Jacques Futrelle

Elusive Isabel (1909) is a spy novel by Jacques Futrelle. Published at the height of his career as a leading popular detective and science fiction writer, Elusive Isabel was adapted for a 1916 silent film of the same name starring Florence Lawrence. Celebrated for his brisk storytelling and mastery of suspense, Jacques Futrelle was lost at sea on April 15, 1912 while returning from Europe on the HMS Titanic. His wife, who survived the disaster, had...

Jacques Futrelle (1875-1912) is widely considered "the American Sherlock Holmes" for his series of stories about Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, who is better known as The Thinking Machine. Van Dusen, a master of logic, believed he could think himself out of any situation - and solve any crime - using his immense intellect. Through dozens of stories, The Thinking Machine solved locked-room puzzles, kidnappings, and more murders than can be...

America's smartest sleuth solves his most puzzling cases yet Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen may look and sound like an egghead scientist-because he is one-but there is no detective in the world villains fear more. With the help of his friend and sidekick, newspaper reporter Hutchison Hatch, the criminologist known as "The Thinking Machine" applies cold, hard logic to the most bizarre of mysteries-and always finds the solution.   In this comprehensive...

The Simple Case of Susan (1908) is a romance novel by Jacques Futrelle. Published at the height of his career as a leading popular detective and science fiction writer, The Simple Case of Susan is unique example in Futrelle's oeuvre as a lighthearted romantic comedy. Celebrated for his brisk storytelling and mastery of suspense, Jacques Futrelle was lost at sea on April 15, 1912 while returning from Europe on the HMS Titanic. His wife, who survived...

Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, with the help of his friend Hutchison Hatch, solves a variety of mysteries using cold, hard logic. No matter how twisted the trail of clues or how clever the perpetrator, Professor Van Dusen, aptly dubbed "The Thinking Machine," reminds us that "two and two make four, not some times, but all the time." So when a woman begs a surgeon to amputate part of her finger or when a pearl necklace disappears from a woman's...

A treasure trove of mysteries drawn from the case files of the world's cleverest private investigators.  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes features many of the consulting detective's best-known cases. "A Scandal in Bohemia" finds Holmes matching wits with-and being outfoxed by-a beautiful American opera singer. A struggling shop owner stumbles into a lucrative side job, and a criminal conspiracy, in "The Red-Headed League." And in "The Adventure...