sims was intrigued by the psychology of crime, and he penned some ingenious detective stories. his 1897 story collection, "dorcas dene", involved a female detective. at arthur lambton's crimes club, sims took pleasure in discussing cases with max pemberton, conan doyle and churton collins. he was consumed with the murders of jack the ripper and even became a suspect. a modern edition of his poetry, "prepare to shed them now", was published in 1968.