Product Description

The Aylmer Vance stories date from the Edwardian period, and there are echoes in them of the Sherlock Holmes adventures which had proved so popular in the preceding decade. The friendship between Aylmer Vance and Dexter is not unlike that between Sherlock Holmes and Watson, and the two investigators approach the world of the supernatural in the same fearless and enquiring spirit in which Conan Doyle's heroes approach the world of crime. The parallel is not exact: Dexter, with his clairvoyant powers, is a more useful (and intelligent) ally than Watson, and Vance for the most part does not 'solve' mysteries the way Holmes does. What we get instead is a loosely-connected series of stories in which surprise is the major element, a world where not all ghosts are bad, where it is not always clear whether they are ghosts, and where being dead may for some be better than being alive.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6930569 in Books
• Published on: 1998-05-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 140 pages

Customer Reviews

Thank heavens it's in print!
An offering from a relatively new and small imprint of Wordsworth 'tales of mystery and the supernatural'. The cover is blazoned with a gloss-black skull, to make it extra lurid. And at only a measly 127 pages, one wishes they'd have bundled it with the Aylmer Vance novel, but alas.

This is good Edwardian 'horror'--if you don't like period-piece class-based horrors (loveless marriages, poets cheated of success, foreign women and their evil contaminants) this will not turn a hair on your head. If, however, that stuff makes you giddy, this is your cup of posset! Aylmer's your run-of-the-mill pseudo-Victorian genius gentleman with no visible means of support, and he has a puppy-dog admirer Dexter, who serves as his clairvoyant (in two of the stories) and narrator. They investigate, of course, never for anything as gauche as *money*, mind you--Aylmer is allergic to his occult pursuits even being called a 'business.'

The stories are pure romance and very goreless. One would almost, from a modern perspective, *like* a little more violence, or a victim who is NOT a nubile young woman. But what's here is absolute solid quality upper crust romantic (and Romantic) stuff. And if you're not clear of the distinction, you might want to skip this book. If, however, you loved Bram Stoker, but found _Dracula_ a little gory and _Jewel of the Seven Stars_ to have a little too much foreign travel--if you'd like something 'cozy', this is for you. It's also reminiscent of John Buchan's forays into the Not Entirely Explained (such as _Dancing Floor_) It does a wonderful job not teetering on EITHER side of the line--not *everything* is supernatural and demonaic in origin; nor, however, is everything mere autosuggestive neurosis. The standout tales are "The Boy of Blackstock," and "The Fear." A pleasant evening's read.