132 I AM AN OMNIVOROUS READER Book reviews by DAVID STUART DAVIES, KATHRYN DAVIES, JONATHAN HOPSON, AUDREY JONES, DAVID JONES, CARRIE PARRIS, NICHOLAS UTECHIN and ROGER JOHNSON
No Better Place: Arthur Conan Doyle, Windlesham and distracting inclusion of hidden references to the and Communication with the other side (1907- Canon within the text, which are jarring to read. Parts 1930) by Alistair Duncan 0; 3XEOLVKLQJ 2015. of the book are arranged around walks, but these 434pp. £14.99 (pbk) seem somewhat arbitrary in their composition, not This excellent book is the eagerly awaited third and being structured around any particular story or theme. ¿QDOYROXPHLQ$OLVWDLU'XQFDQ¶VVWXG\RIWKHOLIHRI Nevertheless, it is clear that a lot of research has gone Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It deals with the last twenty- into this book and it contains some interesting facts three years of the great author’s life from the year of about the great cesspool. A pleasant introduction for his second marriage to Jean Leckie until his death the budding Sherlock fan who is unfamiliar with the in 1930. These years saw his move to Windlesham, Victorian world, but not a necessity for the seasoned the birth of three children, more literary success, the Holmesian. GLVFRYHU\RIDQHZIDLWKWKH¿QDOVWRULHVRI6KHUORFN CP Holmes and, of course, the First World War. This meticulously researched book gives us an impartial account of Conan Doyle’s life in a The Sherlock Holmes Book . 'RUOLQJ .LQGHUVOH\ . chronological format. Mr Duncan has succeeded, 215. 352pp. £16.99 (hbk) as David Stuart Davies notes in his Foreword, in David Stuart Davies and Barry Forshaw, both opening “that secret door to Conan Doyle’s personal estimable, are credited as consultant editors of this life through his admirable and exhaustive research handsome volume, though apparently they had into both the author’s private and public activities. We little control over the content. I don’t recognise the are given a detailed blow by blow, virtually day by names of the other six contributors, and we aren’t day, account of the doings of Arthur.” Conan Doyle, told who wrote what, which is rather frustrating, in his later years, was preoccupied with his belief as there’s a separate chapter for each story, and the in Spiritualism, an interest which prompted ridicule approach differs from one to the next. The constant IURPVFLHQWL¿FDQGUHOLJLRXVFRPPXQLWLHV0U'XQFDQ factor is a comprehensive summary of the story, deals sensitively with this issue; he presents the facts with spoilers, making the book less suitable for the and allows the reader to form their own opinions. The novice than for the devotee — but the devotee will book is enhanced by the inclusion of extracts from be rewarded with an abundance of interesting facts the papers of Conan Doyle’s daughter Mary, by kind and intelligent opinions. There are individual chapters permission of Mrs Georgina Doyle, and photographs RQWUXHDQG¿FWLRQDOFULPHSROLFLQJORJLFFDQRQLFDO from the latter’s private collection. Also included characters, dramatic interpretations and the world- are photographs from the private collection of Brian wide Holmesian phenomenon. This is a good-looking Pugh, Curator of The Conan Doyle (Crowborough) book, enticingly priced. Establishment. 1R %HWWHU 3ODFH is a relaxed and RJ absorbing read which, as Georgina Doyle notes “is a triumph of research and is a worthy contribution to the biographical material on Conan Doyle’s complex The Golden Age of Murder: the Mystery of the character.” High praise indeed — and well deserved! Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story DJ by Martin Edwards. +DUSHU&ROOLQV3XEOLVKHUV . 2015. xxiv + 481pp. £20.00 (hbk) This book analyses the development of detective Sherlock Holmes’s London: Explore the City in the ¿FWLRQ EHWZHHQ WKH ZDUV WKURXJK WKH SULVP RI WKH Footsteps of the Great Detective by Rose Shepherd. Detection Club, founded in 1930 as an elite dining &,&2%RRNV . 