Twenty tales of deceit, murder, and madness from the king of short mysteries

They find the third body facedown in the wet grass, its head nearly split in half by the axe. The psychopath has claimed three in twenty-four hours—a sickening toll that forces the police department to let the aging Inspector Fleming stave off retirement for one more case. The cop races to catch the axe maniac before he kills again, lest this final assignment become the one that ruins his career.

There are killers in many of the stories in this collection, and a few great detectives, too. There is a gang of old war buddies who have decided to pick up their guns again, a scientist murdered in the wilds of Canada, two hundred miles from civilization, and a young office worker convinced she’s being followed by a man with bushy eyebrows. Edward D. Hoch understands crime, and knows that evil often lurks behind the kindest smiles.