"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."

Monday, March 4, 2024

Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles (2024)

A wholly unique take on a "Holmes" mystery from Elizabeth Crowens. This is Book One of the "Babs Norman Hollywood Mystery" series. You can read an interview with the author at Dan Andriacco's Baker Street Beat.

Asta, the dog from the popular Thin Man series, has vanished, and production for his next film is pending. MGM Studios offers a huge reward, and that's exactly what young private detectives Babs Norman and Guy Brandt need for their struggling business to survive. Celebrity dognapping is now a growing trend. When the police and city pound ridicule Basil Rathbone and ask, "Sherlock Holmes has lost his dog?" Basil also hires the B. Norman Agency to find his missing Cocker Spaniel.

The three concoct a plan for Basil to assume his on-screen persona and round up possible suspects, including Myrna Loy and William Powell; Dashiell Hammett, creator of The Thin Man; Nigel Bruce, Basil's on-screen Doctor Watson; Hollywood-newcomer, German philanthropist and film financier Countess Velma von Rache, and the top animal trainers in Tinseltown. Yet everyone will be in for a shock when the real reason behind the canine disappearances is even more sinister than imagined.


Title: Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles
Author: Elizabeth Crowens
Year: 2024
Publisher: Level Best - Historia
Purchase: Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

Thursday, February 1, 2024

The Loch Ness Horror (2022)

The adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his American daughter, Lucy James, continue in this 32nd book.

A shadowy ruin. A monstrous plot. And unless Sherlock and Lucy can stop an evil mastermind, thousands of innocent lives will end in horror.

July, 1900. The Baker Street team travels to Inverness, Scotland, home to the Scottish whiskey trade, the Highland Games, and the fabled castle of the infamous King Macbeth. But they have no plans for sightseeing. They are searching for the murderers who kidnapped one of their allies, and who are using millions of dollars worth of stolen bonds to fund a deadly attack on thousands of innocent citizens. Unless the murderers are stopped, the entire British government may fall.

Their search leads to a haunted ruin on the shores of a vast and mysterious lake, the largest in all of Great Britain. There, the danger intensifies, and soon the Baker Street Team must face the full force of the horror they have uncovered.

Will they act in time to save thousands of unsuspecting citizens? Or will they meet a monstrous end beneath the cold and merciless depths of Loch Ness?


Title: The Loch Ness Horror
Author: Anna Elliott & Charles Veley
Year: 2022
Publisher: Independently Published
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Thursday, January 11, 2024

The Vanishing White Elephant (1945)

Another Holmes radio pastiche starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

The Vanishing White Elephant is the 6th episode of season 6 of the American radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It first aired on WOR-MBS (the Mutual Network) on October 8, 1945. 

Monday, January 1, 2024

New Year's Eve off the Scilly Isles (1947)

Let's start the New Year with something a little different but still in our wheelhouse of Holmes pastiche. This original radio drama, New Year's Eve off the Scilly Isles, finds Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson racing to save a luxury liner from destruction. It first aired on December 28, 1947. Enjoy.

The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is an old-time radio show which aired in the USA from 1939 to 1950. The series was based on the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. For most of the show's run, the program starred Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Other actors played Holmes and Watson in later seasons.

Friday, December 22, 2023

Holmes For The Holidays (1996)

Fourteen original Sherlock Holmes stories, each with a Christmas holiday setting or theme. Authorized by Dame Jean Conan Doyle. Berkley also published a second volume, More Holmes For The Holidays.

Arthur Conan Doyles's Sherlock Holmes has been solving cases and amazing fans for more than a century. Now, today's best mystery writers have gathered together to present fourteen original Holmes stories in one thrilling collection. Each story features Holmes and Dr. Watson, festively solving the darkest of crimes in the brightest of seasons.
The Watch Night Bell by Anne Perry
The Sleuth of Christmas Past by Barbara Paul
A Scandal in Winter by Gillian Linscott
The Adventure in Border Country by Gwen Moffat
The Adventure of the Three Ghosts by Loren D. Estleman
The Adventure of the Canine Ventriloquist by Jon. L. Breen
The Adventure of the Man Who Never Laughed by J.N. Williamson
The Yuletide Affair by John Stoessel
The Adventure of the Christmas Tree by William L. DeAndrea
The Adventure of the Christmas Ghost by Bill Crider
The Thief of Twelfth Night by Edward Wellen
The Italian Sherlock Holmes by Reginald Hill
The Christmas Client by Edward D. Hoch
The Adventure of the Angel's Trumpet by Carolyn Wheat, ASH

Title: Holmes For The Holidays
Author: Martin H. Greenberg, Jon L. Lellenberg, Carol-Lynn Waugh (editors)
Year: 1996
Publisher: Berkley
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Thursday, December 7, 2023

The Shadow of the Rat (1999)

Sherlockian scholar David Stuart Davies tackles the infamous Giant Rat of Sumatra in his third Holmes pastiche.

