Wilkie Collins

William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is one of the greatest of the Victorian mystery writers. For several years he was on the editorial staff of Dickens' magazine All Year Round and became Dickens' close friend and collaborator. Alongside his great novels, Collins was the author of a great many superb short stories, mostly concerned with either the supernatural or crime. Who Killed Zebedee? is a classic detective story of a mysterious case where a...

Most of Wilkie Collins' later work was disparaged by the critics for espousing causes. Swinburne commented, 'What brought good Wilkies genius nigh perdition? Some demon whispered - "Wilkie! Have a mission!".' Despite this, the 'novelist of sensation' continued to appeal to the public with the construction of ingenious and meticulous plots. He had been the first to write a full-length detective novel but also wrote love stories, and The Two Destinies...

A brilliant and humorous short story by Wilkie Collins, in which an elderly lady, whose Victorian sensibilities on morals and propriety are finely honed, finds herself living next door to Major Namby, the ultimate neighbour from hell.

A winning streak at a downmarket gambling den in Paris leads to a lavish drinking spree. The offer of coffee to help sober up is not all that it first seems. Our protagonist finds himself in a strange bed for the night in a house of thieves and murderers. And it turns out to be a very strange bed indeed... a bed cunningly designed with murder in mind. A spine-chilling tale... especially if you listen at bedtime.

When Arthur Holliday arrives at Doncaster during race week, he is unable to find a hotel room free. His search for a bed for the night leads him to a dubious hostelry, The Two Robins, where he is offered a bed in a shared room at a handsome price of five shillings. The landlord assures Arthur that his room-mate is sleeping soundly and will in no way disturb him. A quick examination of the sleeping man confirms that he is indeed very quiet. Too quiet!...

On the night before their execution during the French Revolution, 21 condemned prisoners and their friends are permitted a last banquet before their trip to the guillotine on the morrow. While they feast and jest on their last night alive, they begin to speculate about the hour of the execution the next day. Only one prisoner, Duprat, is quiet on the subject. His friend Marginy questions him on the subject, and Duprat asserts than he knows the exact...

William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories and was a great friend and collaborator of Charles Dickens. 'The Ghost in the Cupboard Room' is a strange tale of a sailor who is captured by a vindictive enemy on the Spanish Main, who ties and gags him on the floor of the hold, which contains barrels of gunpowder...leaving a candle burning, to which, some way down, is attached a fuse leading to the...

Six of Wilkie Collins' best short stories: "The Dead Hand", "The Devil's Spectacles", "Major Namby", "Nine O'Clock", "A Terribly Strange Bed", and "My Black Mirror".

Wilkie Collins describes a traveller who has a magic mirror in his possession which enables him to recall scenes from his travels. In a series of amusing sketches he relives various travels in the Tyrol and the Alps before taking a decision about his next holiday destination.

Walter Wilding has lived his life secure in the knowledge that he was the son of his mother. But a chance encounter shocks him to his deathbed, leaving his friend and Executor George Vendale charged with the finding of the real Walter Wilding. Meanwhile, George pitches woo to Margerite Obenreizer, but has to deal with her dastardly guardian and uncle. The story twists and turns from the wine cellars of England, to Soho and then to the Alps of Switzerland,...