Hamilton Cleek is a consulting detective and also known as "the man of the forty faces" for his incredible skill at disguise. Cleek is himself a reformed criminal and now helps Inspector Narkom of Scotland Yard in solving crimes in Clarges Street, London. The Cleek mysteries were originally published as individual short stories but were later compiled into separate books. "AFTER due reflection over the question of disguise, Cleek determined for the present to revive that of Lieutenant Deland, and it was as that smart young officer that he once more took up his quarters in Clarges Street, in a house not very far from that which had been wrecked by Margot and her gang of Apaches. That they, too, were on his track was ascertained by Dollops, who traced them down to their lairs of Soho like a bloodhound scenting his quarry . . ." (Excerpt from "Cleek's Government Cases".) Thomas W. Hanshew (1857-1914) was an American author best known for his Hamilton Cleek Detective Series.