The Book of the Lion: Gamadge, expert bibliophile, again turns criminologist when his curiosity is aroused over a succession of coincidences involving the presumed discovery of a rare Chaucerian item. The ""long arm"" has a long stretching, good guesses take the place of reasoning, and violent death plus blackmail eventually frees the victim and disposes of the criminals. A lot of money changes hands and the evil doers get away with it -- but ultimately pay with their lives. Better while reading than in retrospect.

The Whip: a young psychiatrist is asked by the police to interview a confessed murderess, but finds her troubling story doesn't add up.

No Tears for the Dead:
Constance had felt uneasy from the moment Ballard had taken her as his bride to Hitchcock house, once a proud family mansion, now an inn designed to save what was left of the Hitchcock fortune. Her honeymoon had ended in the horror of Ballard's gruesome death, and Constance's initial mistrust of the people around her had sharpened to razor-edged fear....