My Friend Pasquale, and Other Stories

A collection of short fiction ranging from atmospheric mystery to sentimental and moral sketches. The opening tale is narrated by a banker whose friendship with the enigmatic Pasquale leads into a detective investigation of apparent suicides that conceal a fiendish murder method involving a spring-released blade lodged in the skull. Other pieces turn on lost trinkets, rural legend and perilous rapids, legal and financial dilemmas, a tale of infirmity, seasonal domestic contrasts in two Christmas Eves, and linked vignettes grouped as Glancing Shafts. Together the stories balance suspense, melancholy, and social observation through varied plots and restrained narration.