One of the true masters of the short story, Bill Pronzini delights in thrilling, mystifying, amusing and terrifying his readers as the spirit moves him. In this collection, you’ll find virtually every kind of crime story there is. There’s stolen gold on a passenger ship for “Fergus O’Hara, Detective” and his wife, Hattie, to investigate, and untraceable money to tempt vice cops in “Opportunity.” In “Chip,” a mob boss must deal with his problem son, and in “One of Those Cases,” the nameless Detective’s assignment to follow a client’s husband leads to murder. A hack paperback writer who’s never had an idea of his own has “A Craving for Originality.” In “Quicker than the Eye,” a department store magician must help solve an impossible murder and the theft of a very valuable stamp. And when the traveling medicine wagon comes to town, an “Angel of Mercy” offers girls “in trouble” a sympathetic ear and a cure which might be worse than the disease