In addition to the title story, in which a nightmare may hold a terrifying premonition, this collection includes "The Haunted Policeman," which features a house numbered thirteen on a street of even numbers; and "Talboys," in which one of Lord Peter's own children is accused of theft. Sayers, like Lord Peter, is at the peak of her powers in her final work.
Is there such a thing as human nature? In Marxism and Human Nature, Sean Sayers defends the controversial theory that human nature is a historical phenomenon. Those who disagree with this theory counter that it leads to forms of scepticism and relativism which are at odds with morality; Sayers argues that this need not be the case. Drawing on the work of Marx and Hegel, he develops a historical account of human needs and powers which provides the basis for a distinctive form of Marxist humanism.