The Gateway Arch on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, was dedicated on this day in 1968.

Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources consider it the tallest human-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. Built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States and officially dedicated to "the American people", the Arch, commonly referred to as "The Gateway to the West", is a National Historic Landmark in Gateway Arch National Park and has become an internationally recognized symbol of St. Louis, as well as a popular tourist destination.

However, before you go visit, keep in mind that St. Louis is now one the most dangerous cities in the world. 

In 2014, St. Louis was ranked as the 19th most dangerous city in the world by the Mexican aid organization CCSP-JP (El Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Publica y la Justicia Penal).

As of 2017, St. Louis is ranked as the most dangerous city in America. There were 66 homicides per 100,000 residents. This rate is more than 10 times the national homicide rate.

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Mexican Crime on This Day in History

 

This day in history: On this day in 2012, forty-nine dismembered bodies are discovered by Mexican authorities on Mexican Federal Highway 40. 

The US State Department has recently issued the following travel advisory: "Violent crime – such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery – is widespread and common in Mexico. The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico, as travel by U.S. government employees to certain areas is prohibited or restricted. In many states, local emergency services are limited outside the state capital or major cities."

Mexico is the 13th most dangerous place in the world to visit. The top 10 most dangerous places in the world are: El Salvador, Jamaica, Lesotho, Honduras, Belize, Venezuela, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines, South Africa, Saint Kitts And Nevis and Nigeria.

The safest places in the world are: Iceland, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Singapore and Japan.

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Fingerprint Evidence on This Day in History

 

This Day in History:  The trial in the Stratton Brothers case begins in London on this day in 1905, and it marks the first time that fingerprint evidence is used to gain a conviction for murder. 

Mark Twain anticipated the use of fingerprints to nab criminals in books he published decades prior to this. The Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder" also used fingerprints.

Human fingerprints are detailed, nearly unique, difficult to alter, and durable over the life of an individual, making them suitable as long-term markers of human identity. They may be employed by police or other authorities to identify individuals who wish to conceal their identity, or to identify people who are incapacitated or deceased and thus unable to identify themselves, as in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

However, fingerprint evidence is not always foolproof. Over 20 years ago the fingerprints of Scottish police detective named Shirley McKie were found at a crime scene, even though she had never been there. She was sacked and eventually arrested. A scandal subsequently developed because of allegations of misconduct on the part of the Scottish Criminal Record Office and the police. Two fingerprint experts from the U.S. were called upon and both declared that the mysterious fingerprint found in the victim’s home did not belong to McKie. The SCRO experts had misidentified the fingerprints, although they stubbornly refused to admit to this.

There is also something known as the New York State Police Troop C scandal where fingerprint evidence was fabricated. The scandal became known when Trooper David L. Harding was interviewed for a job at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was asked if he was willing to break the law for his country. He answered "yes", then explained how he had worked to convict people he felt sure were guilty by fabricating evidence. He assumed the CIA would be pleased with his answer, but instead they notified the United States Department of Justice.

Did you know: Koala Bears have fingerprints similar to humans. 

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The iPhone on This Day in History

 

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This Day in History: Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco on this day in 2007. Since then, Apple has annually released new iPhone models and iOS updates. As of November 1, 2018, more than 2.2 billion iPhones had been sold. The iPhone is one of the two largest smartphone platforms in the world alongside Android. The iPhone has generated large profits for Apple, making it one of the world's most valuable publicly traded companies. The first-generation iPhone was described as "revolutionary" and a "game-changer" for the mobile phone industry and subsequent models have also garnered praise. The iPhone has been credited with popularizing the smartphone and slate form factor, and with creating a large market for smartphone apps, or "app economy". As of January 2017, Apple's App Store contained more than 2.2 million applications for the iPhone.

Samsung is however world's number one selling phone brand at 27.55%. In second place, is Apple, with 26.75% of total sales. In third place, 15 points behind, is Xiaomi with 11.51%.

Cell phones and Smartphones have long been hailed as instruments of crime reduction since they are equipped with cameras and the ability to make instant calls, at least until the huge increase in crime during 2020 and 2021. However, "Although cell phones have proven to be instrumental in reducing crime, they’ve also played a part in creating it. High-priced smartphones have become a hot commodity on the international black market, resulting in a growing number of thefts every year. In Australia, more than 40,000 cell phones are reported stolen every year, while in the U.K., 228 cell phones are snatched every hour. In the U.S., one in three people have lost cell phones to thieves; the problem is particularly severe in New York, Los Angeles and Miami, where half of the residents been victimized at some point." Source

Also, the "i" in iPhone, iMac, iPod and iPad stands for internet, individual, instruct, inform, and inspire.