2015. 160pp. £16.99/$24.95 (hbk) society for leading practitioners. There is much here This attractive book is a guide to London as to interest Holmesians, not least to remind them that featured in the Canon and in screen adaptations (with 'R\OHUHWDLQHGKLVLQÀXHQFHDVDXWKRUDQGLQYHVWLJDWRU noticeable attention given to the BBC’s 6KHUORFN and up until his death. Only poor health compelled him Guy Ritchie’s 6KHUORFN +ROPHV ). It features some WRGHFOLQHWKH&OXE¶V¿UVWSUHVLGHQF\DQGLWZDV*. arresting reproductions of Victorian photographs Chesterton who accepted the mantle; other such of London which are beautifully presented. eminent Edwardians as R Austin Freeman, Arthur Unfortunately, the accompanying prose is often rather Morrison and Baroness Orczy joined to socialise clunky, and made even more so by the unnecessary with the modern generation of writers. Club members 133
(notably Anthony Berkeley, Ronald Knox and you are interested in visuals, buying a collection of Dorothy L Sayers) promoted critical appreciation of Holmes DVDs will bring you more pleasure. WKHFDQRQDQGKHOSHGIRUPWKH¿UVW6KHUORFN+ROPHV DSD Society in 1934. Doyle was a founder member of the Crimes Club, which had provided a congenial forum In the Shadow of the Alabama — The British for the gentleman criminologist since 1903. The )RUHLJQ 2I¿FH DQG WKH $PHULFDQ &LYLO :DU by Detection Club maintained the same keen interest in Renata Eley Long. 1DYDO,QVWLWXWH3UHVV . 2015. xiv + contemporary crime (especially unsolved cases), but 254pp. £25.05 (hbk) with a deliberate gaiety expressed in a taste for MHX[ The pride of the Confederate Navy was built in G¶HVSULW . The serious pursuit of fun through parodies, (QJODQG GHVSLWH DQ RI¿FLDO EDQ RQ WKH SURYLVLRQ puzzles, codes and rituals provided a comforting of weapons for states at war. British opinion of the distraction from the public and private griefs of American Civil War was split, with much support for Britain after the Great War. the Confederacy among cotton mill owners, though Edwards, a distinguished crime writer who is also most mill ZRUNHUV favoured the Union cause. And archivist/president-elect of the Club, employs wit and the division in political circles was deep. Politicians, scholarship to defend the genre against the familiar aristocrats, civil servants, arms manufacturers, charges of cosy humdrummery and “snobbery with businessmen all played their part in the drama. So did violence”. He reappraises famous names, remembers spies and detectives, such as Paul Ignatius Pollaky, the forgotten (including Doyle’s godson Bruce who worked for the US government, observing Hamilton) and never neglects his duty to entertain, Confederate agents in Britain (see Bryan Kesselman’s while offering a shrewd commentary on what John ³3DGGLQJWRQ´ 3ROODN\ 3ULYDWH 'HWHFWLYH , reviewed Dickson Carr called “the grandest game in the world”. in the last issue). But there’s a connection that’s closer JH to Holmes. The Confederates evidently had a mole in WKH)RUHLJQ2I¿FHDQGDSULQFLSDOVXVSHFWZDV9LFWRU Buckley, whose position was curiously similar to that Investigating Sherlock ²7KH8QRI¿FLDO*XLGH by of Percy Phelps. Ms Long notes, however, that in “The Nikki Stafford. 0\UPLGRQ . 2015. 229pp. £9.99 (pbk) Naval Treaty” Conan Doyle appears to have drawn Yes, WKH XQRI¿FLDO JXLGH (DFK HSLVRGH LV RQ³PRUHWKDQRQH)RUHLJQ2I¿FHEHWUD\DO´DQGWKH summarised and reviewed; interesting aspects are names she puts forward are all connected in some way SRLQWHGRXW²VRPHVLJQL¿FDQWEXWHDVLO\RYHUORRNHG with the $ODEDPD affair. But her book should be read some amusing (mention of “a Conan Doyle novella” anyway, because of the light it throws on a confused in 7KH5HLFKHQEDFK)DOO ), some just clever; slips are period in British history, and especially on the Anglo- noted (the disappearing and reappearing skull in 7KH American relations that were so important to Arthur %OLQG%DQNHU ); and the many canonical references are Conan Doyle — and still are to us. indicated. We know that the creators of 6KHUORFN are RJ devotees of Conan Doyle’s great original, but few of us, I suspect, appreciate just how much of the canon there is in the TV drama. There’s much more here, Mycroft Holmes b y Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna including interviews with three leading Canadian Waterhouse. 