Hoffman, an overlooked pulp mystery author, has a stable of private eyes and cops, each with their own style, from Honest John, the galumphing too-old-for-this-shit private investigator to the womanizing Cliff Cragin. The stories move quickly, have plenty of action, and - a rarity for this type of writing - make sense as mysteries as well.   The Honest John stories especially work well as mysteries as the good-natured John gets pulled into one tangled situation after another, and must find a way to sort it out, usually to protect someone.  You could do a lot worse as an introduction to the "second tier" of pulp mystery magazine writers than this collection.  Unfortunately, that includes the extremely common elements of the genre at the time - the casual dismissiveness towards women and the jaw-dropping racism towards black and Asian characters.