In 1897 Morrison published seven short stories detailing the exploits of Horace Dorrington. In contrast to Morrison's earlier character Martin Hewitt, who one critic described as a "low-key, realistic, lower-class answer to Sherlock Holmes," Dorrington was "a respected but deeply corrupt private detective," "a cheerfully unrepentant sociopath who is willing to stoop to theft, blackmail, fraud, or cold-blooded murder to make a dishonest penny." These stories were collected as The Dorrington Deed Box (1897).