This Man Loved His iPhone So Much, He Literally Married It

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Master Criminal, Adam Worth, on This Day in History

 

Buy - The Napoleon of Crime

This Day in History: The Napoleon of Crime, Adam Worth, died on this day [January 8] in 1902. Adam Worth was a German-born American criminal and crime boss who is widely considered the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional criminal mastermind James Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes series, whom Conan Doyle calls "The Napoleon of Crime".

Worth enlisted in the Union Army during the civil war at age 17. When he was wounded in battle he found out that he was listed as "killed in action" and so he left. After the war, Worth became a pickpocket, and over time he started his own gang of pickpockets, and then began to organize robberies and heists.

"His name was Adam Worth; a dapper, cerebral and ambitious little man, he had come from nowhere--specifically, the mean backstreets of Cambridge, Massachusetts--to become the most successful safecracker and bank robber in the city of New York, which in 1865 boasted 53,000 crimes of violence. Dissatisfied with a mere local notoriety, and seeking to escape the notice of Pinkerton detectives, in 1869 he borrowed or stole the name of Henry J. Raymond, late founder editor of the New York Times, and sailed to England where he transformed himself into an elegant English gentleman, with a flat on Piccadilly, a steam yacht, racehorses and an international syndicate of robbers and forgers. For years he drove the world's police forces to distraction with well planned, bloodlessly executed crimes all the way to Port Elizabeth in South Africa, without ever leaving a bit of incriminating evidence."

Richard Wolkomir

"Adam Worth, the greatest thief of the 19th century, could have furnished the basis of a great novel. No need though: In 'The Napoleon of Crime--The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief,' British journalist Ben Macintyre has given him a biography that reads like one. Worth, a German-born American Jew who affected the manners and lifestyle of a Victorian English gentleman, became, in the words of his great adversaries, the Pinkerton detectives, 'The most remarkable, most successful and most dangerous professional criminal known to modern times.'" Source

See also 19th Century Crime Boss Adam Worth and the Pinkertons 1905

The Subway Vigilante on This Day in History

 

Today in History: On this day in 1984 a few teenagers accosted Bernhard Goetz on a New York City subway. Moments later, Bernhard Goetz pulled out his Smith & Wesson revolver and shot the four young men, in an incident that came to be known worldwide as the "1984 New York City Subway Shooting." 

"During the early 1980s, New York City experienced unprecedented rates of crime. Murders during the decade averaged almost 2,000 a year and, in the city's increasingly dangerous subway system, thirty-eight crimes a day, on average, were reported. Citizens did not feel safe. It is not surprising, therefore, when the city's newspapers ran stories on the December 22 shooting on the IRT express, the shooter was widely praised for his actions: 'Finally,' many a New Yorker said, 'someone has had the courage to stand up to these thugs...'" ~Professor Douglas O. Linder

Goetz (the subway vigilante) became a household name, and is even referenced in Billy Joel's 1989 single "We Didn't Start the Fire", in Lou Reed's song "Hold On" from his 1989 album New York, and on "Stop the Train" from the 1989 Beastie Boys album Paul's Boutique. The 1993 film Falling Down was partly inspired by the shooting. 

New York City also has the Guardian Angels vigilante group to pick up the slack where the police fail, started by Curtis Sliwa in the 1970's. There is also the Dark Guardian, aka Christopher Pollack. New York City resident Christopher Pollack "is a mild-mannered martial arts instructor, yet by night he dons an Avengers-like costume, one that comes equipped with a bulletproof vest, and fights crime under the moniker of 'The Dark Guardian.' During his superhero career, The Dark Guardian has apprehended muggers, broken up fights and at one point waged a war against local weed dealers." Source

In 2001 Goetz ran for mayor of New York. 

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The "Baron of Bank Robbery" on This Day in History

 

Today in History: German-American bank robber Herman Lamm died on this day in 1930. Lamm is widely considered one of the most brilliant and efficient bank robbers to have ever lived, and has been described as "the father of modern bank robbery". By his death in 1930, his techniques had already been widely imitated by other bank robbers across the country including bank robber John Dillinger.

Lamm was a member of the Prussian army and after he was discharged, he decided that a bank heist needed military planning and training. His system (what became known as "The Lamm Technique") involved carefully studying a target bank for many hours before the robbery, developing a detailed floor plan, noting the location of safes, taking meticulous notes and establishing escape routes.

