A private detective who can make the guilty confess simply by smiling at them. An artist so intimidated by his morally impeccable cat that he feels compelled to wear formal attire at dinner. A devotee of Proust whose life is turned upside down when he inadvertently subscribes to a correspondence course on How to Acquire Complete Self-Confidence and an Iron Will. These are just a few of the many members of the eccentric Mulliner clan whose lives and exploits are laid before the regulars of the Angler's Rest by that doyen of raconteurs, Mr Mulliner, in a series of hilarious and beautifully turned short stories where lunacy and comic exuberance reign supreme.