7LWDQ%RRNV . 2015. 323pp. £17.99 (hbk) scholars, Chris Redmond, Charles Prepolec and It is 1870. Mycroft Holmes, a Cambridge graduate Peter Calamai. Although we’ll soon be watching 7KH still in his twenties, is on his way to a glittering career $ERPLQDEOH%ULGH , there’s unlikely to be an updated in the British Government, He is the right hand man edition of ,QYHVWLJDWLQJ6KHUORFN until after Series 4; to the Secretary of State for War, while his eccentric meanwhile I can thoroughly recommend this one. brother is still a student. Full of the energy and RJ enthusiasm of youth, Mycroft is not just advancing in the ranks of government, he has also fallen in love with the clever Georgiana, a scholar at Girton. Sherlock Holmes: The Basil Rathbone Years & Though she seems the quintessential English rose, her Other Films by Scott Palmer. ;OLEULV . 2015. 242pp. roots are in Port of Spain, Trinidad where her parents £55.88 >VLF@ (pbk) own a sugar plantation. It so happens that Mycroft’s The misleading title is not the only odd thing about own Dr Watson, Cyrus Douglas, also hails from Port this book, for it is not restricted to Rathbone’s Holmes of Spain and this is the connection which binds the ¿OPVLQFOXGLQJWKHWZR)R[IHDWXUHVEXWDOVRORRNV three together setting in train a series of disturbing at most of the major Holmes movies made between events. Douglas, a tall black man with a witty turn of 1931 and 1991, and it features individual episodes phrase, is the proprietor of an exclusive tobacco store from the Cushing & Brett TV series. What it gives the where Mycroft buys his cigars. He imparts to Mycroft reader is a cast list, a simple plot synopsis (but with no news of troubling events in Port of Spain where his critical comment) and a series of small screen shots relatives live and, until recently, have sent letters to IURPWKHPRYLHV5XQQLQJWRDERXW¿IWHHQWRDSDJH him. It has been rumoured that young children have these pictures are little bigger than a large postage been found dead on the beach, their bodies drained stamp and the reproduction is poor quality. There of blood! Once they arrive in Port of Spain the pace are better, cheaper reference books out there and if quickens as Mycroft and Douglas seek to solve the 134
mysterious happenings around the coast. Mycroft, as Art in the Blood: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure by observant and perceptive as his brother, is well aware Bonnie MacBird. &ROOLQV&ULPH&OXE . 2015. 320pp. that supernatural forces are not to blame – the dark £12.99 (hbk), £7.99 (pbk) side of human nature is involved! The important elements to get right in a Sherlock The historical perspective of the novel is well Holmes novel are the characters of Holmes & Watson maintained but there are one or two shaky moments. (of course) and the plot, which must work at this Very early on, we seem to be veering away from extended length. We know that Doyle himself had Victorian England to the Wild West as a gang of thugs GLI¿FXOW\ LQ VSLQQLQJ RXW D +ROPHV LQYHVWLJDWLRQ WR gallop after Mycroft and Douglas on horseback and, novel proportions: three of his works had back stories later, there is a leap in time of a century or so when ZKLFK¿OOHGXSKDOIWKHYROXPHDQGRQHKDG+ROPHV Mycroft informs Douglas that he has “sussed out absent for about the same length of time. MacBird the mystery.” These are minor blips; the novel is a certainly succeeds in giving us a spirited, complex rollicking good read with plenty of action and tension plot which takes us from London to Paris (where and well drawn characters in Mycroft and Douglas. we encounter, amongst others, Toulouse-Lautrec), AJ Marseille and to the cotton mills of Lancashire. It is, as the sub-title suggests, ‘an adventure’ and one is never bored. The world of Holmes and Watson is Sherlock Holmes and the Birth of the Ashes by captured nicely, but the writing is modern, cinematic Arunabha Sengupta. Amstelveen, Netherlands: %HVW even, rather than Doylean and for me, Holmes 0\VWHULHV . 