Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author's brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.

In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted 'Top Tens' across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions - Why that story? Why that author?

The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.

Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.

In this volume the pens of our English authors examine murder. This dark and evil deed is carried out with many motives. Our authors, including G K Chesterton, A M Burrage, Amelia Edwards, Algernon Blackwood and many others are those charged with revealing each and every crime scene.

1 - The Top 10 Short Stories - The English Murder - An Introduction
2 - Father Brown - The Blue Cross by G K Chesterton
3 - In The Dark by Edith Nesbit
4 - The Hounds of Fate by Saki
5 - Cheating The Gallows by Israel Zangwill
6 - The Acquittal by A M Burrage
7 - The Kit Bag by Algernon Blackwood
8 - The Three Sisters by W W Jacobs
9 - August Heat by W F Harvey
10 - The Green Light by Barry Pain
11 - No 5 Branch Line. The Engineer by Amelia Edwards