A library of action-packed, low-brow detective novels that are not related as series stories. Daring Desmond and Gideon Gault are two novels in one book, and a fine way to begin your Steam-Age Crime Stories collection!
“Young men working in factories, driving wagons, attending the counter in dry goods stores, or occupied in other dull but honest jobs, could want stirring entertainment to enjoy during breaks. Fortunately there was plenty of excitement to be found in the pages of the latest nickel weekly or dime library. Detective stories in the Old Cap Collier Library for instance, were often non-stop action without complex plots or deep characters, and this fit well with a desire to fill short periods of time with something exciting to read.
Here is your ticket to February 22, 1884, when someone slid a dime over the counter of a newsstand on a Manhattan street and bought a copy of DARING DESMOND, The ELEVATED RAILROAD DETECTIVE!
Now in the same book with The MISSING HEAD MYSTERY, or GIDEON GAULT on the Andrew Moffat Case!”

TWO complete, rough and tumble, nothing-fancy-just-get-to-the-action stories in ONE book!
Wall-to-wall murderous exploits, and all from the late 1800s.
Open the cover and let’s get started!
PRINT, Trade Paperback (5″x8″) Only $14.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1075002192
Kindle Only $3.99, or FREE with Kindle Unlimited subscription: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SRKP7GK
New York City readers can find Dark Lantern Tales books at The Mysterious Bookshop: https://www.mysteriousbookshop.com/

Ready to read for the first time since 1882, The Man in Black, by Paul Braddon, in a BIG 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch Trade Paperback!
And, from 1886 in the same book,
Dane Darrell, the Baltimore Detective, or; “Piping” the Bats of the Basin
BIG 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch Trade Paperback! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VCYD9ZG
Welcome to the world of action-packed, ephemeral crime thrillers of the late 1800s.
Was it literature for the ages?
Of course not!
It was sensational escape fiction for the week it was issued.
Buy Now or download a Free Sample
from Amazon Kindle!
Dark Lantern Tales
Rediscover Crime and Detective Stories from the 1800s