The Devil’s Rosary: The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, Vol. 2

The second of five planned volumes featuring Quinn’s diminutive French occult detective, Jules de Grandin, includes 19 fantastical stories originally published in Weird Tales in 1929 and 1930. The title story tells of a theft in Tibet that leads to deadly retribution in the States. Cat-eyed rakshasas prey on a young woman in “The Devil-People,” werewolf-like creatures wreak havoc in “Children of Ubasti,” and, in the creepy “The Black Master,” de Grandin and his friend Dr. Samuel Trowbridge go on a search for treasure and awaken something evil. In “The House Without a Mirror,” de Grandin and Trowbridge visit Ducharme Hall, home to a very odd young woman and her family. Quinn obviously delights in de Grandin’s over-the-top personality. His unfettered adventures reflect a sense of discovery that was popular in the interwar period. The only thing marring these stories is the frequently racist description of nonwhite characters and their speech, which are an unfortunate sign of the times that these stories were published in. Connoisseurs of pulp adventure who can look past this, however, will be delighted. (Sept.)