There is something about a murder mystery that is quite intriguing. We may feel sad for the victim or have no opinion at all. However, we are always curious to see how it all ends. Can we tie the clues together before the author presents them to us? Maybe, and maybe not, and maybe we're still baffled after we have read the last word.
Although most of the mysteries included here are fictitious, some are real and some remain unsolved today. Lets take a look at a few truemurder mysteries originally published by John Elfreth Watkins in "Famous Mysteries"in 1919. "The Burdell Murder Mystery", "The Strange Case of Marie Lafarge", and "Jack the Ripper".
"The Strange Case of Marie Lafarge" is a baffling French mystery involving the daughter of one of Napoleon's favorite officers, Colonel Cappelle, a member of the Old Guard. You feel that something is amiss when you read that her marriage is one of convenience and murder is strangely related to it.
"The Burdell Murder Mystery" involves a dentist who walks out on his bride at the altar, so she marries the best man. Then the original groom-to-be is found dead in his dental office! Are the jilted bride and her husband involved?
In 1887 and 1888, "Jack the Ripper", a name created by a newspaper scribe in London, became the name on every tongue throughout Europe and America. Who did the London police think was the real Jack the Ripper? Read this true mystery, written a few short years after the crimes were committed, to see what the thoughts and suspicions were of the day.
