> A tribute to the first great age of fictional sleuthing, this delightful collection of 13 mystery classics is devoted to the genuine tale of ratio-cination, "in which the detective solves the crime by investigation and observation, by using his or her wits." >Included among these gems, written between 1841 and 1920, are Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," widely acknowledged as the first detective story; Charles Dickens' "Three Detective Anecdotes," in which a policeman is the detective-hero; Jack London's "The Leopard Man's Story," featuring an unusually grisly but thoroughly plausible murder method; "The Phantom Motor," by Jacques Futrelle; as well as tales by Wilkie Collins, Gelett Burgess, Susan Glaspell, E.C. Bentley, Rodrigues Ottolengui, Baroness Orczy, Samuel Hopkins Adams, Melville Davisson Post, and H.C. Bailey. >Douglas G. Greene, a widely recognized authority in the field of mystery fiction, provides an introduction and informative headnotes for the stories. Original Dover (1999) compilation of 13 stories from standard editions.