A plague of pint-sized matchmakers on the trail of a young pair of singles in "A Lust of Cupids";

A warrior woman and her wizard ally go up against a powerful nobleman (who is also a black magician) in "The Curse-Maker";

A pair of ecologists discover why lake monsters aren't found in groups, when their pet monster is attacked by reckless boaters in "A Scarcity of Sea Monsters";

An unappreciated superhero is relegated to a future of hopeless drudgery, unless he finds a way to rebel in "A Clean Sweep";

Sturdy and implacable Rudelle uses common sense instead of magic to bring order to "A House of Wizards"; and

The modern Anita makes one more appearance in "The Girl Who Was Infatuated With Death", which originally appeared in the anthology Bite in 2005. A teenage girl may have been vamped against her will, so now it's up to Anita to find the runaway, discover what really happened and enforce justice, even if it pits her against Jean-Claude himself.

Together, these tales suggest that Hamilton's interests as a writer have been widespread, even if she sensibly devotes the lion's share of her time to the novels that have brought her legions of fans. Her lead characters tend to be tough and uncompromising figures, ready and almost eager to fight authority to achieve justice; her support for underdogs is clear in almost every story.

Fans of Hamilton's work will not find a short Merry Gentry story, but with two Anita Blake tales, how can you go wrong?

Recommended.