"Lamm assigned each gang member a specific job, along with a specific zone of the bank they were charged with surveying and a strict timetable to complete their stage of the robbery. Among the jobs he assigned to his fellow robbers were the lookout, the getaway driver, the lobby man and the vault man. He also put his men through a series of rehearsals, some of which involved using a full-scale mock-up of the interior of the bank. Lamm stressed the importance of timing during these practice runs, and used stopwatches to ensure the proper results were achieved. He only allowed his gang members to stay in a bank for a specific period of time, regardless of how much money they could steal." Wikipedia

Lamm is also credited with devising the first detailed bank robbery getaway maps. Once he targeted a bank, he mapped the nearby back roads to a tenth of a mile. He meticulously developed getaway plans for each of his robberies. Before every heist, Lamm obtained a nondescript car with a high-powered engine, and often recruited drivers who had been involved in auto racing. He would spend days doing practice runs.

Lamm's gang was considered the most efficient gang of bank robbers of the era. It all came to an end after robbing the Citizens State Bank in Clinton Indiana. However, it took thousands of angry Indiana citizens and 200 police (many newly deputized) to stop him. He shot himself rather than surrender to the mob.

See also Notorious Criminals, Crimes & Criminology - 100 Books on DVDrom 

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Notorious Criminals, Crimes & Criminology - 100 Books to Download

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Books Scanned from the Originals into PDF format

For a list of all of my books click here - Contact theoldcdbookshop@gmail.com for questions

Books are in the public domain. I will take checks or money orders as well.

Contents:

Psychology and Crime by Thomas Holmes 1912

Murder Most Mysterious by Hargrave Lee Adam 1900

Poison Mysteries in History by C.J.S. Thompson 1923

Poison romance and Poison Mysteries by C.J.S. Thompson 1904

A Book of Scoundrels by Charles Whibley 1921

The Borden Murder Trial (Lizzie Borden), article in The Illustrated American 1893

The Greatest Detective Agency in the World (Pinkertons), article in The Strand 1905

The Greatest Criminal of the Past Century...Adam Worth, by By Pinkerton National Detective Agency 1903 (Scotland Yard detective Robert Anderson nicknamed him "the Napoleon of the criminal world", and he is commonly referred to as "the Napoleon of Crime.")

Remarkable Rogues - the careers of some notable Criminals of Europe and America by Charles Kingston 1921

The Holmes-Pitezel case -  a history of the greatest crime of the century and of the search for the missing Pitezel children by Frank P Geyer 1896 (H.H. Holmes was America's first serial killer)

American Criminal Trials, Volume 1 by Peleg Chandler 1844 (Anne Hutchinson. The Quakers. Salem witchcraft. Thomas Maule. John Peter Zenger. New York Negro Plot etc)

American Criminal Trials, Volume 2 by Peleg Chandler 1844

Why Some Men Kill (Murder mysteries revealed) by George A Thacher 1919

The truth about the Frank case by CP Connolly 1915 (famous murder mystery in the deep South)

Famous Mysteries by John Watkins 1919 (Lizzie Borden)

Brigham's Destroying Angel - being the life, confession, and startling disclosures of the notorious Bill Hickman, the Danite (Mormon) chief of Utah 1904

The History of Pirates, free-booters or buccaneers of America by JW Archenholz 1907

Life, trial and execution of Edward H. Ruloff: the perpetrator of eight Murder & Other Crimes 1871

Jesse James and his band of Notorious Outlaws by W Gordon 1891

A Book of Remarkable Criminals by Henry Irving 1918

History of Billy the Kid by Charles Siringo 1920

Train and bank robbers of the West, by A Appler 1889

The Crime of the Century - The assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin by Henry M Hunt 1889

Celebrated Criminal Cases of America by Thomas Duke 1910

Woman and Crime by Hargrave Lee Adam 1912 (Poisoners, Baby Farmers, Financial Defrauders etc)

The Female Offender by Cesare Lombroso 1904

Chronicles of Crime and Criminals - Full and authentic account of the murder by Henry Wainwright of his mistress, Harriet Lane, and an extended account of the Whitechapel murders by the infamous Jack the Ripper 1895

Madame de Brinvilliers and her Times by Hugh Stokes 1911 (Wholesale Poisoner)

