Sherlock Holmes and the Treasure Train (1985)

One of several original Holmes novels by Frank Thomas. This one has Sherlock solving a great train robbery.

INTO THIN AIR... 

A half million pounds in gold has disappeared from an armored train outside London. The railroad and the banks are in an uproar, and finally they must turn to Sherlock Holmes for help. What begins as a deceptively simple case transforms into a puzzle unlike any Dr. Watson has ever seen, as Holmes works brilliantly to unravel an international tangle of high finance, low cunning, and cold-blooded murder. The clues are slim, the work is deadly dangerous, the game's afoot––and the great sleuth is giving chase!

Title: Sherlock Holmes and the Treasure Train
Author: Frank Thomas
Year: 1985
Publisher: Pinnacle
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Sherlock Holmes and The Masquerade Murders (1994)

Another fine Holmes pastiche by Frank Thomas, this one with terrific cover art featuring the classic pairing of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. First published as a paperback in 1986, this hardcover edition was released in 1994.

In a sea of blackness . . .

A bank appraiser, expert at identifying counterfeit papers, is discovered quite dead in London's financial district––but is it from natural causes or a cleverly disguised murder? Sherlock Holmes, ever the brilliant theorist, conducts his own brand of post-mortem as he leads Dr. Watson and a motley crew of confidence men on a precarious chase through the most notorious neighborhoods of London.

One primrose path leads to another––from the mystifying futures market to the most sensational costume ball in many a season. Lives, fortunes and careers are the stakes in this deadly game . . . ad it's up to the master sleuth and the good doctor to unmask the cunning culprits before another corpse is found.

Frank Thomas has adapted this adventure from the memories of the esteemed John H. Watson, M.D. The case has been selected precisely because it was the cause celebrate in its day, although a true account of this sensational case has never before been revealed. In a hardcover edition for the first time, Sherlock Holmes and the Masquerade Murders is now a matter of public record, confirming again the stature of the world's greatest consulting detective.

Title: Sherlock Holmes and the Masquerade Murders
Author: Frank Thomas
Year: 1986
Publisher: The Armchair Detective Library
Purchase: Amazon

Sherlock Holmes and the Sacred Sword (1980)

Frank Thomas' follow-up to his first Holmes pastiche Sherlock Holmes and the Golden Bird. The image of Holmes on the cover is Alfred Burke from a revival of the Gillette play in 1952. Watson, of course, is Nigel Bruce. The book was reissued with new cover art in 1985.

THE SWORD UNSHEATHED 

A dying man arrives at 221B Baker Street. . . .

An eccentric burglar scandalizes Sussex. . . .

The legendary sword of the prophet Mohammed surfaces,
then disappears. . . . 

This bizarre sequence of events propels Sherlock Holmes and Watson on a strange odyssey, from Baker Street to the back canals of Venice, from Berlin to exotic Egypt and the Valley of the Kings––in search of the sacred sword and a false prophet who threatens to trigger a Holy War in the Middle East––unless Sherlock Holmes stops him in time.

In the great tradition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, another rare tale of intrigue, deductive reasoning, and confounding mystery to delight and tantalize Sherlock Holmes fans around the world. 

Title: Sherlock Holmes and the Sacred Sword
Author: Frank Thomas
Year: 1980
Publisher: Pinnacle
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Sherlock Holmes and The Bizarre Alibi (2004)

Frank Thomas was the author of some 10 Holmes novels, starting with Sherlock Holmes and the Golden Bird in 1979. His later books were self-published, including this 2004 release.

With only the light of Slim's bull's-eye, it was rough going and soon my hands were bleeding and my legs protesting . But an untapped source of strength came to my aid. Here I was struggling towards unknown dangers, but i was living, i was part of an adventure. I was in the midst of an experience that my sedate fellow doctors in their well-appointed offices on Harley could only find in flights of fantasy. I was actually part of the stuff tha dreams are made of and, somewhat to my suprise, i found it exhilarating. Because of my association with the greatest detective the world has ever known, I was part of an heroic saga, a small part I will admit. Not that I felt heroic. I felt like a middle-aged commonplace man involved in exploits he was ill-suited for. But I was here with Holmes and I would not have had it any other way.

Title: Sherlock Holmes and The Bizarre Alibi
Author: Frank Thomas
Year: 2004
Publisher: Xlibras
Purchase: Amazon

Sherlock Holmes and the Golden Bird (1979)

The first Holmes pastiche by the prolific Frank Thomas. This first paperback edition contains a preview for The Dossier of Solar Pons in the back.

A BIRD ON WING... 

As the cold London fog rolls in off the Thames and Sherlock Holmes and the good doctor settle in for a quiet and cozy night by the fire, a letter arrives . . . . 

And so begins a tale as incredible as any yet told–one in which we journey back in time with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they stalk the pages of evil–from the decadent quarters of Soho to the exotic reaches of Constantinople, from the mysterious village of St. Aubrey to the familiar 221B Baker Street. Theirs is a strange search for a Golden Bird whose history is ancient, whose presence is illusive and whose secrets are both  rich and deadly . . . . 

Title: Sherlock Holmes and the Golden Bird
Author: Frank Thomas
Year: 1979
Publisher: Pinnacle
Purchase: Amazon

Sherlock Holmes and the Sacred Sword (1985)

First published in 1980, this original Sherlock Holmes adventure by Frank Thomas seems to have anticipated Indiana Jones. This Pinnacle paperback was published in 1985.

BENEATH THE DEADLY BLADE 

A dying man arrives at 221B Baker Street. An eccentric burglar scandalizes Sussex. The legendary sword of the prophet Mohammed surfaces, then disappears...  

This bizarre sequence of events propels Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to the back canals of Venice, the shadowy world of Berlin, the lurid alleys of Cario, an the Valley of the Kings––in search of the sacred silver sword and the false prophet who may trigger a holy war in the Middle East, unless the dauntless Holmes can bring the scoundrel to ground and halt his fiendish scheme!

Title: Sherlock Holmes and the Sacred Sword
Author: Frank Thomas
Year: 1985 (first published 1980)
Publisher: Pinnacle
Purchase: Amazon