Sherlock Holmes: A Three-Pipe Christmas (2021)

A curious collection of tales, including a canon Christmas classic, an infamous pastiche, and a Solar Pons adventure. Merry Christmas.

One hundred years ago... 

...for Christmas 1920, Chicago bookman Vincent Starrett gave the world "The Unique Hamlet: A Hitherto Unchronicled Adventure of Mr. Sherlock Holmes". Forty-eight years later, for Christmas 1968, August Derleth's Mycroft & Moran publishing house printed Derleth's "The Adventure of the Unique Dickensians" featuring Solar Pons (who is almost but not quite Sherlock Holmes), and a plot line that unmistakably plays off the story of "The Unique Hamlet". 

Now, on the centennial celebration of "The Unique Hamlet"'s publication, comes this special volume in the great tradition of Sherlockian Christmas books. Here we bring together for the first time "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle," which is the only Canonical Christmas story, and the Starrett and Derleth pastiches first issued as Christmas presents. When considered together, the complex interrelations among these works - and their authors - make for a fascinating Sherlockian triptych. 

Five delightful illustrations and three perceptive commentaries accompany each story, all specially produced for this book. SHERLOCK HOLMES: A THREE-PIPE CHRISTMAS is a wonderful present that will bring you a bit of Christmas whenever you pick it up.

Title: Sherlock Holmes: A Three-Pipe Christmas
Editor: Dan Andriacco, BSI
Year: 2021
Publisher: Berlanger Books
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

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 

Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Meeting of the Minds: The Cases of Sherlock Holmes & Solar Pons II (2021)

The second volume in a collection of new Sherlock Holmes and Solar Pons stories by David Marcum, Mark Mower, Harry DeMaio, Nick Cardillo, Thaddeus Tuffentsamer, Jayantika Ganguly, Chris Chan , Stephen Herczeg, and I.A. Watson.

The world knows of Sherlock Holmes. For those who haven’t yet been lucky enough to yet meet Mr. Pons, one should know that he is a Great Detective in the Holmesian Mold: He models himself after Holmes, wearing the expected deerstalker and Inverness. He investigates using ratiocination, observation, and deduction. His adventures, set in the 1920’s and 1930’s, are transcribed by his friend, Dr. Parker. He lives in London, working closely with Scotland Yard, and he helps to fill the vacuum left when Sherlock Holmes retired to Sussex. 

Throughout the Pontine Canon, there are references to Sherlock Holmes. For long decades, Pons fans and scholars have speculated on the connection between the two. Now, after all this time – nearly one-hundred years since the last Canonical Holmes story was published and Derleth recorded the first Pons tale – Belanger Books proudly presents the stories that provide answers – The Meeting of the Minds . . . . 

These companion volumes contain eighteen new adventures in two companion volumes by some of today’s best Holmesian and Ponsian authors. Join us again at 7B Praed Street, where The Game is Afoot!

Title: The Meeting of the Minds: The Cases of Sherlock Holmes & Solar Pons II
Author: David Marcum (Editor)
Year: 2021
Publisher: Belanger Books
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Meeting of the Minds: The Cases of Sherlock Holmes & Solar Pons I (2021)

A collection of new Sherlock Holmes and Solar Pons stories by authors David Marcum, Derrick Belanger, Sean Venning, Thomas A. Burns Jr., John Linwood Grant, Naching T. Kassa, and Andrew Salmon. The first of two companion volumes.

The world knows of Sherlock Holmes. For those who haven’t yet been lucky enough to yet meet Mr. Pons, one should know that he is a Great Detective in the Holmesian Mold: He models himself after Holmes, wearing the expected deerstalker and Inverness. He investigates using ratiocination, observation, and deduction. His adventures, set in the 1920’s and 1930’s, are transcribed by his friend, Dr. Parker. He lives in London, working closely with Scotland Yard, and he helps to fill the vacuum left when Sherlock Holmes retired to Sussex. 

