Book excerpt: Blathers and Duff first appeared in Oliver Twist when they were called upon to investigate a burglary. After that, Charles Dickens forgot about them. Now they are back. Tales of the Black Lion is a novel in stories, all featuring the two private investigators. Blathers and Duff center their activities at the Black Lion Inn. Their capers involve missing jewelry, political intrigue, cryptic messages, criminal gangs, white slavery, and murder, murder, murder, murder. The detectives and others, including Charles Dickens and one of his associates, work together to solve the mysteries surrounding these issues, beginning with a bloody murder that remains unsolved until the final tale in the book. Along the way we meet characters from all levels of British society in the days of Robert Peel and the changeover from Bow Street Runners to Bobbies and London ’s Metropolitan Police.