This is book 6 of the "Modesty Blaise" series.

This note does not contain major spoilers for the book.

This is a collection of shorter pieces, all of them relatively early (note the 1972 copyright date).

They vary considerably, but this contains some real gems, including "The Giggle Wrecker" which contains the wildest method of escaping from East Berlin ever conceived.

There's also the amazing story of the wild strange playboy whose parties get robbed ("A Perfect Night to Break Your Neck"). I don't see where that title came from, though.

A number of these have a fun caper going serious and dark on them. Maybe that happens a bit too often, overall.