"In this exemplary Library of Congress Crime Classics reissue...those
seeking quality Sherlock Holmes pastiches in a humorous vein will be
well rewarded."-- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
Packed with two dozen stories, The Master of Mysteries offers a
twentieth-century, mystical twist on the classic consulting detective
genre made popular by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. With Astro, the
self-proclaimed "seer of secrets," author Gelett Burgess gives us a
detective just as observant and brilliant as Sherlock Holmes--but with
feelings.
Astro, the Seer of Secrets, and his lovely assistant, Valeska, sound
more like a magic act than a private detection team.
Astro hides his powers of observation and reasoning beneath a turban and
a cape, pretending to read palms and consult crystals while in fact
keenly observing details that most people--police included--miss.
Valeska, his beautiful blonde protégé, assists Astro with his
investigations, all the while honing her own skills.
Called upon by believers and skeptics both, they adeptly recover what is
missing--a rare Shakespeare folio, a missing husband, a kidnapped
child--while also solving actual murders. But it is their burgeoning
romance, and their mutual zeal to work pro bono where matters of the
heart are at stake, that set this crime-solving duo apart.
