Nine mystery tales starring lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson in "the finest series of historical detective stories ever written" (Ellery Queen). For over two hundred years, devotees of English literature have lost themselves in James Boswell's Life of Johnson, a biography of the great eighteenth-century thinker and writer, chronicling everything from kitchen chemistry experiments to tackling a pickpocket to his legendary investigation of the Cock Lane ghost. But Dr. Sam Johnson was more than a great thinker--he was also a talented sleuth.   From the chilling affair of the waxwork cadaver to the thrilling search for the stolen seal of England, the nine cases in this volume show Johnson at his very best--using his legendary intellect to apprehend the worst killers and thieves the era had to offer.   Written by Lillian de la Torre, a mystery author with "a finely tuned ear for eighteenth-century prose," these charming stories are so believable, so perfectly in keeping with the Dr. Johnson we know and love, it's hard to believe they aren't true (TheNew York Times).