Contents: 'Introduction' by Mark Valentine, 'The Effigies', 'After the Darkness', 'The Paravine Cries', 'Pale Roses', 'In Violet Veils', 'The Lost Moon', 'Café Lucifer', 'The Craft of Arioch', 'The Secret Stars', 'The Hesperian Dragon', 'The Lighting of the Vial', 'The Nephoseum', 'Sea Citadels', 'The Prince of Barlocco', 'The Black Eros', 'Mad Lutanist', 'The Mist on the Mere', 'The White Solander', 'The Last Archipelago', 'The Rite of Trebizond', 'The Serpent, Unfallen', 'The Temple of Time', 'The Descent of the Fire'.Following in the footsteps of M.P. Shiel's exotic savant Prince Zaleski and Arthur Machen's Mr Dyson, Mark Valentine and John Howard's The Connoisseur - aesthetical detective extraordinaire - unravels a cornucopia of arcane mysteries in these twenty-three tantalising tales. Collecting together all the adventures in previous Tartarus volumes In Violet Veils and Masques and Citadels, along with four further tales published elsewhere, this volume provides the lover of esoteric mystery and adventure fiction with the complete Connoisseur casebook.Venturing from his fire-lit study in an English cathedral city, The Connoisseur encounters, among other phenomena, strange masquerades in country houses; a Scottish island whose Prince may not be named; a poignant relic from the Black Sea region, sought after by a ruthless order; a secret account of the first crossing of an Arctic land and an Art Deco cinema which may retain resonances of its mysterious former occupants. From your own fireside, follow The Connoisseur into the delicate shading between this world and other realms of wonder, tragedy and trepidation.

    Instead he gets a case that will bring him face to fang with crazed, blood-craving halfdead, a trio of vengeful Troll warriors, and Mama Hog’s unpredictable brand of backstreet magic. Oh, and the possible resurgence of the Troll War that nearly wiped humanity out a decade ago. Through Rannit’s narrow alleys and mean streets, Markhat runs to stay one step ahead of disaster, all the while ignoring Mama Hog’s dire warnings that this time, the head that rolls could be his own!Dead Man’s Rain Markhat is a finder by trade, charged with the post-war task of tracking down missing sons and fathers who’d fought in the War but remained missing after the Truce. But now it’s ten years on after the war, and about all he’s finding is trouble. This time, trouble comes in the form of a rich widow with a problem. Her dearly departed husband, Ebed Merlat, keeps ambling back from the grave for nocturnal visits. Markhat saw a lot during the war, but he’s never seen anyone, rich or poor, rise from the grave and go tromping around the landscape. But for the right price, he’s willing to look into it. As a storm gathers and night falls, Markhat finds darker things than even murder lurk amid the shadows of House Merlat.

    It includes six interior illustrations from artist Wayne Miller.All new tales of William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki.Meet an Edwardian occult detective who goes where no other gentleman will dare. Nine stories and a novella that take Carnacki deep into neolithic barrows, into the crypts of ancient cathedrals and see him fighting the elemental powers of darkness on his own terms.The Blooded Iklwa: A malevolent spirit is intent on blood. Can Carnacki identify the source of the attacks and stop the Zulu blade from its nightly haunting? Or will his client be forced to suffer a death of a thousand cuts?The Larkhill Barrow: A pounding terror has been called up out of Salisbury Plain; an ancient darkness that will haunt your dreams.The Sisters of Mercy: Battle hardened old soldiers lie sick abed in fear for their souls. Only someone with intimate knowledge of the powers of darkness can help them.The Hellfire Mirror: The rituals of an infamous club have left their mark on a mirror, leading Carnacki into a fight to stop his own home from being overrun with the forces of darkness.The Beast of Glamys: Danger to the daughter of a Scottish Lord leads Carnacki to a remote castle, and the uncovering of the secret behind a legend that has persisted for centuries.The Tomb of Pygea: Something serpentine whispers in the dark under Admiralty Arch, and only Carnacki has the skills, and the nerve, to descend, and to listen.The Lusitania: A cruise ship is berthed in Liverpool, deserted by passengers and crew, stuck in port until Carnacki can remove the cause of their terror; apparitions of disaster and shipwreckThe Haunted Oak: Ghosts of the recent dead walk beneath its spreading boughs and the Church needs Carnacki's expertise. But some things are best left to take their course -- natural, or supernatural.The Shoreditch Worm: When one of the churches of London changes its chimes, something old starts to wake. Can Carnacki stop it before it is too late?The Dark Island: Carnacki uncovers a gateway to a dark realm of magic and myth, where the far future of our planet can be touched and seen, if a man has the stomach for it.Meet Carnacki: Ghosthunter.

     Join Doctor Argent and his swashbuckling aid Jack Stone as they protect the empire of England from the forces of darkness in pulse pounding, pulp-style action and romance. Genre: Fantasy/Thriller/Historical Fiction