Throughout the Pontine Canon, there are references to Sherlock Holmes. For long decades, Pons fans and scholars have speculated on the connection between the two. Now, after all this time – nearly one-hundred years since the last Canonical Holmes story was published and Derleth recorded the first Pons tale – Belanger Books proudly presents the stories that provide answers – The Meeting of the Minds . . . . 

These companion volumes contain eighteen new adventures in two companion volumes by some of today’s best Holmesian and Ponsian authors. Join us again at 7B Praed Street, where The Game is Afoot!

Title: The Meeting of the Minds: The Cases of Sherlock Holmes & Solar Pons I
Author: David Marcum (Editor)
Year: 2021
Publisher: Belanger Books
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Necronomicon of Solar Pons (2020)

Solar Pons is back in nine new tales with a Lovecraftian flavor.

SOLAR PONS vs. the CTHULHU MYTHOS in NINE NEW ADVENTURES 

August Derleth introduced the world to Solar Pons and Dr. Lyndon Parker in the 1920's. Pons, like Sherlock Holmes, solved crimes using deduction and ratiocination, often referring to Holmes as “The Master” or “My illustrious predecessor”. Since his first appearance, Pons has been a favorite with Sherlockians. 

In the 1930's, Derleth coined the term "Cthulhu Mythos" to describe the weird fiction written by the writers in the Lovecraft circle. After Lovecraft died in 1937, Derleth created Arkham House Publishing to make certain Lovecraft and other writers of the Cthulhu mythos, himself included, remained in print. Derleth wrote a number of tales of the Cthulhu mythos including The Mask of Cthulhu, The Trail of Cthulhu, and The Watchers Out of Time (collaborating with Lovecraft). 

Now, for the first time ever, the estate of August Derleth has authorized a one of a kind anthology combining Derleth's Solar Pons, the Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street, with his Cthulhu Mythos and horror tales. Join us in the foggy streets of early 20th Century London where horror is lurking on the streets and also at the veil of reality. 

The Rondure of Cthulhu by Stephen Herczeg

The Meandering Mathematician by Robert Perret

A Matter of Blood by Nick Cardillo

To Everything There is a Season by Stephen Persing

The Adventure of the Book and the Gate by Eleanor Sciolistein

Solar Pons and the Testament in Ice by Jeff Baker

The Adventure of the Drowned Genealogist by I.A. Watson

The Man with the Writhing Skin by David Marcum

The Devil's Tongue of Blue John Gap by Derrick Belanger

Plus a bonus Sherlock Holmes adventure!

Title: The Necronomicon of Solar Pons
Author: Derrick Belanger
Year: 2020
Publisher: Belanger Books
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Apocrypha of Solar Pons (2018)

A new authorized collection of little-known Pons stories by August Derleth, including the author's only Sherlock Holmes story. Restored by David Marcum.

From the late 1920’s until his too-early death in 1971 at age 62, August Derleth lived, to greater or lesser degrees, in The World of Solar Pons. Already an admirer of Sherlock Holmes when he was a Wisconsin college student, Derleth wrote to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, asking if there would be any more Holmes adventures. Upon receiving a negative response, he set about creating some of his own – but set in (then) contemporary times of the 1920’s. Having never been to England – and in fact, he never made it there during his entire life – he relied on travel books and commentaries to fashion a very believable representation. In these stories, Solar Pons made use of the classic methods of Sherlock Holmes. 

After his death, a posthumous collection of Pons stories, The Chronicles, was published in 1973, and it was believed for many years that these were the final Pons adventures. But others began to turn up, including a number that were found in Derleth’s papers – some having been written when he was in his twenties and the subsequently filed and forgotten. 

Now, thanks to Derleth’s heirs and the August Derleth Estate, which still retains full ownership of Solar Pons and these apocryphal adventures, this new easily available and affordable collection of these “lost” tales has been made possible. In addition to adventures such as “The Burlstone Horror” and “The Muttering Man”, there are all four of the “Off-Trail” Pons adventures that Derleth co-authored with Mack Reynolds, the complete compiled entries “From the Notebooks of Dr. Lyndon Parker”, Derleth’s rare companion volume A Praed Street Dossier (1968), and Derleth’s only Sherlock Holmes story, “The Circular Room” (later rewritten as a Pons tale!) 

