Author Richard Dermody's stories of traveling conman Doc Pierce appeared frequently during the 1940s in the pages of Dime Detective magazine. Pierce, a scheming grifter, appeared in over twenty stories, and they are a hidden gem in this period of Dime Detective.The Complete Cases of Doc Pierce, Volume 1 contains the first half of the series: "Hello, Sucker!," "The Doctor's Bag," "The Doctor Operates," "The Doctor's Ditch," "The Doctor's Fee," "Painless Operation," "The Doctor's Treatment," "The Doctor Deals," "The Doctor's Test," "The Doctor's Switch," and "The Doctor's Plant."