?
For Max-Ernest, it's a race against time; for Cass, a race through it. For the rest of you, well, it's a race to find out what happens next, of course. But proceed with caution, and be sure to read carefully because...this isn't what it looks like.

Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog find excitement and adventure wherever they go in Enid Blyton's most popular series. In book nine, the Famous Five are really worried - George and her devoted Timmy have disappeared. Not only that, somebody has broken into Kirrin Cottage. Could there be a connection? Will the Five find George and Timmy and bring them home safe? This 70th anniversary edition features the text from the Classic edition. Its cover has been illustrated by Babette Cole, but there are no inside illustrations. All anniversary editions, each illustrated by a different artist, benefit the House of Illustration, the world's first dedicated home for the art of illustration (houseofillustration.org.uk).

In this unique, fast-paced twist on the time-travel genre and the first book in a trilogy, sixteen-year-old Alex is a spinner - one of a rare few who can rewind time to review past events. Alex's society uses spinners to help solve crimes, but their powers come with a price: no spinner ever lives past the age of twenty. Hated and feared because of their ability to find the truth, the small population of spinners is restricted to Centers - compounds created to house and protect them. Alex's society uses the spinners' skills to solve major crimes, but messing with time comes with consequences. At sixteen, Alex is in her prime - until time sickness strikes early. When she is offered an experimental treatment, Alex sees a future for herself for the first time. But the promising medication offers more than just a cure - it also brings with it alarming consequences.

This mystery begins when Spinner, a New York City native who would rather pirouette than fly cast, catches the family prize––much to her boy cousins' dismay. The prize fish, a huge cutthroat trout, had been thought to be extinct in the river, and Spinner and her cousin set out to solve the mystery of how this one spectacular cuttroat survived until Spinner reeled him in.
HarperCollins is pleased to republish Jean Craighead George’s fourth ecological mystery, which was first published in 1975 as Hook a Fish, Catch a Mountain.

The unicorns of Sparklegrove Forest have a mystery to solve, in this magical series from the creator of the bestselling Owl Diaries series! Pick a book. Grow a Reader!This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!Bo Tinseltail lives in Sparklegrove Forest, where lots of other magical creatures live. Bo and the other unicorns learn about dragons at school, but they have never seen them before. That is, until now! A blanket and a pair of glasses go missing from school, and the clues lead to the dragon caves! Will Bo and the other unicorns meet a scary creature there? Or will they make a brand-new friend? Discover this GLITTER-RIFIC, full-color series from Rebecca Elliott, creator of the USA Today bestselling Owl Diaries series!

When the Boxcar Children visit their grandfather's sister, Aunt Jane, they try to help the unhappy woman out of her misery throughout the summer. Finally, they make a surprising discovery about Aunt Jane and her Mystery Ranch.