Romances of the Old Seraglio. By H. N. Crellin. (Chatto
and Windus.)—These eleven stories are, for the most part, of a some- what grim kind. The scimitar, the bow-string, the poisoned sherbet, and other familiar properties of Eastern life, are not wanting. There are the accustomed vicissitudes of fortune, more common, it may be, in the days of the "Old Seraglio" than in the days of the "New." In short, the romances are just such as we have seen many times before, and are not sorry to see again. There is nothing nauseous about them. For all their grimness they are a pleasing contrast to the studies of vicious intrigue or morbid psychology with which we are so plentifully regaled nowadays. Perhaps the best in the book are those in which the ingenious thief-taker, Loredano, finds first the missing girdle and then the missing bride.—A curinus but not nnpleasing contrast to this volume will be found in Dark Deeds, by Dick Donovan (same publishers). - Here we have the modern detective running various human vermin, thieves, and the like, to their earth with more or less success. "Dick Donovan" does not commit the mistake of representing himself as infallible. There are mysteries which remain unsolved, and criminals who escape him. If he only had Loredano's opportunities, he might well never have failed. How easy the task of the detective if he could arrest at a word all the suspected receivers of stolen goods in London! These are brisk and well-told tales, and not overcharged with horrors.
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