Join us one more time at 7B Praed Street, where again The Game is Afoot!

The Adventure of the Gresham Old Place

The Adventure of the Burlstone Horror

The Adventure of the Viennese Musician

The Adventure of the Muttering Man

The Adventure of the Green Stars

The Adventure of the Snitch in Time

The Adventure of the Ball of Nostradamus

The Adventure of the Nosferatu

The Adventure of the Extra-Terrestrial

The Adventure of the Circular Room

Title: The Apocrypha of Solar Pons
Author: August Derleth, David Marcum (editor)
Year: 2018
Publisher: Belanger Books
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Casebook of Solar Pons (1975)

The sixth collection of August Derleth's Solar Pons stories was released as the 4th paperback by Pinnacle Books in 1975. Contains a Foreword by Vincent Starrett.

Whatever your fancy in the polished old world of deductive detective cunning-- a mummified human hand conspiciously resting in an intarsia box, a haunted moonlit library, a tattered corpse caught up in a rapacious invincible curse-- Solar Pons will quickly capture your curiosity and leave you hungering for more. 

Soon you will find yourself a regular visitor at No. 7B Praed Street, eagerly peering into the mind of the contemplative Pons, slouched in the cozy cavern of his armchair. And as you faithfully follow the master about charming, chilling fin-de-ciecle London, discretely clutching and unclutching your hands between counter plots and climaxes, you know that you have found a lifelong companion-- the incomparable and brilliant Solar Pons, heir to the genius that was once uniquely Sherlock Holmes'. 

Adventure of the Ascot Scandal 

Adventure of the China Cottage

Adventure of the Crouching Dog

Adventure of the Fatal Glance

Adventure of the Haunted Library

Adventure of the Innkeeper's Clerk

Adventure of the Intarsia Box

Adventure of the Missing Huntsman 

Adventure of the Spurious Tamerlane 

Adventure of the Sussex Archers 

Adventure of the Whispering Knights

Title: The Casebook of Solar Pons
Author: August Derleth
Year: 1975 (first released in 1965)
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Solar Pons Companion (2017)

The seventh volume in DIPs "The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons" also contains essays by Basil Copper and the history of his involvement with "the Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street."

I am not writing new Solar Pons stories. My Solar Pons material was authorised and commissioned by Arkham House Publishers, Inc. back in the 1970s, and was written then but, owing to changes at Arkham House, they were never published by that imprint. 

The tales remained in limbo for something like twenty years before the originals began to be published by Fedogan & Bremer of Minneapolis. All date from the 1970s and early 1980s so perhaps original copyright lines should have been printed together with the new publication dates which would have obviated all misunderstandings. 

So, the present volume and all the Pons tales from my pen were commissioned and authorised by the then editorial and legal personnel at Arkham House and by the estate of the late August Derleth, who was a great friend of mine and very enthusiastic about my work. 

–Basil Copper

Title: The Solar Pons Companion
Author: Basil Copper & Stephen Jones
Year: 2017
Publisher: Drugstore Indian Press
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Papers of Solar Pons: New Adventures of the Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street (2017)

An all-new authorized collection of Solar Pons stories by David Marcum.

In 1928, 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. Lydon 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, Pons has been a favorite with Sherlockians.

Between the 1920's and the early 1970's, Derleth produced over seventy Pons short stories and novels. In the mid-1970's, the Derleth Estate authorized a number of new Pons narratives to be prepared for publication by Basil Copper. Since then, additional lost stories from Derleth's files were found, and Copper released various revised versions of his own works, but there have been no new Pons stories for years...until  now. 

The August Derleth Estate, Arkham Housie, and Belanger Books are pleased to present this authorized collection of twelve new Pons adventures by Sherlocian autor and editor David Marcum. Join Pons and Parker as they venture forth into the mysterious London fogs during that murky period between the two World Wars. Along the way, meet some old friends, and discover why Pons is called "The Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street." 

