" W]orthy of being compared to Dickens's creations . . . First-class entertainment." - William F. Deeck, "The Mystery Fancier"
"An exciting story told in a pleasant narrative style with considerable skill, and a whole portfolio of Dickensian characters, drawn against a rich background make "The Slype" an almost perfect piece of light fiction." - "The Outlook"
"No one will care to hurry when he can spend his time in the company of such delightful people as the Dean, the Paper Wizard, and Boyce's Boy. . . . "The Slype" is] a book to be read and put by for future rereading." - "New York Times"
"A unique and unusual mystery yarn." - "Baltimore Sun"
The Slype is a dark passage, reputedly haunted, adjoining the ancient cathedral of Dullchester, and it plays a central role in this thrilling mystery. As the story opens, this sleepy cathedral city has a sinister visitor whose ominous pastime consists of cutting paper silhouettes depicting a corpse hanging from a gibbet. After his arrival, a series of terrifying events ensues: ghostly screams are heard to emanate from the Slype, and the town's residents begin disappearing one by one, inexplicably and without a trace. Young Daniel Dyke, Sergeant Wurren, and Inspector Macauley of Scotland Yard will have to join forces to unravel this deadly mystery and uncover a centuries-old secret . . . before it's too late
Russell Thorndike (1885-1972) is best known for his popular series of swashbuckling tales featuring the smuggler Dr. Syn, but as Mark Valentine writes in his introduction to this new edition, the rediscovery of Thorndike's mystery and suspense fiction is long overdue. This edition of "The Slype" (1927), a fast-paced and ingenious tale with a plot and cast of characters reminiscent of Dickens, is the first in 80 years and features a reproduction of the scarce jacket art of the 1927 first edition.

"In reading it I had several splendid shudders. . . . It is a piece of living literature, not merely an evening's entertainment." - E. B. Osborn, "Morning Post"
"A bang-up ghost-murder-detective story with a background of bleak Northumberland moors, an old house full of haunts, and] a Roman Centurion who appears . . . with death in his wake." - "Scribner's Magazine"
"A well nigh perfect admixture of eerie horror, romance and good detecting." - "Saturday Review"
"Truly a little masterpiece of a book. Reminiscent of Christie at the height of her powers in its brilliant use of misdirection. . . . Really a classic of its kind." - J. F. Norris, "Mystery File"
From the moment William Mertoun arrives to catalogue the library at Colonel Barr's old mansion on the desolate Northumbrian moors, he senses something is terribly wrong. Barr's brother Ian has just died, mysteriously and violently, and the Colonel himself is hidden away in a locked room, to which his sinister nurse denies all access. As strange and supernatural events begin to unfold, Mertoun learns the local legend of a ghostly Roman centurion, slain on the site sixteen centuries earlier, who is said to haunt the estate. Mertoun is sceptical at first, but after another murder, a harrowing seance, and an actual sighting of the spirit one lonely night on the moor, he realizes that he and everyone at Barr's mansion are in mortal danger. What does the ghost want, and can it be stopped? This first-ever reprinting of "He Arrived at Dusk" (1933), R. C. Ashby's classic tale of mystery and the supernatural, features a new introduction by Mark Valentine and a reproduction of the original jacket art.

" A] very unusual story ...] an interest develops strongly, it increases, and we move on to a climax that is full of excitement. Nothing save the book itself can indicate its peculiar atmosphere and its real merit." - "Daily Telegraph"
"A very exquisite book, written with rare charm and great art." - "Manchester Guardian"
"A book of distinction and charm." - "New York Times"
"There are few contemporary stories of childhood reaching the artistic height of "The Spring Song."" - "Springfield Republican"
Thirteen-year-old Grif Weston and his siblings, Barbara, Ann, Jim, Edward, and Edward's friend Palmer Dorset, travel to their grandfather's home in rural Ireland, where they hope to pass an eventful summer. Unexpected dangers and adventures lurk, as the children must solve the kidnapping of their beloved dog Pouncer and thwart a burglary attempt on Grandpapa's house. Yet there is another danger, far more sinister, involving Billy Tremaine, a local boy who died at age fourteen in a tragedy no one wants to talk about.
When Grif hears a mysterious figure singing an old tune called "The Spring Song," old Mr. Bradley tells him that it's Billy's ghost, trying to lure Grif into joining him in the world of the dead; shortly afterwards Grif falls ill with an inexplicable sickness. But Palmer Dorset, an avid reader of Sherlock Holmes tales, is determined to solve these mysteries, and he'll risk every danger to find the truth behind Mr. Bradley's ghastly stories and Grif's unexplainable illness. . . .
Forrest Reid (1875-1947) is unequaled among English-language writers in his novels of boyhood and adolescence. In "The Spring Song" (1916), he weaves a classic boys' adventure tale with a chilling ghost story in the vein of Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw." This edition, the first since the novel's original publication, is newly typeset from the original edition and features a new introduction by Mark Valentine.