Despite my taking such a long time to read this relatively short collection of mysteries, I enjoyed it quite a bit!

These mysteries were originally published back between the early 40's and the early 50's. As such, they contain language and slang of the time. This made them even more of a hoot than they otherwise would have been.

Most of the stories here are light in nature, other than the title tale and one other SEE NO MURDER.

I didn't have a chance at solving any of these crimes, but I still had a great time reading these mysteries, especially THE FREAK SHOW MURDERS. (This tale came with a little glossary of carney-speak that made me giggle a bit, especially the description of "cooch" and the "cooch dance".) Brown knows how to plot a good mystery while still keeping his quirky sense of humor and bits of dialogue.

Thank you to my friend over at Booklikes, Tigus, for the gift he sent me a while back, which included this book. I really enjoyed it and I like looking at the cover too. I appreciate it, good sir! ( )

Though none of these stories packs the wallop of Brown's best, they are all enjoyable and provide ample evidence of Brown's place in the forefront of the best American short story writers. No matter how far-fetched the plot or the resolution, Brown's engaging narrative grabs you each time. ( )

Ingenious, tightly plotted mystery stories written for pulps, mostly in the 1940s. Not a word is wasted.
The title story includes a glossary of carney slang. ( )