"Somewhere in the vaults of the bank of Cox and Co., at Charing Cross, there is a travel-worn and battered tin dispatch-box with my name, John H. Watson, M.D., painted upon the lid. It is crammed with papers, nearly all of which are records of cases to illustrate the curious problems which Mr. Sherlock Holmes has at various times to examine."

Sunday, February 26, 2017

The Murder of Mary Russell (2016)

The most recent Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes adventure from Laurie R. King.

Mary Russell is used to dark secrets—her own, and those of her famous partner and husband, Sherlock Holmes. Trust is a thing slowly given, but over the course of a decade together, the two have forged an indissoluble bond. 
And what of the other person to whom Mary Russell has opened her heart: the couple’s longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson? Russell’s faith and affection are suddenly shattered when a man arrives on the doorstep claiming to be Mrs. Hudson’s son. 
What Samuel Hudson tells Russell cannot possibly be true, yet she believes him—as surely as she believes the threat of the gun in his hand. In a devastating instant, everything changes. And when the scene is discovered—a pool of blood on the floor, the smell of gunpowder in the air—the most shocking revelation of all is that the grim clues point directly to Clara Hudson. 
Or rather to Clarissa, the woman she was before Baker Street. 
The key to Russell’s sacrifice lies in Mrs. Hudson’s past. To uncover the truth, a frantic Sherlock Holmes must put aside his anguish and push deep into his housekeeper’s secrets—to a time before her disguise was assumed, before her crimes were buried away.
There is death here, and murder, and trust betrayed. 
And nothing will ever be the same.

Title: The Murder of Mary Russell
Author: Laurie R. King
Year: 2016
Publisher: Bantam
Purchase: Amazon.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

The Exploits of Solar Pons (1993)

Four unpublished Solar Pons stories by Basil Copper in a special edition illustrated by Stefanie Kate Hawks.

Four new adventures of "the Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street" 
Solar Pons was created nearly seventy years ago by August Derleth who patterened his sleuth closely after Doyle's greta detective. Sixty-eight tales, including one novel, were written by Derleth over a period of some forty years.
But Mr. Pons' already impressive career did not ene with the death of his creator. The series passed to the capable hands of the British author Basil Copper. While several collections of Mr. Copper's Pons stories have already appeared in paperback editions, this is the first publication of the stories contained herein.
The Adventure of the Verger's Thumb
The Adventure of the Phantom Face
Death at the Metropole
The Adventure of the Callous Colonel

Title: The Exploits of Solar Pons
Author: Basil Copper
Year: 1993
Publisher:Fedogan & Bremer
Purchase: Amazon.

Monday, February 13, 2017

A Taste For Honey (1964)

First published in 1941, A Taste For Honey was one of the very first Holmes pastiches. The plot features a mysterious retired beekeeper who goes by the name of "Mr. Mycroft." While the original intent seems to be that this is Sherlock himself, later publishers packaged the book as a "Mycroft Holmes Mystery." Two more Mr. Mycroft adventures followed: Reply Paid (1945) and The Notched Hairpin (1949).

MURDERED...BY BEES? 
Who is Mr. Mycroft? The true identity of this magnificent, inscrutable old gentleman is a deep secret–but there are echoes of Baker Street in his voice, and a familiar gleam in his eyes that miss no clue.
In A Taste for Honey, he meets one of the most sinister murderers of all time, and encounters one of the most fiendishly ingenious murder methods ever devised. 

Title: A Taste For Honey
Author: H.F. Heard
Year: 1964
Publisher: Lancer
Purchase: Amazon.

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Stone Cold (2014)

Andrew Lane's seventh novel in the rebranded "Young Sherlock" series. This time Holmes is at Oxford.

Following his last thrilling adventure Sherlock Holmes has been sent to live in Oxford to focus on his education. But something strange is happening in the university pathology labs. Body parts are being stolen from corpses and are being posted one by one to an address in London. What can these sinister goings-on mean, and what message is someone trying to send? In an attempt to find out, Sherlock follows the trail to a very sinister house deep in the countryside. Can he get to the bottom of another baffling mystery? Sherlock Holmes: think you know him? Think again.

Title: Young Sherlock: Stone Cold
Author: Andrew Lane
Year: 2014
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Purchase: Amazon.

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