"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, April 11, 2022

Observations by Gaslight (2021)

Sherlockian Lyndsay Faye returns with a collection of Holmes stories told from various points of view.  Faye was recently interviewed on the excellent However Improbable podcast

A new collection of Sherlockian tales that shows the Great Detective and his partner, Watson, as their acquaintances saw them

Lyndsay Faye―international bestseller, translated into fifteen languages, and a two-time Edgar Award nominee―first appeared on the literary scene with Dust and Shadow, her now-classic novel pitting Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper, and later produced The Whole Art of Detection, her widely acclaimed collection of traditional Watsonian tales. Now Faye is back with Observations by Gaslight, a thrilling volume of both new and previously published short stories and novellas narrated by those who knew the Great Detective.

Beloved adventuress Irene Adler teams up with her former adversary in a near-deadly inquiry into a room full of eerily stopped grandfather clocks. Learn of the case that cemented the lasting friendship between Holmes and Inspector Lestrade, and of the tragic crime which haunted the Yarder into joining the police force. And witness Stanley Hopkins’ first meeting with the remote logician he idolizes, who will one day become his devoted mentor.

From familiar faces like landlady Mrs. Hudson to minor characters like Lomax the sub-librarian, Observations by Gaslight―entirely epistolary, told through diaries, telegrams, and even grocery lists―paints a masterful portrait of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as you have never seen them before.


Title: Observations by Gaslight
Author: Lyndsay Faye
Year: 2021
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

The Case of the Baker Street Irregular (1981)

Robert Newman's tale of a budding "Baker Street Irregular" kicked off a series of books featuring the exploits of young Andrew and Sara. Only this first book featured Holmes. First published in 1978, this is the 1981 Bantam paperback edition.

A mysterious, broken-nosed cabby, a beautiful actress, and a villainous art heist have one thing in common—but the only one man who knows what it is has methods that are a little, shall we say . . . irregular 
Late Victorian London: home to gas streetlights, bands of ragged urchins, and now, young Andrew Craigie, who recently arrived from a tiny Cornwall village with his stern guardian, Mr. Dennison. At first the city feels dark and unwelcoming, but just around the corner is bustling Baker Street, where Andrew meets his first friend, Sara. Before long, London becomes downright interesting. 
But things get a little too exciting one night when Mr. Dennison doesn’t come home, and suddenly Andrew is on his own. Whom can he turn to in a strange city? Frantic, he goes to the tall, pipe-smoking, hat-wearing man at 221B, a man who Sara says is a famous detective—a man named Mr. Holmes.

Title: The Case of the Baker Street Irregular
Author: Robert Newman
Year: 1981 (first published 1978)
Publisher: Bantam
Purchase: Amazon

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