Trial of C. B. Reynolds for Blasphemy by Ingersoll 1888

Science and the Criminal by CA Mitchell 1911

Crimes of Preachers in the United States and Canada by ME Billings 1914

Beasts in Cassocks - the Crimes of the Heads of the Russian Greek Catholic Orthodox Church in America by John F Dudikoff

The History and Romance of Crime from the Earliest Time to the Present Day, Volume 1 by Arthur Griffiths 1900

The History and Romance of Crime from the Earliest Time to the Present Day, Volume 2 by Arthur Griffiths 1900

The History and Romance of Crime from the Earliest Time to the Present Day, Volume 3 by Arthur Griffiths 1900

The History and Romance of Crime from the Earliest Time to the Present Day, Volume 4 by Arthur Griffiths 1900

The History and Romance of Crime from the Earliest Time to the Present Day, Volume 5 by Arthur Griffiths 1900

The History and Romance of Crime from the Earliest Time to the Present Day, Volume 6 by Arthur Griffiths 1900

The History and Romance of Crime from the Earliest Time to the Present Day, Volume 7 by Arthur Griffiths 1900

The History and Romance of Crime from the Earliest Time to the Present Day, Volume 8 by Arthur Griffiths 1900

The History and Romance of Crime from the Earliest Time to the Present Day, Volume 9 by Arthur Griffiths 1900

The History and Romance of Crime from the Earliest Time to the Present Day, Volume 10 by Arthur Griffiths 1900

The History and Romance of Crime from the Earliest Time to the Present Day, Volume 11 by Arthur Griffiths 1900

The Crowd, A Study of the Popular Mind by Gustave LeBon (One of the greatest and most influential books of social psychology ever written, brilliantly instructive on the general characteristics and mental unity of a crowd, its sentiments and morality, ideas, reasoning power, imagination, opinions and much more. A must-read volume  for students of history, sociology, law and psychology. Featured liberally in Ann Coulter's new book _Demonic_)

Professional criminals of America by Thomas Byrnes 1886 (Methods of Professional Criminals of America, Bank Burglars, Bank Sneak Thieves, Forgers, Hotel and Boarding-House Thieves, Sneak and House Thieves, Store and Safe Burglars, Shoplifters and Pickpockets, Confidence and Banco Men, Recelvers of Stolen Goods, Tricks of Sawdust Men, Frauds in Horse Sales, Why Thieves are Photographed, Descriptions and Records of Professional Criminals, Several Notable Forgers, International Forgers - Secret History of the Wilkes, Hamilton, Becker, Engles Gang of Forgers - Their Chief's Confession, Other Noted Criminals, Bank Robberies, Miscellaneous Robberies, Mysterious Murders, Executions in the Tombs Prison)

Professional thieves and the detective by Allen Pinkerton 1883

Studies of French criminals of the Nineteenth Century by HB Irving 1901

The Monks of Monk Hall by George Lippard 1876 (Murder - Seduction- Corruption- Insanity- Secret societies- Graverobbing- Loosely based on the real-life trial of Singleton Mercer, who murdered Mahlon Heberton. Lippard's novel is classic 19th-century sensational fiction.)

Unfinished Man - a Scientific Analysis of the Psychopath or Human Degenerate by Albert Wilson 1910

Lives of Twelve Bad Men - original studies of Eminent Scoundrels by Thomas Seccombe 1894

Mysteries of Police and Crime, Volume 1 by Arthur Griffiths 1899

Mysteries of Police and Crime, Volume 2 by Arthur Griffiths 1899

Trial of Franz Muller 1911 (Franz Müller (31 October 1840 - 14 November 1864), was a German tailor who hanged for the murder of Thomas Briggs, the first killing on a British train)

Famous Irish trials by M.M. Bodkin 1918

Studies in Forensic Psychiatry by Bernard Glueck 1916

Memories of Famous Trials by Evelyn Henry Villebois Burnaby 1907

Famous Trials of the Century by James Beresford Atlay 1899

Famous Kentucky Tragedies and Trials by Lewis F Johnson 1916

Some Distinguished Victims of the Scaffold by Horace Bleackley 1905

The Chronicles of Newgate (Chronicles of Crime), Volume 1 by Arthur Griffith 1884

The Chronicles of Newgate (Chronicles of Crime), Volume 2 by Arthur Griffith 1884

Clever Criminals by John Lang 1871

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Survivors' tales of famous crimes by Walter Wood 1916

