Master crime writer Leo Bruce wrote the majority of these tales for the ""London Evening Standard"" where they appeared between 1950 and 1956. There are twenty-eight stories in this book. They add to our knowledge of Sergeant Beef, one of the most colourful fictional detectives; we are also introduced to an unexpected second detective, the astute and resourceful policeman Sergeant Grebe; and they offer a last chance to encounter anew their author's characteristic wit and ingenuity.