The Adventure of the Doctor’s Box

The Park Lane Solution

The Poe Problem

The Singular Affair of the Blue Girl

The Plight of the American Driver

The Adventure of the Blood Doctor

The Additional Heirs

The Horror of St. Anne’s Row The Adventure of the Failed Fellowship

The Adventure of the Obrisset Snuffbox

The Folio Matter

The Affair of the Distasteful Society  

The Adventure of the Other Brother

Title: The Papers of Solar Pons: New Adventures of the Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street
Author: David Marcum
Year: 2017
Publisher: CreateSpace
Purchase: Amazon (U.S.) | Amazon (UK).

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.

The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons, Vol. II (2017)

The second volume of a limited two-volume set collecting the Basil Copper Solar Pons adventures. Release date is February 2017 from PS Publishing.

From the Introduction: 

Basil never had the pleasure of seeing all his Pons stories collected in a definitive omnibus edition. However, before his death in April 2013 at the age of 89, he and I started working on these two volumes. I also wanted to collect all his macabre fiction together and, with the help of PS Publishing, we did just that in 2010. Two years later we collaborated again to publish Basil’s Gothic novel The Curse of the Fleers in a version that the author originally intended. 

Although it saddens me that he never lived to see this handsome presentation of his entire Solar Pons Canon from the same imprint, I’m also heartened to know he was aware that we were working on it. 

It has taken forty years but here, finally, are The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons by Basil Copper. Once again prepare to be plunged into an idyllic English countryside or the chill and foggy streets of London, as that great city’s second most famous consulting detective—ably supported by the reliable Dr. Lyndon Parker—uses his “ratiocinative” powers of logical deduction to solve murders both mysterious and macabre . . . 

—Stephen Jones 

CONTENTS Volume II 

THE EXPLOITS OF SOLAR PONS; The Adventure of the Verger’s Thumb, The Adventure of the Phantom Face, Death at the Metropole, The Adventure of the Callous Colonel.

THE RECOLLECTIONS OF SOLAR PONS; The Adventure of the Cursed Curator, The Adventure of the Hound of Hell, The Adventure of the Mad Millionaire, The Adventure of the Devil’s Claw.

THE SOLAR PONS COMPANION; Foreword, In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes, Plots of the Stories, Characters in the Stories, The Sayings of Solar Pons, Solar Pons Plot and Dialogue Notes (Stephen Jones), The Adventure of the Northleach Stocks (Stephen Jones), Painting Pons: Artist Ben Stahl (Stephen Jones).

THE FINAL CASES; The Adventure of the Defeated Doctor, The Adventure of the Agonised Actor, The Adventure of the Persecuted Painter.

Title: The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons, Vol. II
Author: Basil Copper, Stephen Jones (editor)
Year: 2017
Publisher: PS Publishing
Purchase: PS Publishing

The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons, Vol. I (2017)

The first volume of a limited two-volume set collecting the Basil Copper Solar Pons adventures. Release date is February 2017 from PS Publishing.

From the Introduction: 

Basil never had the pleasure of seeing all his Pons stories collected in a definitive omnibus edition. However, before his death in April 2013 at the age of 89, he and I started working on these two volumes. I also wanted to collect all his macabre fiction together and, with the help of PS Publishing, we did just that in 2010. Two years later we collaborated again to publish Basil’s Gothic novel The Curse of the Fleers in a version that the author originally intended. 

Although it saddens me that he never lived to see this handsome presentation of his entire Solar Pons Canon from the same imprint, I’m also heartened to know he was aware that we were working on it. 

It has taken forty years but here, finally, are The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons by Basil Copper. Once again prepare to be plunged into an idyllic English countryside or the chill and foggy streets of London, as that great city’s second most famous consulting detective—ably supported by the reliable Dr. Lyndon Parker—uses his “ratiocinative” powers of logical deduction to solve murders both mysterious and macabre . . . 