Celebrated Crimes, Volume 1 by Alexandre Dumas 1896

Celebrated Crimes, Volume 2 by Alexandre Dumas 1896

Celebrated Crimes, Volume 3 by Alexandre Dumas 1896

Famous Cases of Circumstantial Evidence by S.M. Phillipps 1879

Warped in the Making - Crimes of Love and Hate by Harry Ashton-Wolfe 1920

Criminal Sociology by Enrico Ferri 1900

History of a crime by Victor Hugo 1920

A History of Crime in England, Volume 1 by Luke Owen Pike 1873

A History of Crime in England, Volume 2 by Luke Owen Pike 1873

London's Underworld by Thomas Holmes 1912

Criminology, crimes and criminals by JW Slayton 1910

Criminology by Maurice Parmelee 1918

Life and bloody career of the executed criminal, James Copeland, the great Southern land pirate by J.R.S. Pitts 1874

From Cain to Capone by John McConaughy

Frauds of America - Beware of shams, how they are worked and how to foil them - the tricks and methods of all kinds of frauds and swindlers, from the petty sneak-theif to the cleverest schemes of the expert bank robber, fully exposed for the protection of the American public by EG Redmond 1902

Last studies in Criminology by Henry Irving 1921

List of Works Relating to Criminology 1911

Notes on duels and duelling by L Sabine 1855

The History of Duelling, Volume 1 by JG Millingen 1841

The History of Duelling, Volume 2 by JG Millingen 1841

Lives and Exploits of English highwaymen, pirates, and robbers by Charles Whitehead 1883

Lives and exploits of the most noted highwaymen, robbers and murderers by Charles Whitehead 1847

The Story of Crime from the cradle to the grave by HL Adam 1907

Ames on Forgery: Its Detection and Illustration by Daniel T. Ames 1900

A Famous Forgery - being the story of "the unfortunate" Doctor Dodd by Percy H Fitzgerald 1865

The Gentle Art of Faking - a history of the methods of producing imitations & spurious works of art from the earliest times up to the present day by Riccardo Nobili 1922

Forging his chains. The Autobiography of George Bidwell with the story of his connection with the so-called 1,000,000 forgery on the Bank of England, and a complete account of his arrest, trial, conviction, and confinement for fourteen years in English prisons. With numerous illustrations 1888

The Outlaws - a story of the building of the West by Le Roy Armstrong 1902

The Border Bandits - an authentic and thrilling history of the noted outlaws, Jesse and Frank James, and their bands of highwaymen compiled from reliable sources only and containing the latest facts in regard to these desperate freebooters by James W Buel 1881

The Cash Family of South Carolina - a Truthful Account of the many crimes committed by the Carolina cavalier outlaws by SW Henley 1884

Stories from Scotland Yard by Maurice Moser 1890

Cleek of Scotland Yard (Detective Stories) by Thomas W. Hanshew 1914

The Brighton Murder: An Authentic & Faithful History of the Atrocious Murder of Celia Holloway by Charles Hindley 1875

Life, Crimes, and Confession of Bridget Durgan, The Fiendish Murderess of Mrs. Coriel Whom she Butchered 1867

Fall River - an authentic narrative by CR Williams 1834 (An account of the circumstances leading to the trial of the Rev. Ephraim Avery for the murder of Sarah Cornell in Fall River in December 1832)

Life and confession of Stephen Dee Richards, the murderer of nine persons 1879

The most extraordinary trial of William Palmer 1857 (William Palmer (6 August 1824 – 14 June 1856), also known as the Rugeley Poisoner or the Prince of Poisoners, was an English doctor found guilty of murder in one of the most notorious cases of the 19th century. He was convicted for the 1855 murder of his friend John Cook, and was executed in public by hanging the following year. He had poisoned Cook with strychnine, and was suspected of poisoning several other people including his brother and his mother-in-law, as well as four of his children who died of "convulsions" before their first birthdays. Palmer made large sums of money from the deaths of his wife and brother after collecting on life insurance, and by defrauding his wealthy mother out of thousands of pounds, all of which he lost through gambling on horses.)

