Murder on an international scale was being committed by a sinister mastermind. His method -- an unusual, inescapable form of death. His trademark -- a small statuette next to the corpse. The Man of Bronze and his fearless friends do battle with the thieving, murderous spawn from Hell -- and become marked men themselves!

Another novel I suspect had some ghostwriting going on, but still rather eerie and enjoyable. Aren't many bald-headed women running around in Doc novels, so some unique aspects to the tale. The ending was a bit clunky; namely, the murder device, but all in all still lots of fun.

This is one dead turkey. It really reads like a warmed-over story from Dime Detective Magazine: Doc investigating the murders of soveral wealthy men in a mansion. He doesn't do anything spectacular; his aides are wooden and less than useless; and the Bantam cover really tanked. Easily one of the very worst Docs. Blah.

Again, I have to disagree with the consensus on this one. "The Seven Agate Devils" is a very cool departure from the "Doc in foreign country seeking treasure" rut that Dent sometimes got himself into. It's basically a mystery about a very ingenious murder device that kept my attention for all 16 chapters. In fact, I think it's one of Dent's best bad-guy gadgets — even better than the one in "Red Snow." Heck, I even liked the Pfeiffer painting on the cover. The long, swirling trail of camphor has always fascinated me.

If you want a break from the basic Doc formula, you may want to give this one a try.