When a body is found floating in the river - a body that has been deliberately infected with the plague virus - Holmes and Watson find themselves seeking answers at The Bridge of Dreams, a club where a person's darkest wish can be granted - for a price. Holmes falls under the control of a will stronger than his own, which threatens the life of his closest friend Watson and leaves the government itself open to a deadly terror ... the monstrous Giant Rat of Sumatra!

Title: The Shadow of the Rat
Author: David Stuart Davies
Year: 1999
Publisher: Calabash Press
Purchase: Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

Saturday, December 2, 2023

Watson's Wives and Other Tales of Sherlock Holmes (2023)

A clever approach to Holmes's pastiche by Tom Turley.

Of all the conundrums that have puzzled Sherlockian scholars, few have been thornier than the "vexed question" of Dr. Watson's wives. In these ten stories, readers will meet the all-but-unknown women who preceded and succeeded Mary Morstan, as well as learning more about poor Mary's fate. Other cases involve Our Heroes with all levels of Victorian society, including prime ministers and prostitutes, aristocrats and generals, amateur sleuths and Scotland Yarders, composers, novelists, and even ghosts. The tales cover the entire span of Holmes and Watson's friendship, running from 1881 to 1937.

Title: Watson's Wives and Other Tales of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Tom Turley
Year: 2023
Publisher: MX Publishing
Purchase: Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

Sunday, November 19, 2023

The Arrival of Solar Pons (2023)

A collection of early manuscripts and pulp magazine appearances of the original Solar Pons stories edited by Mark Wardecker.

In the 1920’s, college student August Derleth wrote to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, asking if any more Sherlock Holmes adventures were going to be published. Upon receiving a negative reply, Derleth decided to provide some of his own. However, rather than relating more tales of Holmes and Dr. Watson, he ended up introducing the world to Solar Pons and Dr. Lyndon Parker, living in London during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Pons solved crimes using deduction and ratiocination, often referring to Holmes as “The Master” or “My illustrious predecessor.” Since his first appearance, Solar Pons has been a favorite with Sherlockians.

Now, the estate of August Derleth has authorized an anthology of Derleth’s original versions of many Solar Pons stories, as they appeared in early pulp magazines. You haven’t read these stories until you’ve read the original versions! With notes by Pons scholar Mark Wardecker, PSI, this is an anthology no Solar Pons fan can live without!

Join us again at 7B Praed Street, where… the game is afoot!


Title: The Arrival of Solar Pons
Author: August Derleth (editor: Mark Wardecker)
Year: 2023
Publisher: Belanger Books 

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Sherlock Holmes in Dallas (1980)

A unique approach to Holmes pastiche by Edmund Aubrey.

An examination of the investigation into the Kennedy assassination as if performed by Sherlock Holmes; a scholarly analysis presented in a fictional and readable format.

Title: Sherlock Holmes in Dallas
Author: Edmund Aubrey
Year: 1980
Publisher: Dodd Mead
Purchase: Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

Monday, October 9, 2023

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories Part XXXIX: 2023 Annual (1897-1923)

The MX series continues with the third of three 2023 Annuals. 

Part XXXIX: Dan Rowley and Don Baxter, William Todd, Naching T. Kassa, Paula Hammond, Ember Pepper, Alan Dimes, Arthur Hall, Peter Coe Verbica, Jane Rubino, Tracy J. Revels, Kevin Thornton, Tom Turley, Leslie Charteris and Denis Green, David Marcum, Shane Simmons, Roger Riccard, Chris Chan, and John Lawrence, with a poem by Kelvin I. Jones, and forewords by Michael Sims, Roger Johnson, Emma West, Steve Emecz, and David Marcum.

Title: The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories Part XXXIX: 2023 Annual (1897-1923)
Year: 2023
Publisher: MX Publishing
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

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