The Greatest Burglary on Record: Robbery of the Northampton National Bank 1876

The Original Sherlock Holmes, article in Colliers magazine 1904 (about Dr Joseph Bell, Arthur Conan Doyle's mentor)

A Day with Dr Conan Doyle, article in the Strand Magazine 1892

Murder as a Fine Art by Thomas de Quincy

Criminal Investigation, a practical handbook for magistrates, police officers and lawyers by Hans Gross 1906 (Hans Gross was an Austrian criminal jurist and an examining magistrate. He is believed to be the creator of the field of criminalistics and is to this day seen as the father of Criminal Investigation)

Criminal Psychology by Hans Gross 1911

Modern Theories of Criminality by Constancio Bernaldo de Quiros 1911

Anatomical Studies upon brains of criminals by Moriz Benedikt 1881

The Criminal - a Scientific Study by August Drahms 1900

The Criminal by Havelock Ellis 1890

The Psychology of the Criminal by M.H. Smith 1922

The Criminal Mind by Maurice de Fleury 1900

On the Witness Stand - essays on psychology and crime by Munsterberg Hugo 1909 (Illusions. The memory of the witness. The detection of crime. The traces of emotions. Untrue confessions. Suggestions in court. Hypnotism and crime)

The Origin of Finger-printing by William James Herschel 1916

The Technique of the Mystery Story by Carolyn Wells 1913

Finger Prints by Francis Galton 1892

Famous Detective Stories by Joseph Walker McSpadden 1920

The History of the Last Trial by Jury for Atheism in England by George Jacob Holyoake 1850

History of Trial by Jury by William Forsyth 1850

A brief on the modes of proving the facts most frequently in issue or collaterally in question on the trial of civil or criminal cases by Austin Abbott 1912

Celebrated Trials by Henry Lauren Clinton - 1897

The Criminal Imbecile - an analysis of three remarkable murder cases by Henry H Goddard 1915

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The 300 Oldest Murder Mystery and Crime Books & Stories to Download

Only $3.00 (I only ship to the United States) - You can pay using the Cash App by sending money to $HeinzSchmitz and send me an email at theoldcdbookshop@gmail.com with your information. You can also pay using Facebook Pay in Messenger

Books Scanned from the Originals into PDF format

For a list of all of my books click here - Contact theoldcdbookshop@gmail.com for questions

Books are in the public domain. I will take checks or money orders as well.

Contents of Download:

The Three Apples (Arabian Nights, Volume 1) 1901 (In this tale, a fisherman discovers a heavy locked chest along the Tigris river and he sells it to the Abbasid Caliph, Harun al-Rashid, who then has the chest broken open only to find inside it the dead body of a young woman who was cut into pieces.)

Zadig by Voltaire 1910 (Written in 1748 this is one of the earliest examples of detective fiction which features a main character who performs feats of analysis.)

Bel and the Dragon (Jewish Apocryphal story, the world's Oldest Locked Room Mystery)

The Story of Susanna (Jewish Apocryphal story, the world's Oldest Courtroom Drama)

Eumenides by Aeschylus (2500 year old work with a Jury Trial)

The Trail of the Serpent by Mary E Braddon 1861 ("A strong argument can be made that Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s The Trail of the Serpent is a detective story — perhaps the first full-length one." Yahoo FictionMags)

Caleb Williams by William Godwin 1831 (considered by some to be the first crime novel)

Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg 1824 (part-gothic novel, part-psychological mystery, part-curio, part-metafiction, part-satire, part-case study of totalitarian thought, it can also be thought of as an early example of modern crime fiction)

The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott 1875 (fictional account of an actual murder)

Historical Mysteries by Andrew Lang 1904 (14 Mysteries)

The Works of Gaboriau 1908 (M.Lecoq - The Honor of the Name - The Lerouge Affair - File Number 113 - The Little Old Man of Batignolles)

Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allen Poe 1908

The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne 1894

Bleak House by Charles Dickens 1906

The Captain of the Polestar and other Tales by Arthur Conan Doyle 1912

The Doings of Raffles Haw by Arthur Conan Doyle 1892

Armadale by Wilkie Collins 1897

The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 1 by Eugene Sue 1845

The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 2 by Eugene Sue 1845

The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 3 by Eugene Sue 1845

The Wandering Jew by Eugene Sue 1889 Volume 1

The Wandering Jew by Eugene Sue 1889 Volume 2

The Wandering Jew by Eugene Sue 1889 Volume 3

History of the Thirteen by Honore be Balzac 1896

The Leo Frank Case - The Inside Story of Georgia's Greatest Murder Mystery 1913

The House Opposite - a Mystery (1902) by Elizabeth Kent

The Murder of Edwin Drood Recounted by PT Carden 1920

The mystery in the Drood Family by M Saunders 1914

Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume 1889

The Wrong Box by Robert Louis Stevenson 1911

The New Arabian Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson 1905

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Illustrated) 1892

The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Illustrated) 1905

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1902

His Last Bow - a Reminiscence of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1917

