Murder by the Dozen

Murder by the Dozen collects twelve vintage James Lee Wong detective stories by Hugh Wiley, featuring one of pulp mystery's notable Chinese American sleuths. Set amid murder, Chinatown intrigue, corrupt businessmen, hidden criminal networks, opium dens, gangsters, and dangerous secrets, these fast-moving stories follow Wong as he applies intelligence, nerve, and elegant violence to crimes that cross San Francisco society and the underworld. The result is a sharp, compact collection of 1930s detective fiction with period atmosphere, hard-edged action, and classic puzzle-mystery momentum.

Originally appearing in the popular magazine market of the 1930s and later gathered in book form, these stories belong to the same era of brisk pulp detection that produced hard-boiled private eyes, exoticized urban mysteries, and cinematic crime heroes. For readers of vintage mystery, classic detective fiction, pulp crime, Chinatown mystery stories, and Golden Age-era popular fiction, Murder by the Dozen preserves the full dozen James Lee Wong cases in a single Black Curtain edition.