Never Trust a Partner

"Extremely smooth and unusually entertaining" is how Ellery Queen described the short stories of Robert Edward Eckels. Swiftly paced, they range from taut tales of CIA agents to the delightful con man stories that were his specialty. Collected here for the first time are two complete series. Lang & Lovell are partners in art forgery, targeting the rich and arrogant, and appear in 12 stories. Lovell is the “inside man” who can copy any painting by any artist, living or dead, and Lang is the “outside man” who knows how to line up and reel in a mark.

The five devious exploits of Major Henry T. McDonlevy, the "world's greatest adjutant," feature a subtler sort of swindle. McDonlevy and his co-conspirator, Thomas James, insinuate themselves into the social lives of card players and gamblers, and end up surprising both them and the reader with a completely unexpected deception.