The Chronicles of Martin Hewitt by Arthur Morrison 1896

The Red Triangle, Further chronicles of Martin Hewitt, Investigator by Arthur Morrison 1903

The Hole in the Wall by Arthur Morrison 1903

A Thief in the Night by EW Hornung 1905

The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective by C. L. Pirkis 1894(perhaps the first female sleuth)

Hilda Wade by Grant Allen (completed by Conan Doyle) 1900

Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain (uses Detective skills)

The Old Man in the Corner by Baronness Orczy 1908

The Mystery of the Green Ray by William Le Queux 1915

The Count's Chauffeur by William Le Queux 1908

The Passenger from Scotland Yard by HF Wood 1888

The Great Tontine by Hawley Smart 1882

The Red Thumb Mark by R. Austin Freeman 1908 (perhaps the first story involving fingerprint evidence)'

John Silence by Algernon Blackwood (psychic detective) 1915

The Triumph of Eugene Valmont by Robert Barr (early Poirot like detection) 1906

The Gentle Grafter by O. Henry 1919

The Beetle by Richard Marsh 1917 (a mix of horror and detective story)

The Childerbridge Mystery by Guy Boothby 1902

The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart 1908

The Man in lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart 1909

In the Fog by Richard Harding Davis 1901

At the Villa Rose by A. E. W. Mason 1910

Arsène Lupin: An Adventure Story by by Maurice Leblanc 1909 (Arsene Lupin was France's Sherlock Holmes)

Arsene Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes (yes, it really is spelled that way in this book) by Maurice Leblanc 1910

The Hollow Needle by Maurice Leblanc (there's even a character in here named "Holmlock Shears) 1910

813 by Maurice Leblanc (Lupin’s greatest case...also in Kindle format)

Uncle Abner: Master of Mysteries by Melville Davidson Post 1918 (kindle format also) (considered by one blogger to be the finest collection of American detective stories since Poe)

Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason by Melville Davidson Post 1896

Terence O'Rourke, Gentleman Adventurer by LJ Vance 1905

The Lone Wolf by LJ Vance 1914 (probably the first gentleman crook)

The Achievements of Luther Trant 1910 (maybe the first psychological detective)

The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer 1920

The Silent Bullet (Scientific Sleuth) by Arthur Reeve 1910

The Secret House by Edgar Wallace 1919

The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace 1920 (the prototype of the modern thriller)

The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes 1914 (A haunting mystery tale that revolves around the Jack the Ripper murders, this novel was the basis for several films)

The Red House Mystery by AA Milne 1922, a famous whodunit by the author of the Winnie the Pooh books.

Six Cent Sam (Mr. Dunton's Invention, Greaves' Disappearance, Raxworthy's Treasure, The John North Mystery, A Model Murder, The Symposium)

Twelve Scots Trials by William Roughead 1913 (The Parson of Spott, The doom of Lady Warriston, Touching one Major Weir, a warlock, The ordeal of Philip Stanfield, The ghost of Sergeant Davies, Katharine Nairn, Keith of Northfield, "The wife o'Denside", Concerning Christina Gilmour, The St. Fergus affair, The Dunecht mystery, The Arran Murder)

The Dark House - A Knot Unravelled by George Manville Fenn 1885

Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Volume 1 by Julian Hawthorne 1908

Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Volume 2 by Julian Hawthorne 1908

Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Volume 3 by Julian Hawthorne 1908

Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Volume 4 by Julian Hawthorne 1908

Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Volume 5 by Julian Hawthorne 1908

Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Volume 6 by Julian Hawthorne 1908 (101 Tales in 6 Volumes)

The Black Cap - New Stories of Murder and Mystery (14 stories)

The Mystery of the Boule Cabinet- a Detective Story by B Stevenson 1912

Masterpieces of Mystery, Volume 1 by Joseph French 1922

Masterpieces of Mystery, Volume 2 by Joseph French 1922

Masterpieces of Mystery, Volume 3 by Joseph French 1922

Masterpieces of Mystery, Volume 4 by Joseph French 1922 (About 36 tales in all)

The Innocence of Father Brown by GKC 1911

The Man Who Was Thursday - A Nightmare by GKC 1908

Trent's Last Case by EC Bentley 1913

A Mediaeval Burglary by TF Tout 1916

Satan Absolved - a Victorian mystery (poem) by WS Blunt 1899

The Great Crime of 1860 by Joseph Whitaker Stapleton (this is now the basis of a new bestseller called the Suspicions of Mr Whicher)

