When L.A. psychologist Alex Delaware receives an elaborate album filled with gruesome crime-scene police photos of a series of apparently unconnected killings, he's stymied. He's also in the midst of a personal crisis Robin, his long suffering partner, has made it clear that it's up to Alex to heal the breach in their relationship that's been caused by his over involvement in criminal investigations. someone much higher up in the department didn't want it to be.
Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is the head of the Special Case group and is often put in charge of those cases that are considered politically "sensitive" since, as a rising party cadre, he's regarded by many as reliable. But Inspector Chen, though a poet by inclination and avocation, takes his job as a policeman very seriously, despite the pressures put upon him from within and without, and is unwilling to compromise his principles as a policeman in favor of political expedience.
Who could have set fire to Mr Hick's cottage? The suspects include a tramp and even the housekeeper, Mrs Minns. The Five Find-Outers and Dog aim to solve the mystery before Mr Goon, the grumpy policeman.
Philip K Dick notoriously charted SF's most dangerous, booby-trapped realities. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said (1974) is a relatively straightforward tale of paranoid unease at finding the world isn't what it should be.
Jason Taverner is world-famous for his songs and regular TV show. "Thirty million people saw you zip up your fly tonight." "... It's my trademark."
Nero Wolfe applies his detection skills to crack the case of a poisoned health nut, the death of a policeman in a barber shop, and a comic killer who makes a joke out of murder.
