Could you beat the world chess master in one try if you'd never played or studied the game? Or plot and execute a successful escape from an inescapable prison cell? And could you do it at the turn of the twentieth century, without benefit of modern technology? Sound impossible?

Never use that word in the presence of The Thinking Machine—it angers him greatly and does not give him a favorable impression of the user. Professor Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen knows that both feats are indeed possible, having accomplished them himself. But he also applies his superior intellect and deductive reasoning to more official ends—namely helping the police solve "impossible" crimes.

With assistance from reporter Hutchinson Hatch, who is only too happy to suggest potential cases and then write about the outcome, The Thinking Machine proves that no puzzle is unsolvable—not corporate espionage, nor a kidnapped baby, nor a pilfered necklace, And certainly not a "perfect murder."