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The Complete
Tales of Jules De Grandin, Vol. 1
Seabury Quinn
Night Shade Books
(Ingram Publisher Services)
April 4, 2017/ ISBN 978-1597808934
Mystery & Detective / Supernatural/Anthologies & Short
Stories
Reviewed
by Linda Morelli
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As
a lover of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, and the horror
writer Clive Barker, when I read the description of this book,
I just knew I had to read it. I was a fan of Weird Tales when
I was younger, and hunted down every used copy I could find.
I was thrilled to find Seabury Quinn’s short stories,
for they are highly entertaining, if somewhat bizarre. Seabury
Quinn was the most popular contributor to Weird Tales pulp
magazine during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, and after reading
just one story, I could see why. The characters seem real,
and so do the fiendish characters in each episode.
The main characters of Dr. Jules de Grandin (a blend of Sherlock
Holmes with French outbursts reminiscent of Hercule Poirot)
and his assistant, Dr. Samuel Trowbridge (much like Sherlock’s
sidekick, Dr. Watson), were thoroughly enjoyable. What I loved
most about this collection are the diverse mysteries that
the two doctors must solve, as they deal with various horrors
and the supernatural, including vampires, ghosts, devil worshipers,
monsters, werewolves, evil entities and much more. One story
dealt with cannibalism on an island, though most of the stories
are set in the town of Harrisonville, New Jersey, where I
suspect most of the town folk were terrified. I would be,
were it not for this ingenious detective pair.
Quinn has a way of describing scenes that immediately draw
the reader into each story, experiencing the events along
with de Grandin and Dr. Trowbridge. I suspect that’s
what made his stories so popular. Read just one story and
you’ll be hooked. This wonderful anthology kept me turning
pages long into the night, shaking in dread yet unable to
reach out to turn off the nightlight. I can’t wait to
read the remaining releases.
Reviewer’s Notes: Seabury Quinn was a pulp
magazine author, whose popular stories of the occult detective
Jules de Grandin were published in Weird Tales between 1925
and 1951. Quinn penned ninety-two short stories and one full-length
novel featuring “the occult Hercule Poirot,” which
were enormously popular with readers.
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