This is a collection of short stories touching on themes varying from sudden death to ghostly encounters, to detective stories of a different-from-usual nature, some frightening, others whimsical, but all eminently enjoyable. Characters include a murderous vicar, the assassin of an Eastern European president, a doctor on a mercy mission who finds God, a small-time crook who thinks he can place a curse on people but who is hoist by his own petard,...