The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin
“Hercule Poirot meets Fox Mulder…the moment each story crosses the border to the supernatural raises genuine shivers.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Seabury Quinn (1889-1969) was an American government lawyer, journalist, and author. His short stories were featured in more than half of Weird Tales’ original publication run. His most famous character, the French supernatural detective Dr. Jules de Grandin, investigated cases involving monsters, devil worshippers, serial killers, and spirits from beyond the grave, often set in the small town of Harrisonville, New Jersey.
“Seabury Quinn was by far the most prolific contributor to Weird Tales,” notes SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. “During its 31-year life, he published well over a hundred stories there, appearing on average in roughly every other issue. Many of these contributions—93 in all—featured his occult detective Jules de Grandin (whose surname was taken from Quinn’s own middle name) together with his assistant Dr Trowbridge.”
According to imprint Night Shade, de Grandin shares details from both Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. Alongside his assistant, Dr. Samuel Trowbridge, de Grandin’s knack for solving mysteries—and his outbursts of peculiar French-isms (Grand Dieu!)—captivated readers for decades.
“Throughout the adventures de Grandin and Trowbridge run through a large gamut of unusual adversaries and encounter every sort of weird phenomenon imaginable. Ghosts, demons, foreign assassins, mad doctors and scientists, vampires, werewolves and sundry others pitted their malice against the good doctors and were all vanquished one way or the other. Quinn understood that repetitive supernatural threats would eventually grow stale with the reader, so he would vary the nature of his villains from one story to the next.” (RPGnet)
Scroll down for more about the five-volume series from Night Shade, The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, which collects all ninety-three published works featuring the supernatural detective. Presented in chronological order over five volumes, this is the definitive collection of an iconic pulp hero.
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The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin
The Horror on the Links (The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, Volume One)
The first volume, The Horror on the Links, includes all of the Jules de Grandin stories from “The Horror on the Links” (1925) to “The Chapel of Mystic Horror” (1928), as well as an introduction by George Vanderburgh and Robert Weinberg.
“The first volume… is a fun, spooky trip back to the golden age of weird.” (Black Gate)
The Devil’s Rosary (The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, Volume Two)
The second volume, The Devil’s Rosary, includes all of the Jules de Grandin stories from “The Black Master” (1929) to “The Wolf of St. Bonnot” (1930), as well as a foreword by Stefan Dziemianowicz.
“Purists who object to detective stories with paranormal elements will find that the moment each story crosses the border to the supernatural raises genuine shivers.” (Kirkus Reviews)
The Dark Angel (The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, Volume Three)
The third volume, The Dark Angel, includes all of the Jules de Grandin stories from “The Lost Lady” (1931) to “The Hand of Glory” (1933), as well as The Devil’s Bride (1932), the only novel featuring de Grandin, which was originally serialized over six issues of Weird Tales.
“If you’re in the mood for classic detective fiction with a ghost or ghoul or mummy, Seabury Quinn’s entertaining stories will fit the bill. Highly recommended!” (George Kelley)
A Rival from the Grave (The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, Volume Four)
The fourth volume, A Rival from the Grave, includes all the stories from “The Chosen of Vishnu” (1933) to “Incense of Abomination” (1938).
“I’m fond of these atmospheric stories…. Seabury Quinn developed a template and used his successful storytelling model in nearly all of these scary stories.” (George Kelley)
Black Moon (The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, Volume Five)
The fifth volume, Black Moon, includes all the stories from “Suicide Chapel” (1938) to “The Ring of Bastet” (1951), as well as an introduction by George Vanderburgh and Robert Weinberg and a foreword by Stephen Jones.
“With unquestioning support from Trowbridge, de Grandin invariably defeats evil monsters and rescues scantily clad beauties, presaging the paranormal romance novels and supernatural soap operas of today.” (Publishers Weekly)
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