This collection dates from 1893 and includes 13 short stories written by British journalist and author of mystery and horror fiction J. E. Preston Muddock. Many of Muddock's mystery stories feature the character Dick Donovan, a Glasgow Detective, named for one of the 18th Century Bow Street Runners. The character was so popular that later stories were published under this pen name. Muddock also wrote true crime stories, horror, and 37 novels, most as „Dick Donovan."