The Leavenworth Case: a Lawyer's Story by Anna Katharine Green 1906

The Filigree Ball, being a full and true account of the solution of the mystery concerning the Jeffrey-Moore Affair by Anna Katharine Green 1903

A Strange Disappearance by Anna Katharine Green 1879

The Woman in the Alcove by Anna Katharine Green 1906

The Amethyst Box by Anna Katharine Green 1905

The Circular Study by Anna Katharine Green 1905

The House of the Whispering Pines by Anna Katharine Green

Room Number 3 and other Mystery Stories by Anna Katharine Green 1913

THE MILL MYSTERY BY ANNA KATHARINE GREEN

The Golden Slipper and other Problems for Violet Strange by Anna Katharine Green 1915

True Stories of Crime from the District Attorney's Office by Arthur Cheney Train 1908
Contents: THE WOMAN IN THE CASE, FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS, THE LOST STRADIVARIUS, THE LAST OF THE WIRE-TAPPERS, THE FRANKLIN SYNDICATE, A STUDY IN FINANCE, THE "DUC DE NEVERS", A FINDER OF MISSING HEIRS, A MURDER CONSPIRACY, A FLIGHT INTO TEXAS, A CASE OF CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE

Bucholz and the Detectives by Allan Pinkerton 1880

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The Maurice Mystery by John Esten Cooke 1885

The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill 1895 (The Big Bow Mystery was the first locked room murder novel. It has been almost continuously in print since 1891 and has been used as the basis for three commercial films.)

The Hunt Ball Mystery by William Magnay 1918

The Dark House - A Knot Unravelled by George Manville Fenn 1885

The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux in wordpard and text format
(In 1898, Elisabeth, Empress of Austria-Hungary, was on the quay at Lake Geneva awaiting the steam ferry to Montreux when, without warning or apparent motive, the anarchist Luigi Lucheni plunged a needle file into her heart. Because of the very thin nature of the wound, the Empress did not realise that she had been fatally injured and walked unaided to her cabin, where she collapsed and soon died.[citation needed] It is not known whether she locked the cabin door behind her - which would have created the appearance of a locked room murder. At least one prominent French locked room expert, Roland Lacourbe, believes that this notorious event was the inspiration for Gaston Leroux's The Mystery of the Yellow Room)

Hide and Seek; Or, The Mystery of Mary Grice: A Novel by Wilkie Collins 1898

The mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens 1870

Famous Mysteries: Curious and Fantastic Riddles of Human Life by John Elfreth Watkins - 1919
(The Strange Case of Marie Lafarge - The most baffling of all French murder mysteries involved the daughter of one of Napoleon's favorite officers, Colonel Cappelle, of the Old Guard. This beautiful girl was also the granddaughter of the famous Duke of Orleans (Philippe Egalite) and of his companion and housekeeper, Mme. de Genlis.)
 
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins 1893
(The Woman in White is an epistolary novel written by Wilkie Collins in 1859, serialized in 1859-1860, and first published in book form in 1860. It is considered to be among the first mystery novels and is widely regarded as one of the first (and finest) in the genre of 'sensation novels'.)

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins 1874 (considered the first detective novel in the English language)
 
No Name by Wilkie Collins 1893
(The story begins in 1846, at Combe-Raven in West Somersetshire, the country residence of the happy Vanstone family. When Andrew Vanstone is killed suddenly in an accident and his wife follows shortly thereafter, it is revealed that they were not married at the time of their daughters' births, making their daughters "Nobody's Children" in the eyes of English law and robbing them of their inheritance. Andrew Vanstone's elder brother Michael gleefully takes possession of his brother's fortune, leaving his nieces to make their own way in the world. Norah, the elder sister, accepts her misfortune gracefully, but the headstrong Magdalen is determined to have her revenge. Using her dramatic talent and assisted by wily swindler Captain Wragge, Magdalen plots to regain her rightful inheritance.)

The Ghost's Touch by Wilkie Collins (part of "I Say No"; Or, The Love-letter Answered: And Other Stories by Wilkie Collins) 1893
 
Masterpieces of Mystery by Joseph Lewis French 1920

Mysteries of Police and Crime: A General Survey of Wrongdoing and Its Pursuit by Arthur Griffiths 1899

Twenty-five Years of Detective Life by Jerome Caminada 1895
 
Fifty Years a Detective by Thomas Furlong 1912

Why Some Men Kill; Or, Murder Mysteries Revealed by George A. Thacher 1919

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