Ashton-Kirk Mysteries Collection (Two Ashton-Kirk mystery books in one volume!)

NOTE: This edition has a linked "Table of Contents" and has been beautifully formatted (searchable and interlinked) to work on your Amazon e-book reader, Amazon Desktop Reader, and your ipod e-book reader.

The Ashton-Kirk mysteries collection contains two Aston-Kirk novels in one volume: 'Ashton-Kirk, Investigator' and 'Ashton-Kirk, Criminologist.' Both written by acclaimed mystery author, John T. McIntyre.

As a detective, Ashton-Kirk in some ways looks back to the past. Ashton-Kirk is in the Sherlock Holmes tradition. Like Holmes, he is a consulting-detective, to whom people in trouble come to with mysteries they need to solve. Like Holmes, Ashton-Kirk is a genius, with a broad command of specialized knowledge he can bring to bear on any case. Ashton-Kirk shares with Holmes and many other early detectives a skill with disguise, as well as being the possessor of a chemical lab in his living quarters.

But in other ways. Ashton-Kirk looks forward to the future of the mystery, in ways that seem bold for 1910. Unlike the staunchly middle-class Holmes, Ashton-Kirk (we never learn his first name) is a wealthy social aristocrat who solves crimes for the sheer pleasure. He appeared over a decade before two other upper crust sleuths he resembles: Lord Peter Wimsey (who Dorothy L. Sayers created in 1923) and Philo Vance (who S.S. Van Dine would first write about in 1926).

Like both of these sleuths, Ashton-Kirk has friendly contacts on the police force, who give him their full cooperation. Ashton-Kirk is thus the "genius amateur who works with the police" that would play such a major role in the Golden Age to come.

Book One: Ashton-Kirk, Investigator - Those who have found their way to Ashton-Kirk's door have been of many races and interests. Men of science have often been surprised to find him in touch with the latest discoveries, scholars searching among strange tongues and dialects, and others deep in tattered scrolls, ancient tablets and forgotten books have been his frequent visitors. But among them come many who seek his help in solving problems in crime.

Book Two: Ashton-Kirk, Criminologist - Who held the old-fashioned brass candlestick that struck down "the Bounder"--and set mystery a-throbbing in the quiet suburb of Stanwick? Bat Scanlon, athletic trainer and good sport, found a clue in the dark hotel office where the little Swiss sharpened his murderous knife. But it was Ashton-Kirk who discovered the pat a beautiful woman played in the drama.

These are the original and unabridged versions of these classic tales. A must-have for fans of classic mysteries!