This volume contains some of the best, most memorable and most ''gentlemanly'' - gentlemen detectives! The character has long been a staple of crime fiction, particularly in the short stories of the British Golden Age (an era of classic murder mystery novels, mostly penned in the 1920s and 1930s). The heroes of these adventures are both gentlemen by conduct, as well as in stature, and never fail to ''crack the case.'' With typically eccentric and unusual hobbies, almost always conducted in the confines of an English country house, their exploits certainly make for entertaining reading. This book contains such well known classics as ''The Murders in the Rue Morgue'' by Edgar Allen Poe, ''On Duty with Inspector Field'' by Charles Dickens, ''The Adventure of the Speckled Band'' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and ''The Hammer of God'' by G. K. Chesterton .... as well as many more besides. We hope the reader enjoys this carefully-selected collection of detective fiction.