—Stephen Jones 

CONTENTS Volume I 

THE DOSSIER OF SOLAR PONS; Explanation by Dr. Lyndon Parker, The Adventure of the Perplexed Photographer, The Sealed Spiral Mystery, The Adventure of the Six Gold Doubloons, The Adventure of the Ipi Idol, The Adventure of Buffington Old Grange, The Adventure of the Hammer of Hate. 

THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SOLAR PONS; The Adventure of the Shaft of Death, The Adventure of the Baffled Baron, The Adventure of the Surrey Sadist, The Adventure of the Missing Student.

THE SECRET FILES OF SOLAR PONS; The Adventure of the Crawling Horror, The Adventure of the Anguished Actor, The Adventure of the Ignored Idols, The Adventure of the Horrified Heiress.

SOME UNCOLLECTED CASES OF SOLAR PONS; The Adventure of the Haunted Rectory, The Adventure of the Singular Sandwich, Murder at the Zoo, The Adventure of the Frightened Governess.

Title: The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons, Vol. I
Author: Basil Copper, Stephen Jones (editor)
Year: 2017
Publisher: PS Publishing
Purchase: PS Publishing

The Secret Files of Solar Pons (1979)

Another collection of Solar Pons stories by August Derleth's successor Basil Copper. The tenth and final book in Pinnacle's Pons series.

TALLYHO!

Come, once again, to number 7B Praed Street, where Solar Pons, the master of deduction, awaits your arrival. Slouched in the cozy cavern of his armchair, his keen eyes fixed on the door, Solar Pons puffs thoughtfully on his pipe, pondering strange and soul-chilling cases.

Here is the brilliant Solar Pons at his very best... clutching at elusive clues as he briskly sets apace into the ominous alleyways of old London in chase of crime. If you've not yet joined us in the eternal hunt, you are about to discover a new joy in a tradition that, alas, may have been lost forever, were it not for the reappearance of the remarkably ingenious and incomparable Solar Pons, whose entrancing effect on dyed-in-the-wool aficionados of detection is, indeed, elementary.

The Adventure of the Crawling Horror
The Adventure of the Anguished Actor
The Adventure of the Ignored Idols
The Adventure of the Horrified Heiress

Title: The Secret Files of Solar Pons

Author: Basil Cooper

Year: 1979

Publisher: Pinnacle Books

Purchase: Amazon.com.

The Chronicles of Solar Pons (1975)

"The Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street" returns for more adventures. Interesting cover art on this 1975 UK hardcover.

Sherlock Holmes's brilliant successor in a further series of bizarre mysteries.

The Adventure of the Red Leech 

The Adventure of the Orient Express 

The Adventure of the Golden Bracelet 

The Adventure of the Shaplow Millions 

The Adventure of the Benin Bronze 

The Adventure of the Missing Tenants 

The Adventure of the Aluminum Crutch 

The Adventure of the Seven Sisters 

The Adventure of the Bishop's Companion 

The Adventure of the Unique Dickensians

Title: The Chronicles of Solar Pons
Author: August Derleth
Year: 1975 (first published 1973)
Publisher: Robson Books Ltd
Purchase: Amazon.co.uk.

Solar Pons Versus the Devil's Claw (2004)

Here's one last Ponsian post before we return to the man from Baker Street. After breaking with the estate of August Derleth, Basil Copper continued to write and publish Solar Pons stories via small publishers. Solar Pons Versus the Devil's Claw was Copper's only feature length Pons novel. It was released in a limited edition in 2004 by Sarob Press and today sells for a premium.

This is a dynamite book, standing out less from Copper's Pons tales only because so many of his approach novel length anyway. Hugh Mulvane spends most of the first quarter of the story regaling Pons with a freakish tale of his vile uncle Simon Hardcastle (love that name!), who dies during a nightmarish ordeal in the creepy old cemetery of his grand Chalcroft Manor. Weird marks on the ground near the body––found also around a dead poacher some months earlier––revive a spooky legend, instilling fear among the superstitious citizenry. Mr. Mulvane is supposed to inherit, which places him in a difficult position, yet he's ostensibly keen to get to the bottom of the mystery. Pons agrees, he and Parker accompanying the young man to the estate and the scene of the crime.  

