this collection opens up with a story of august derleth's alternative to sherlock holmes, solar pons. solar pons is no sherlock holmes, and most of these stories are like him, tales that pale in comparison with some interest but are mostly forgetable. some few have sort of humourous twists in the denouement: "killed by kindness" "weighty problem" and "you can't be too careful" have gruesome smirks built into their endings, and thanks to the collections,i've come to realize that talmage powell's stories always have some charm, and "heist in pianissimo" is no different. superior stories here are: helen nielsen's pattern of guilt, and (no surprise) donald e. westlake's "the feel of a trigger".