"Again and again the sly and highly intellectual humor of the author is in evidence, even in his quite seriously conceived tales". -- The News York Times, November 21, 1908

Originally published in 1908 and out of print for more than half a century, this collection of stories, complete with a Preface by the author, presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at his finest. These are seventeen tales of suspense and adventure, of the mysterious and fantastic, mean to be read "round the fire" upon a winter's night. Murder, madness, ghosts, unsolved crimes, diabolical traps, and inexplicable disappearances abound in these exciting accounts narrated by doctors, lawyers, gentlemen, teachers, burglars, dilettantes, and convicted criminals. The titles are inviting-"The Pot of Caviare", "The Clubfooted Grocer", "The Brazilian Cat", "The Sealed Room", and "The Fiend of the Cooperage"-and the stories are riveting. This is a rediscovered classic by a master storyteller.