2015. 199pp. £4.95 (pbk) UHPDLQV D VRPHZKDW VKDGRZ\ ¿JXUH WKURXJKRXW This is perhaps the strangest pastiche I have ever One the other hand Watson is livelier and more in the read, and believe me…! Its author is chief writer for forefront of the action than usual. This novel has been a cricket website, and a certain degree of knowledge greatly praised by many Holmesians and is indeed an RIERWKWKHJDPHDQGVRPHRILWVJUHDW¿JXUHVRI\RUH entertaining read. is fairly essential for full enjoyment. This is not the DSD ¿UVW WDOH WR LQYROYH +ROPHV ZLWK FULFNHW 6KHUORFN +ROPHV DW WKH )LIWK 7HVW by Stanley Shaw, 1985, springs to mind), but I suggest that it LV the Sherlock Holmes: The Thinking Engine by James ¿UVWWREHHIIHFWLYHO\DGUDPDWL]HGVFRUHFDUG7KH Lovegrove. 7LWDQ%RRNV . 2015. 301pp. £7.99 (pbk) minutiae of what occurred on 29th August 1882 at The last few years have seen an explosion of the Kennington Oval, as England played Australia in pastiche Holmes novels in print and online and I’ve a Test Match, is interwoven with an unsubtle plot of lost any hope of keeping up with all but a few of them. betting skulduggery, which Holmes solves expertly. 7KH7KLQNLQJ(QJLQH is well worth the pursuit. This The whole story leads up to one word on p. 179; and is award winning author James Lovegrove’s third for since that word is in the title, it is not a plot-spoiler to Titan and it’s a belter. Holmes and Watson travel to reveal that Dr. Watson — rather brilliantly —invents Oxford to meet Professor Quantock, who has invented the concept of The Ashes (for which the two teams a complex device, which apparently possesses the have battled ever since). Mr. Sengupta gives notice intellect and soul of a human being and is pitted that this is No. 1 of ‘The Cricket Mysteries of Sherlock against the great detective in solving crime. The plot, Holmes’. I wonder how he can be as wacky again. like the device, is ingenious, with a chilling twist. NU Lovegrove’s tale is an entertaining, intelligent and pacy read, with a great sense of mischievous banter and deep friendship between Holmes and Watson. A Study in Murder by Robert Ryan. 6LPRQ His language is clear and Doylean, avoiding the trap 6FKXVWHU . 2015. 454pp. £18.95 (hbk), £7.99 (pbk) of verbosity and research dump common to so many Sherlock Holmes was undoubtedly engaged in writers trying to emulate the style of the master. intelligence work throughout the Great War, but John KD :DWVRQ¶VU{OHDIWHUMRLQLQJXSZLWKKLVROGVHUYLFHKDV been oddly neglected. Robert Ryan’s accounts are true to the characters we know, true to the time and place, Sherlock Holmes and the Lady in Black by June and genuinely thrilling. Major Watson is a prisoner of Thomson. $OOLVRQ %XVE\ . 2015. 236pp. £19.99 war. His age makes him eligible for repatriation, but (hbk) his case is rejected by an old enemy — Von Bork, and In 1908 Holmes invites Watson to visit him he is transferred to a notorious camp, where his fellow- at his bee farm in Sussex, ostensibly for a simple prisoners are as dangerous as the guards. While he country holiday. In fact he wants his friend’s help exerts himself to solve a deadly mystery, both friend in solving the mystery of the enigmatic woman who and enemy are plotting to save him — and destroy occasionally haunts the nearby seashore at night. Sherlock Holmes. $6WXG\LQ0XUGHU maintains the There’s a mellow charm to the novel, and the style stellar quality of 'HDG0DQ¶V/DQG and 7KH'HDG&DQ is as good as ever. It’s