Book Review - Vintage Whodunnits Ed by Maxim Jakubowski

Hi
The Mammoth Book Of Vintage Whodunnits contains a very mixed bag of 27 short stories ranging in time from 1834 to 1936. It covers a wide range of authors including Arnold Bennett, Alexander Pushkin, Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens.Some of these stories are excellent.
The Three Strangers by Thomas Hardy (1883) describes a meeting between a thief, a hangman and the thief's brother at a christening. It is full of intrigue and humour.  
A Trap To Catch A Cracksman by E. W. Hornung (1905) is about the famous Raffles and is once again intriguing as well as humorous.
The final story The Bitier Bit by Wilkie Collins (1858) was presented in the form of letters between the three main characters. I have seen this before in a novel and find it interesting how much we can learn from communications without recourse to descriptive passages.
Many others in the book are well worth a read. I was rather perplexed over the choice of the editor to include stories such as The Crimson Curtain by Barbey d'Aurevilly (1874) since this tale contained neither a murder nor a mystery.
My favourite one was probably the first one in the book, Murder by Arnold Bennett (1926). This told the tale of a murderer who escaped justice due to the bungling pride of an amateur sleuth. If the rest had been of this caliber it would have proved to be a most entertaining book.
Overall it was worthwhile for the chance to read some short stories by people such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens which were new to me but if I could have avoided some of the authors I would have found it more pleasurable. I appreciate the nature of vintage but did expect at least a mystery to be solved.

Book Review Vickie Taylor - Carved In Stone & Flesh And Stone

Hi
I have completed my first two novels by Vickie Taylor, Carved In Stone and Flesh And Stone. These are fantasy romance books set around a race of Gargoyles. The concept is fascinating. I became intrigued with the idea of gargoyles when I read Terry Pratchett's Disc World novels years ago where the gargoyles come to life at night and feed on unwary pigeons. Vickie Taylor's gargoyles are more sinister but have an unusual history of being given the task of saving mankind.
They masquerade as humans but are monstrous creatures in reality. They are either hideous or beautiful depending on your point of view and I suppose whether they are trying to save you or kill you.
The basic premise is well thought out and intriguing. I quite enjoyed the gradual disclosure of their background.
Each story seems to centre around a different main character who finds love. Not unlike the Sherrilyn Kenyon Dark Hunter series. As long as you are okay with the romance details they are a fun read.