Of the 28 stories that comprise this book, only two were previously
collected. Ten stories feature the popular sleuth Sgt Beef, eight
stories feature Sgt Grebe, and ten stories have no series character. The
stories were written in the 1950s for newspapers, but readers will
recognize Bruce's gift for entertaining dialogue and characterization.
There are brilliant passages in this book, and if mystery fans can only
read a few pages a night before going to bed, this is the ultimate night
stand book. As the New York Times said, these are "brisk little
narratives." Bruce is indeed the pre-eminent author of the classic
detective novel, and readers of this story collection will not be
disappointed.