Interesting because this is the second volume of Thinking Machine stories from Dover and therefore does not contain the usual chestnuts, notably the much-anthologized Problem of Cell 13. ( )

The cases in this collection are interesting. They often start out very confusing but the endings seem to tie everything together very neatly. Futrelle manages to write these stories in a clever way that keeps the reader interested. The problem is, the main character, the Thinking Machine, really puts one off. He is a crabby, creepy looking little man with no social skills and is really the kind of person that no one ever wants to deal with except for his brilliance. ( )