Only then, well into the book, with the aid of Inspector Stone of the Buckinghamshire C.I.D., does Pons plunge into the fray, sift the minutest physical clues, interrogate the suspects, none of whom seem at all likely. Peters the estate manager; his beautiful wife Sarita; the lovely Miss Masterson; Tidmarsh, music master at the local college; Angela the maid; what could any of them hope to gain from dirty deeds? So obscure is the situation that for a period it isn't clear that any major crime has been committed. Pons, however, starts shuffling the pieces of the puzzle, begins to fashion in his mind the shadowy image of an evil conspiracy. 

-From the essay The Adventures of Solar Pons by Jeffery Scott Sims.

Title: Solar Pons Versus the Devil's Claw
Author: Basil Copper
Year: 2004
Publisher: Sarob Press
Purchase: Amazon

Also see: The Adventures of Solar Pons (1976), The Return of Solar Pons (1975), Mr. Fairlie's Final Journey (1976), The Dossier of Solar Pons (1979), The Further Adventures of Solar Pons (1979).

The Further Adventures of Solar Pons (1979)

The second collection of original Solar Pons stories by Basil Copper. This 9th Pinnacle paperback was published in 1979 and has one of my favorite Pons covers.

Hark! Solar Pons is Back! 

And the chase is on . . . join the hunt as this superlative sleuth pursues his quarry through the tangled webs of intrigue, crime and murder. 

Faithful followers of Sherlock Holmes and mystery lovers alike will delight in Basil Cooper's compelling storytelling as he continues the grand tradition of August Derleth's unerring detective genius, Solar Pons. This literary descendant of Sherlock Holmes is the true heir to the incomparable Master . . . so the chase will continue, as long as villainy and crime must answer to truth and justice! 

The Adventure of the Shaft of Death 

The Adventure of the Defeated Doctor 

The Adventure of the Surrey Sadist 

The Adventure of the Missing Student

Title: The Further Adventures of Solar Pons
Author: Basil Copper
Year: 1979
Publisher: Pinnacle
Purchase: Amazon

Also see: The Adventures of Solar Pons (1976), The Return of Solar Pons (1975), Mr. Fairlie's Final Journey (1976), The Dossier of Solar Pons (1979).

The Dossier of Solar Pons (1979)

After collecting all the Solar Pons stories by August Derleth into seven paperbacks (including one novel), in 1979 Pinnacle released an original collection of authorized Pons stories by horror and mystery novelist Basil Copper. This was the first.

The Chase Continues . . .

When August Derleth inherited the mantle of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he created in Solar Pons a detective whose genius cannot be matched––perhaps not even by Sherlock Holmes himself! Now the pen has passed int the hand of the noted British author, Basil Copper, whose superlative storytelling abilities will astound and delight the most discrimination dyed-in-the-woll aficionados of detection.

Here are six spine tingling and superbly crafted tales of suspense in the best tradition of Solar Pons. Come, once again, to Number 7B Praed Street, where the inimitable and infallible master of the art of deductive detection awaits. Follow along closely as he sets apace onto the mist-shrouded cobblestones of old London's alleyways in chase of crime. But make haste! The game's already afoot!

The Adventure of the Perplexed Photographer

The Adventure of the Sealed Spire

The Adventure of the Six Gold Doubloons

The Adventure of the Ipi Idol

The Adventure of Buffington Old Grange

The Adventure of the Hammer of Hate

Title: The Dossier of Solar Pons
Author: Basil Copper
Year: 1979
Publisher: Pinnacle
Purchase: Amazon

Also see: The Adventures of Solar Pons (1976), The Return of Solar Pons (1975), Mr. Fairlie's Final Journey (1976).

