The Old Man narrates his mysteries to a female Journalist who frequents the same tea-shop. They enjoy an antagonistic relationship, as the Journalist attempts to cut the Old Man's ego down to size, and the Old Man trumps her every time.

The mysteries are typical of Edwardian crime fiction, resting on a solid foundation of unhappy marriages and the inequitable division of family property. Other aspects of the time are illustrated by a murder in the London underground system; murder of a female doctor; and two cases involving artists living in "Bohemian" lodgings. Another new and noteworthy feature of these cases: no one is ever brought to justice, and in fact most of the villains cannot be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Included in this volume are:

The Fenchurch Street Mystery

The Robbery in Phillimore Terrace

The York Mystery

The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway

The Liverpool Mystery

The Edinburgh Mystery

The Theft at the English Provident Bank

The Dublin Mystery

An Unparalleled Outrage

The Regent's Park Murder

The De Genneville Peerage

The Mysterious Death in Percy Street