Many hybrid forms of the mystery-crime-thriller genre exists. All of them are narratives that keep one in suspense about what is about to happen. The thriller also shares a literary lineage with ancient epic and myth populated by monsters, terror, and danger. Alexandre Dumas, Alfred Hitchcock, and Robert Ludlum are some of the masters of the genre.

The Mystery and Thriller Collection contains:

Book 1: Joseph Conrad’s novel The Secret Agent (1907), a tragic tale based on the themes of espionage, double agents, anarchism, and terrorism. The story is set in London in 1886 and deals with Mr. Verloc who works as a spy for an unnamed country. When he becomes involved in an anarchist plot to blow up the Greenwich Observatory, things go haywire, revealing an unholy mess that involves politicians, policemen, foreign diplomats, and London's high society. Conrad’s bleak portrait of London was inspired by Charles Dickens’ Bleak House. The novel was modified as a stage play by Conrad himself and has been adapted for film, TV, radio and opera.

Book 2: The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It is the first of the five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an action hero with a stiff upper lip and a knack for getting himself out of tricky situations. A classic of the genre, The Thirty-Nine Steps is a prototypical "innocent man on the run" adventure. Hanney lets a neighbor stay with him, who is being followed by an anarchist gang trying to steal British military plans. Then, the neighbor is murdered in his apartment. The novel’s film adaptations include Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 version, a 1978 version, and a 2008 version for British television.

Book 3: Lost Hearts by M.R. James (1862-1936). James was a British medieval scholar who wrote some of the finest ghost stories in English literature. Widely regarded as the father of the modern ghost story, James’ writing has influenced horror writers from H. P. Lovecraft to Stephen King. Many of his tales have rural settings, and a reserved, scholarly protagonist getting involved in the activities of the supernatural. James perfected the technique of narrating spooky occurrences through implication and suggestion, while emphasizing mundane details in the settings and characters in order to show the horrific and bizarre in relief.

Book 4: The Treasure of Abbot Thomas is a treasure hunt mystery and ghost story by the British author M.R. James, first published in 1904. A British antiquary named Somerton and his protégé follow a coded message about a huge treasure said to have been buried within a monastery by a disgraced abbot. Much to their peril they ignore ominous warnings of a supernatural guardian protecting the treasure. They are led to a place in Germany where the treasure is discovered. When he takes the treasure, Somerton finds that an entity will torment him until he returns the treasure to its hiding place.

Adaptations of the story includes an episode in the BBC series A Ghost Story for Christmas.