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Web Site Showcases
American Detective Fiction

Posting all Detective Fiction
Prior to Conan Doyle

Fully Searchable

The mission of the Westminster Detective Library to catalog and make available online all the short fiction dealing with detectives and detection published in the United States before Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia” (1891).

This site grew out of research for the anthology Early American Detective Stories (McFarland 2008) that I edited with my mentor and colleague LeRoy Lad Panek (1943-2021), winner of two Edgar awards for his contributions to the scholarly field of detective criticism. We uncovered a treasure-trove of forgotten and previously unavailable detective stories, many more than could be included in a single anthology. And so this on-going project was born.

The site includes a working bibliography; full-text copy of entries are added as they are prepared. A few stories that were published in Britain but which appear to have been previously published in America have also been included and are indicated by an asterisk in the bibliography. I welcome comments and solicit both additional bibliographical entries and texts.

Mary M. Bendel-Simso, editor

Select Story

A Deplorable Mistake

by Anna Ashmore

“James,” said Mrs. Garret, while sitting at breakfast one morning, “I don’t like that new girl. I have my suspicions about her.”

“About Ann!” returned Mr. Garret, in surprise. “Why, it’s only a few days ago that I heard you boast to Mrs. Branmer you have the best cook in New York!”

“So she is a good cook. I don’t expect to get such another for twice her wages. It’s not about her work—she does all that well—but I’ve no trust in her.”

“What has she done?”

“What has she done?” echoed the lady somewhat sharply. “Nothing, of course, or I’d soon send her packing! But she’s shy and secret, and won’t tell me anything about herself; and has ridiculous airs about sleeping alone, and won’t even allow Amanda inside her bedroom door. There’s something wrong, depend upon it. If there wasn’t a screw loose somewhere she wouldn’t be here for such low wages.”

“If that’s a fault against her, you can raise them,” suggested Garret.

“There, James, you may as well go to your office, if that’s all you have to say,” cried the mistress of the house. “But mark my words, before you go, I’ll find Ann Walker out before long.”

Mr. Garret sighed as he rose to depart. He well knew that remonstrance would avail nothing, for Mrs. Garret’s prejudices were as the laws of the Medes and Persians, that changeth not, so he took himself off without another word.

“Amanda!” cried the lady, when left alone,” bring Horace up.”

In response to this summons a large, slatternly girl of eleven or twelve, made her appearance from the basement, with a little boy in her arms, who made a snatch at an egg stand and knocked it on the floor in passing the table.

“You awkward, careless… Read More

Miscellany

The Detective of the Present -- Finn and Jourdan

Time was when a detective was a man who detected things. A detective is still that in some European countries; and he still detects things—in novels. There's Buckett in “Bleak House” who detects Lady Dedlook, and there's that detective in Collin’s story of the “Moon Stone,” quite a detector. New York used to have Old Hayes, who could detect a thing or two; Paris has had Vidocq, and Bow street has had Forster.* But the race has died out entirely in America, and is dying out in England.

Commissioner Jourdan, of Brooklyn, has been making an effort to raise up a detective or two and has actually produced Corr and Bill. Corr and Bill were raised to the Vidocquian task of tracing a mystic murder. Finnan is a hatter; and Finnan has been in States Prison. That ought to be enough for any detective such as Corr to concluded that Finnan did the deed. Edgar A. Poe could not reason out a conclusion clearer than that. So Corr went to where Finnan was making hats.

Is Finnan here? Yes—want to see him?