An American author in Victorian London investigates the rumored reemergence of Jack the Ripper in this historical mystery series debut. London, 1900. In the dying days of the old queen’s reign, the city is filled with imperial ambition, scientific revolution, and the shrill blast of factory whistles. For an American named Denton, it’s the perfect place to disappear. A former frontier sheriff turned novelist, all he wants is to escape his own memories. But now he must face another dark specter from the past. Jack the Ripper hasn’t been heard of for more than fifteen years. But at least one ferrety little fellow claims to have seen him at his grisly work. And when a prostitute turns up dead, Denton can’t shake the notion that the frightened man may have something to be frightened about. Nor can he shake his old instinct to see justice done.

The Frightened Man, first published in 1942, is a fast-paced noir murder mystery set in New York city and featuring private detective Jim Steele. Steele comes upon two murdered bodies and suspicion falls on Steele’s good friend Larry Maxwell, part of a wealthy family but who has been threatened by his brother of being cut out of the family will. Dana Chambers was a pseudonym of Albert Leffingwell (1895-1946). Gruesome twosome as Jim Steele finds, and dumps, the body of a bodyguard to a good—and frightened—friend, Larry Maxwell, and next finds that Larry’s father has been hung. The facts that Larry is in love with his brother’s wife, that his brother was attempting to have him cut out of his father’s will, that he has been spirited away to a mental home—along with two decorative nurses, give Steele as much as he can handle. Good decor, good and very fast action, and less flash than previous tales.

Hooky Hefferman, private detective, is, as they say in the theatrical profession, 'resting'. So when the thin little man in the shabby blue suit calls to ask for professional advice, though he looks by no means promising as a provider of much-needed funds, Hooky is at least prepared to listen - and finds his interest at once held. Edward Rider wants to stay alive until the following Friday, and asks Hooky to help him achieve this modest ambition. On that day, he is anxious to meet a certain person arriving from Berlin, and it is becoming increasingly obvious that someone is determined to prevent this.

Paul Chapin’s college cronies never quite forgave themselves for instigating the tragic prank that left their friend a twisted cripple. Yet with their hazing days at Harvard far behind them, they had every reason to believe that Paul himself had forgiven them—until a class reunion ends in a fatal fall, and the poems, swearing deadly retribution, begin to arrive. Now this league of frightened men is desperate for Nero Wolfe’s help. But are Wolfe’s brilliance and Archie’s tenacity enough to outwit a killer so cunning he can plot and execute in plain sight? Introduction by Robert Goldsborough “It is always a treat to read a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore.”—The New York Times Book Review A grand master of the form, Rex Stout is one of America’s greatest mystery writers, and his literary creation Nero Wolfe is one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. Together, Stout and Wolfe have entertained—and puzzled—millions of mystery fans around the world. Now, with his perambulatory man-about-town, Archie Goodwin, the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth is back in the original seventy-three cases of crime and detection written by the inimitable master himself, Rex Stout.