A row of snowy footprints that stop suddenly in the middle of the street. A man who looks just a bit suspicious. Codes that need breaking, handwriting that needs analyzing, cards that need to be read. People willing to do anything to get their hands on an oriental rug, a flowering plant, a cactus, the truth. God acting as a witness while everyone from police officers to juries mete out justice. Crimes and puzzles, the ordinary and the extraordinary, humor and humanism. For the first time, English-language readers can now read all 48 of Karel Čapek's classic tales, and in a modern translation.

"One of the great works of the mystery genre. ... These haunting, parable-like works reconfirm Čapek's standing as one of Czechoslovakia's most intellectually piercing literary voices."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review; named it one of the Best Books of 1994)

"A tableau greater than the sum of its parts, one of intelligence and scope and wisdom. And yet one never has the feeling of reading heavy literature. The tales are light and fresh ... You can't go wrong with them."
—Bettina Drew, Chicago Tribune Books (front page review)

"Čapek's delightfully inventive tales ... stretch the detective story to its limits and, in the process, tell us much about the mysteries of human existence."
—Katherine Ramsland, New York Times Book Review