The unnamed detective in Gene wolfe's story has the reputation of a man who can handle the unsual. This Gothic puzzle is the only tale about this ghostbreaker. David Hartwell, who collected this story in Masterpieces of Fantasy & Enchantment (1988) says in the introduction to the tale:

"'Detective of Dreams'...is reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe's detective stories such as 'Murders in the Rue Morgue'. Rather than restoring the world of the story to the rational order at the end, as Poe did...Wolfe has chosen to end his story with events every bit as peculiar as those that precede them. This is the kind of story Poe might write were he alive today."