Tales from Two Pockets

First published in Czech in 1929 as two companion volumes, this is a set of short crime stories by Karol Capek. Each piece is a compact case: a theft, a disappearance, a confession, or an odd death, often told by a policeman, a doctor, or a bystander in a cafe. The puzzles turn on chance, habit, and human weakness more than on a master detective. Prague streets, small towns, and ordinary offices supply the settings. The book is a cycle of detective vignettes with a philosophical tilt, not a single serial investigation and not a police-procedure manual.

Bound in blue cloth blocked with a dark blue design. Red mottled slipcase.