The Problem of Cell 13

A man bets he can escape from a supposedly escape-proof prison cell in one week. That is the opening of The Problem of Cell 13, the most famous case of Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, the detective known as the Thinking Machine. This collection, first published in 1907 as The Thinking Machine, brings together seven of his ingenious adventures, in which logic and observation are the only weapons needed to solve the most baffling crimes.

Jacques Futrelle was an American journalist and writer who died in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. His stories are brisk, clever and full of period detail, from Boston newsrooms and Back Bay apartments to bank vaults and artists' studios. Each tale presents a puzzle that seems impossible, and each is solved by pure reasoning. Readers who enjoy classic detective fiction, locked-room mysteries and armchair detection will find much to admire here.

This edition contains the complete text of the collection, a new introduction, a character guide, a summary of the stories, a list of themes, a glossary of period words and phrases, and discussion questions for readers, students and book clubs.