Murder by the Book discussion group meeting: Sherlock & Friends
Here is a list of the books reviewed at the March meeting of the Murder by the Book
mystery discussion group at Central library. Star ratings (out of 5) are assigned by the
person who read that particular book; plot descriptions are usually based on Novelist
entries. Most of the books are from Sherlock & Friends book list; some were chosen by
group members from their own collections.
The Game is Afoot: Parodies, Pastiches and Ponderings of Sherlock Holmes an
anthology of stories edited by Marvin Kaye (1994) ****
(a book in the Sherlock Holmes pastiches series)
My Sherlock Holmes: Untold Stories of the World’s Greatest Detective,
edited by Michael Kurland (2003) ****
(collection of original Sherlock Holmes stories, each told from the point
of view of a minor character from the Conan Doyle stories)
Shadows Over Baker Street: [new tales of terror!] (edited by Michael
Reaves and John Pelan) (2003) ***
(new Sherlock Holmes stories by writers who usually produce horror and science fiction
works)
Sherlock Holmes in Orbit (edited by Mike Greenburg and Martin H. Greenberg) (1995)
****
(Authorized by the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, twenty-six original tales by
masterful storytellers are set in every age and feature a confrontation with Fu Manchu
and Moriarty and a commission for a vampire, among others.)
Caleb Carr: The Italian Secretary (2005) **
(Mycroft Holmes calls in his brother Sherlock to help investigate the
murder of two of Queen Victoria’s aides)
Michael Chabon: The Final Solution (2004) **½
(Sherlock Holmes, retired and keeping bees in Sussex, is called in for
one last case to find a murderer and a missing parrot)
Mitch Cullin: A Slight Trick of the Mind (2005) ***½
(93-year-old Sherlock Holmes revisits his famous case of the Glass Armonica and the
disappearance of a Japanese man 50 years earlier. This book is not so much a mystery as
a snapshot of what Holmes' life was like in Sussex, tending bees all
those years)
Martin Davies: Mrs. Hudson and the Malabar Rose (2005) ***½
(When a priceless ruby known as the Malabar Rose vanishes while
being guarded by Sherlock Holmes and his assistant, Dr. Watson, the
formidable Mrs. Hudson sets out to give a lesson in criminal deduction
for her most famous and logical of tenants, the master sleuth himself.) Mrs. Hudson
mysteries #2
Related post: Review of Mrs. Hudson and the Malabar Rose
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892, reprinted many
times) ****½
(A collection of Sherlock Holmes mystery adventures, including "A Scandal in
Bohemia," "The Red-headed League," and "The Adventure of the Speckled Band.")
Consider reading these stories in this new edition The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
/ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ; edited with a foreword and notes by Leslie S. Klinger. (2005)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is in Volume 1 in this collection.
Loren D. Estleman: Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula, or, The
Adventure of the Sanguinary Count / John H. Watson as edited by
Loren D. Estleman (1978) ***½
(Sherlock Holmes must track down Dracula after he kidnaps Mrs.
Watson. Estleman could have played this for cheesy laughs but he's
just too good a mystery author, and instead, it comes off as a
completely believable and suspenseful confrontation between Holmes
and a monumental foe who just happens to be a blood-sucking
immortal.)
Steve Hockensmith: Holmes on the Range (2006) ***½
Inspired by their hero, Sherlock Holmes, two cowboys, Big Red and Old Red
Amlingmeyer, put their detecting skills to use to uncover the truth about the murder of a
ranch hand on their Montana cattle ranch in 1893.
Holmes on the Range mysteries #1
Jamyang Norbu: Sherlock Holmes--the Missing Years: the Adventures
of the Great Detective in India and Tibet: a novel based on the
Reminiscences of Hurree Chunder Mookerjee (2001) ****
(After appearing to die at Riechenbach Falls, Sherlock Holmes travels to
Tibet and hangs out with the Dalai Lama)
Nicholas Meyer: The Seven Per Cent Solution, being a reprint from the reminiscences
of John H. Watson, M.D. as edited by Nicholas Meyer (1974) ***½
(Dr. Watson dictates his memoirs in 1939 from a nursing home and recounts stories about
Sherlock Holmes before Holmes was introduced to Freud.)
Julian Symons: Three Pipe Problem (1975) ****
(Small-time actor Sheridan Haynes has a rather unhealthy preoccupation with Sherlock
Holmes, so when the chance comes for him to play the famous detective
in a TV series, it seems his dreams have come true. And when London is
plagued by a series of unsolved murders, well, it seems only natural for him to take his
role into real life.) plot description from fantasticfiction.co.uk/
Alan Vanneman: Sherlock Holmes and the Hapsburg tiara (2004) *
(Watson and Holmes search through London for clues in a perplexing crime scene that
seems to have disappeared before their eyes)