Since I like Sherlock Holmes and Golden Age mysteries and old Hollywood, Anthony Boucher’s The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars was an enjoyable read for me. It’s important to remember that this was originally published in 1940. Which explains why there’s one major female character, Maureen O’Breen, an attractive redhead who works in publicity for a film studio making a new Sherlock Holmes movie. (Maureen is the sister of Boucher’s series character, a PI in LA. Boucher was better-known […]

If you like Holmes and you like Wodehouse, you might want to try this slim, quick read. A Case of Domestic Pilfering was written 
by Rohase Piercy with Charlie Raven and was independently published in 2017. In 1890, Guy Clements is a dramatic but addle-headed young man who prattles on and has gotten himself in temporary financial difficulty. His very close friend Max is visiting from the country. Guy has previously met Dr. Watson at the horse races. Max is […]

Earlier this year I had the chance to meet the author Vicki Delany in Toronto. (The Bootmakers of Toronto, the local Sherlock Holmes society, were celebrating their 50th anniversary by having an event with guests and presentations.) So I thought I’d brush up on her Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery series. So far I’ve read the first five, and I stopped to talk about that fifth book, There’s a Murder Afoot, because it’s the best one so far. And the reason […]

It’s the way the world works. I wrote a survey of all of The Hound of the Baskervilles graphic novel adaptations (for Sherlock Holmes magazine, issue #8, spring 2022), and as soon as I’m done, I find another one. Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles is an “old book by Arthur Conan Doyle” featuring “new doodles by Jack Noel.” Although labeled a “Comic Classic,” I was somewhat relieved to find that this isn’t really a comic. Instead, this […]

While rereading Sherlock Bones volume 7, I noticed that Case 9, “The Stolen Face”, had a rather unusual method of death. Chapter 6, the final chapter, lays out what happened. Spoilers throughout this post. The murderer tries to create the impression the victim committed suicide. He gave the victim sleeping drugs, then placed her on the edge of the water tower on the roof, with a rope around her neck. When she woke up, she fell off the edge, hanging […]

Addy Zhuang has a job many of us would kill for. He’s been hired to answer Sherlock Holmes’ mail. Well, the messages that people send to 221B Baker Street, one of the most famous addresses of all time. Sherlock’s Secretary is a present-day mystery novel that begins when someone steals some of Sherlock’s letters. Addy and true crime podcaster (and object of Addy’s crush) Zabel Carvalho follow the clues to find out who’s behind the theft and why. Along the […]

There have been many Sherlock Holmes stories and pastiches set in both the classic (1890–1910, or thereabouts) and modern eras. A Study in Crimson: Sherlock Holmes 1942 takes a different approach, with a setting inspired by the 1940s Universal Pictures film series starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. As told by Robert J. Harris, someone calling himself “Crimson Jack” is recreating the murders of Jack the Ripper. The book beautifully sets the stage with a minor case that introduces us […]

In Sherlock Holmes and the Molly-Boy Murders, Margaret Walsh manages quite the feat: she combines the traditional feel of a classic Holmes pastiche with a modern sensibility when it comes to characters and motivations, enlivened with flashes of dry humor. Someone is killing and mutilating young men who dress as women. The variety of characters include a well-meaning woman who runs a safe house for young men of this type, a young baronet and his private secretary, and a medical […]