Mr. Fairlie's Final Journey (1976)

August Derleth's only full-length Solar Pons novel was Mr. Fairlie's Final Journey, first released in 1968 by Mycroft & Moran. This 1976 paperback edition was released as part of Pinnacle's Pons reprint series (No. 7).

Who Done It?

Mr. Fairlie set out for London but never reached his destination. His dead body was found en route and in the lining of his hat was the address of . . . Solar Pons! 

No one had any evident motive to kill Jones Fairlie–but someone did. This wasn't the first time this clever killer had slain and it wouldn't be the last–unless the master of detection, Solar Pons, could stop him. 

Why was Mr. Fairlie carrying Pons's address? And who was this murderer whose killing were planned with utmost care? These were the related puzzles laid before Solar Pons within hours of the discovery of Fairlie's murder . . .

Title: Mr. Fairlie's Final Journey
Author: August Derleth
Year: 1976 (first published 1968)
Publisher: Pinnacle
Purchase: Amazon.

Also see: The Adventures of Solar Pons (1976), The Return of Solar Pons (1975).

The Return of Solar Pons (1975)

Solar Pons, "the Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street," returns in another collection of stories by August Derleth. First published in 1958, this 1975 U.S. Pinnacle paperback includes an introduction by Edgar W. Smith. As you can see by the numbered cover, this was Pinnacle's 6th Pons publication.

Who is Solar Pons? Who, indeed, is Sherlock Holmes?

They are inventions of two superlative storytellers...the invincible Arthur Conan Doyle of London, the prodigious and prolific August Derleth of Wisconsin.

The whole world knows of the legendary Holmes and his Baker Street beat. But only a few of the most dyed-in-the-wool aficionados of detection have been privileged to make the acquaintance of Solar Pons and his Praed Street office.

Here then is Solar Pons at his best. Only Watson himself could distinguish between the footsteps of Pons or Holmes. If you've not yet joined us in the chase, you are about to discover new joy in a tradition that, alas, has disappeared. Come, the game is afoot!

The Adventure of the Lost Dutchman

The Adventure of the Devil's Footprints

The Adventure of the Dorrington Inheritance

The Adventure of the 'Triple Kent'

The Adventure of the Rydberg Numbers

The Adventure of the Grice-Paterson Curse

The Adventure of the Stone of Scone

The Adventure of the Remarkable Worm

The Adventure of the Penny Magenta

The Adventure of the Trained Cormorant

The Adventure of the Camberwell Beauty

The Adventure of the Little Hangman

The Adventure of the Swedenborg Signatures

By the way, if the cover art looks strangely familiar, here's why:

Title: The Return of Solar Pons
Author: August Derleth
Year: 1975 (first published 1958)
Publisher: Pinnacle
Purchase: Amazon.

Also see: The Adventures of Solar Pons (1976)

The Adventures of Solar Pons (1976)

Unique among Sherlock Holmes pastiches are the adventures of Solar Pons "the Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street." On hearing that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had no plans to write more Holmes stories, 19-year-old August Derleth wrote the author asking permission to take over the series. Doyle declined, so Derleth created his own detective, Solar Pons, modeled very closely on Sherlock and his world. Derleth would ultimately write more Pons stories than Doyle wrote about Holmes.

First published in 1945, this is a 1976 UK paperback of the first collection of Pons stories with terrific cover art.

In his inverness cape Solar Pons steps briskly from No 7B Praed Street onto the mist-shrouded cobblestones of old London's alleyways. 

The game is afoot... 

The Adventure of the Frightened Baronet

The Adventure of the Late Mr. Faversham

The Adventure of the Black Narcissus

The Adventure of the Norcross Riddle

The Adventure of the Retired Novelist

The Adventure of the Three Red Dwarfs

The Adventure of the Sotheby Salesman

The Adventure of the Purloined Periapt

The Adventure of the Limping Man

The Adventure of the Seven Passengers

The Adventure of the Lost Holiday

The Adventure of the Man With a Broken Face

Title: The Adventures of Solar Pons
Author: August Derleth
Year: 1976 (first published 1945)
Publisher: Futura
Purchase: Amazon.co.uk.

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