[Free eBook] Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #27 [Fiction Shorts & Non-Fiction Essays]

Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #27 is a classic detective mystery semi-professional fan magazine, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Wildside Press as one of their sporadic weekly giveaways to help promote their Black Cat Community for vintage pulp mystery/crime thriller and science fiction reprints.

The quarterly magazine series features a selection of new and reprint fiction and non-fiction pieces all about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic Victorian era detective’s cases and his world, and the various worldwide adaptations over the decades (and is automatically included in all subscriptions to the Black Cat Community).

This issue contains 4 non-fiction pieces and 7 new short stories as well as a classic ACD reprint, with contributions from award-winning horror novelist Kim Newman looking at foreign-language Holmesian comedy films, a pastiche from pop culture historian Ron Goulart, alongside humorous cartoons and a fake advice column from Baker Street landlady “Mrs. Hudson”, and more.

Offered worldwide through September 23rd (maybe a few days more), available DRM-free directly from the publisher.

[Free eBook] The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by Michael Coren [19th C Sherlock Holmes Creator Biography]

The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by British-Canadian author Michael Coren, a columnist and radio and TV show host, is an author biography, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press.

This was originally published in 1995 by Bloomsbury.

This biography covers the many varied facets of 19th century British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, not only in terms of the personal and literary influences behind his best known creation, the seminal Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes, but also Conan Doyle’s own real life experiences as a doctor, attempts at solving crimes and enacting political reforms, interest in spiritualism, and various other aspects of his adventurous life.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] J. R. R. Tolkien: The Man Who Created The Lord of the Rings by Michael Coren [20th C Fantasy Author Literary Biography]

J. R. R. Tolkien: The Man Who Created The Lord of the Rings by British-Canadian author Michael Coren, a columnist and radio and TV show host, is a literary biography, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press.

This was originally published in 2001 by Stoddart Publishing.

This accessibly-written literary biography, meant for a popular audience, covers the life and times and influences of 20th century author J. R. R. Tolkien, from his early childhood to his friendships with the “Inklings” literary circle at Oxford and other formative experiences which would lead to the creation of his best-known works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy set in the classic fantasy realm of Middle-Earth.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] C. S. Lewis: The Man Who Created Narnia by Michael Coren [20th C Fantasy Author Literary Biography]

C. S. Lewis: The Man Who Created Narnia by British-Canadian author Michael Coren, a columnist and radio and TV show host, is a literary biography, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press.

This was originally published in 2004 by Fitzhenry & Whiteside.

The biography covers the life and literary influences of 20th century British author C. S. Lewis from his childhood through to his formative years at Oxford and beyond as he forged enduring friendships with other prominent authors, with especial attention to the creation of his classic “Narnia” series of children’s fantasy novels.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] Gilbert: The Man Who Was G. K. Chesterton by Michael Coren [20th Classic Author Literary Biography]

Gilbert: The Man Who Was G. K. Chesterton by British-Canadian author Michael Coren, a columnist and radio and TV show host, is a literary biography, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press.

This was originally published in 1989 by Jonathan Cape.

The biography looks into the life and times and literary influences of early 20th century British author G. K. Chesterton, perhaps best known for the “Father Brown” amateur sleuth mysteries, among other now-classic novels and nonfiction works.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] Writing the Southwest: A bold collection of literature from American writers on the Southwest [US Regional Literature Essays & Author Interviews]

Writing the Southwest: A bold collection of literature from American writers on the Southwest edited by David K. Dunaway, an award-winning professor at the University of New Mexico, & Sara L. Spurgeon, is regional literature studies anthology, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press.

This was originally published in 1995 by Plume Books for the 3rd edition reprinted here, but this reprint apparently omits the original sampler short stories included for each author in the text.

The anthology contains essays about trends and themes in Southwest US literature, as well as a thorough bibliographical resource about prominent Southwestern authors, with detailed introductory career overviews and interviews with 14 well-known writers including award-winning authors Tony Hillerman, Barbara Kingsolver, Terry McMillan, and more.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] The Man Charles Dickens: A Victorian Portrait by Edward Wagenknecht [Vintage Classic Author Literary Biography]

The Man Charles Dickens: A Victorian Portrait by the late Edward Wagenknecht, a prominent professor and literary critic who taught at Boston and Harvard University, among others, is an historical literary biography, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press.

This was originally published in 1929 by Houghton Mifflin and was revised and updated in 1966 in a new edition from the University of Oklahoma Press, with a retrospective foreword by the author. This 2016 reprint of the UOP edition has a brand-new introduction by Fred Guida placing Wagenknecht’s lifelong contributions to the field of Dickens biographies in their historical context.

The book originated as a doctoral dissertation for the University of Washington during the 1920s, and provides an early character study and examination of Dickens’ life, times, influences, and works during an early 20th-century transitional era when Dickens was apparently still considered simply a publicly popular novelist not taken very seriously in academic literary circles, before attaining his classic author status in later decades.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] The Classical Roman Reader by Kenneth Atchity [Ancient Rome Historical Source Texts Introduction]

The Classical Roman Reader by Kenneth Atchity, a former professor of comparative literature and classics who later became a film producer, is an introductory historical source text sampler, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Story Merchant.

This was originally published in 1997 by Henry Holt & Co as part of their Henry Holt Reference Books line, credited as by Kenneth John Atchity, and later picked up by Oxford University Press as part of their Oxford Paperbacks line.

This introductory reader contains excerpted translated period writings from various sources, both well-known and obscure, across many topics throughout the classical era of Ancient Rome from the founding to the early Republic and the Empire through the 5th century, accompanied by brief pieces about each author and giving more contextual information to aid in understanding their times.

Offered DRM-free worldwide, available at Amazon.

[Free eBook] Palace of Books by Roger Grenier [Literature & Authorship Essays]

Palace of Books by the late French author Roger Grenier, an award-winning journalist and novelist who was well-connected with the French literary establishment, is themed collection of essays exploring literature and authors, free for a limited time courtesy of the University of Chicago Press.

This is their featured Free Book of the Month for April and was originally published in 2011 by Gallimard as Le palais des livres, now translated by Yale University professor Alice Kaplan.

This collection contains essays exploring various aspects of literature and authorship and their influences and effects, with musings upon why and how writers write and observations upon classic works from around the world, as well as anecdotes from Grenier’s decades of work as an author and editor and personal friend to many of the great writers of mid-20th century French literature.

Offered worldwide through April, available directly from the university’s website.

[Free eBook] Willie: The Life of W. Somerset Maugham by Robert Calder [Award-Winning LGBT Literary Author Biography]

Willie: The Life of W. Somerset Maugham by Canadian author Robert Calder, a Professor Emeritus at the University of Saskatchewan who has written the forewords for several of the Penguin Classics editions of Maugham’s novels, is a literary author biography, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press’ The Odyssey Press imprint.

This was originally published in 1989 by William Heinemann, was later reprinted by St. Martin’s Press, and won the 1989 Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction (Canada’s top literary prize).

This biography of the highly influential early 20th century British playwright and novelist W. Somerset Maugham—author of classics such as Of Human Bondage, which was adapted to film several times—was written with the co-operation of his late secretary and companion Alan Searle. It sought to present a comprehensive and nuanced look at the author’s complex and sometimes contradictory personality, with a more sympathetic view of the effects of Maugham’s sexual orientation, and the fear of its exposure had on both his writing and his personal life, than previous biographers had used at the time (circa the 1980s), and includes some useful commentary about said previous biographies in the introductory foreword.

Offered worldwide, available at Amazon.