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Category: Library of Congress Crime Classics

Brooding pen and ink sketch of a man in late 19th century apparel, with topcoat and long cloak, walking past a streetlight on a foggy eetlight at dusk. A bat flies in the background

Crime Classics: Richard Harding Davis Gets Lost “In the Fog”

Posted by: Neely Tucker

“In the Fog" is the latest Library of Congress Crime Classic to be republished. This 1901 novella is by Richard Harding Davis, the influential war correspondent, author and playwright. He might be largely forgotten now, but Davis was a Renaissance man of his era, as renowned for his battlefield escapades, famous friends and good looks as he was for his literary and journalistic success. "In the Fog" takes place in Victorian London and was, like many of Davis' books, a bestseller.

Against a black background, an illustration of an elegantly dressed woman, in 1920s-style attire, stands with her right arm cocked on her hip and her left holds a long cigarette holder. Her eyes are closed, and her face is turned away from the viewer.

New! “The ‘Canary’ Murder Case” from Library’s Crime Classics Series

Posted by: Neely Tucker

“The ‘Canary’ Murder Case,” by S. S. Van Dine, is the latest in the Library’s Crime Classics series. The publication gives readers a new look at an influential 1927 detective novel featuring the urbane detective Philo Vance.

Crime Classics Returns: “The Thinking Machine”

Posted by: Neely Tucker

The Library's Crime Classics series has just published "The Thinking Machine," Jacques Futrelle's 1907 short story collection. It follows eccentric professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, the Thinking Machine, as he solves a mind-boggling series of crimes. Van Dusen, in the mold of Sherlock Holmes, is “one of the most admired creations in the history of crime fiction," series editor Leslie S. Klinger writes in the introduction.

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

“The Master of Mysteries,” Latest in Library’s Crime Classics Series

Posted by: Neely Tucker

This is a guest post by Polina Lopez, Widening the Path intern in the Library’s Publishing Office. Can one detective successfully solve kidnapping, espionage and murder cases, uncover social poseurs and secret love affairs, all while maintaining the guise of psychic powers? In the newest addition to the Library of Congress Crime Classics series, Gelett Burgess’ Astro the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Crime Classics: Ed Lacy’s Edgar Award-Winning “Room to Swing”

Posted by: Neely Tucker

This is a guest post by Hannah Freece, a writer-editor in the Library’s Publishing Office. “I broke par in Bingston.” With this enigmatic statement, private eye Toussaint Moore opens “Room to Swing,” Ed Lacy’s Edgar Award–winning 1957 novel, the newest addition to the Library of Congress Crime Classics series. It’s the hard-hitting story of a …