Three rather uneven tales from the 40's, as I understand it. The first one is superior, with a compelling and believable storyline and empathetic characters. The second, a bit outrageously improbable in its plotline, and the third seems pretty out there too; dealing as it does in death by exploding cigar, but maybe that wasn't so incredible in the time period, and the characters are good and the storyline makes a fair amount of sense if you can get past the Bugs Bunny vibe. Overall, I could have done without the second two if the first one was expanded to full length. ( )

Average Wolfe tales, which are better than what most other mystery writers can do ( )

A good trio of stories. Dazy Perrit is a great character. ( )