interesting to re-encounter :DLW . Strongly recommended. Inspector Bardle, Harold Stackhurst, Ian Murdoch, RJ Maud Bellamy and her father and brother, all seen this time through Watson’s eyes. June Thomson’s short 135 stories of Sherlock Holmes are exceptionally good, with Ellery Queen’s ill-fated 7KH 0LVDGYHQWXUHV and her +ROPHVDQG:DWVRQ $6WXG\LQ)ULHQGVKLS is RI 6KHUORFN +ROPHV and Marvin Kaye’s 7KH *DPH a major work of Holmesian scholarship, but this story LV $IRRW . The contents are arranged, not altogether of the uncovering of a domestic tragedy is curiously VDWLVIDFWRULO\LQJURXSV VWRULHVE\OLWHUDU\¿JXUHVE\ insubstantial. In which respect, I suppose, it resembles crime writers, by Sherlockians, by humorists, etc. The some of the later canonical accounts. authors include Kingsley Amis, Stephen King, Davis RJ Grubb, Ring Lardner and Anthony Burgess, as well as more obvious names like David Stuart Davies, Laurie King, Anthony Boucher, June Thomson and Lyndsay I Believe in Sherlock Holmes: Early Fan Fiction Faye. Is this in fact “the biggest collection of Sherlock from the Very First Fandom edited by Douglas Holmes stories ever assembled”? As Professor Joad G Greene. 'RYHU 3XEOLFDWLRQV . 2015. xii +220pp. used to say, it all depends on what you mean by... £12.49 (pbk) Let’s just agree that there’s plenty here to enjoy! Early Holmesian parody (it is mostly parody) is RJ as important as the early reviews, and is usually more fun to read. This book opens with “The Great Pegram 0\VWHU\´ ¿UVWSXEOLVKHGLQ DV³'HWHFWLYH6WRULHV The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories Gone Wrong: The Adventures of Sherlaw Kombs” edited by David Marcum. 0; 3XEOLVKLQJ . 2015. by “Luke Sharp” — actually Conan Doyle’s friend Three volumes, each £28.99 (hbk), £17.99 (pbk) Robert Barr) and concludes with Vincent Starrett’s No historical material here. This is all new, and it’s well-loved 1920 parody-pastiche “The Adventure beyond impressive, in quantity (more than 60 stories of the Unique +DPOHW ”. The twelve tales from the in three handsome volumes) and in consistent quality. intervening period include Bret Harte’s brilliant Here are some — most — of the best, most dedicated “The Stolen Cigar Case”, one of RC Lehmann’s Holmesian authors working today: Hugh Ashton, devastatingly funny adventures of Picklock Holes, Matthew Booth, Peter Calamai, Bert Coules, David Mark Twain’s “A Double-Barrelled Detective Story”, Stuart Davies, Carole Nelson Douglas, Matthew J and more or less familiar yarns by John Kendrick Elliott, Lyndsay Faye, Jim French, Paul D Gilbert, Bangs, Maurice Leblanc and O Henry. The particular Phil Growick, John Hall, Michael Kurland, Andrew pleasure for me is the inclusion of much rarer stories Lane, James Lovegrove, Bonnie MacBird, Larry by Allen Upward, Headon Hill, Ellis Parker Butler Millett, Christopher Redmond, Denis O Smith, Tim and J Storer Clouston. Symonds, Amy Thomas, Daniel D Victor... and twice RJ as many again. Respect to David Marcum and MX! RJ Sherlock Holmes — Edwardian Parodies and Pastiches I: 1900-1904 edited by Bill Peschel. Sherlock Holmes: The Plagues of London by 3HVFKHO3UHVV . 2015. 390pp. £10.16 (pbk) Kelvin Jones. &XQQLQJ &ULPH %RRNV . 2015. 312pp. Anyone seriously interested in this early material £8.07 (pbk) should welcome Bill Peschel’s %&DVHERRN6HULHV 7KLVLVWKH¿UVW+ROPHVQRYHOE\DGLVWLQJXLVKHG with joy. This volume follows 7KH (DUO\ Punch Holmesian scholar, and it’s decidedly idiosyncratic. 3DURGLHV RI 6KHUORFN +ROPHV and 6KHUORFN +ROPHV Like 'UDFXOD and 7KH0RRQVWRQH , it consists of letters, ²9LFWRULDQ3DURGLHVDQG3DVWLFKHV , and diary entries and so on, by different characters. In WKHUHDUH¿YHPRUHERRNVWRFRPH0RVWRIWKHDXWKRUV December 1888, Queen Victoria’s physician is found here are frustratingly anonymous or obscure, but murdered. The next day the body of another leading along with Messrs Upward, Twain, Bangs and Barr, medical man is discovered. The police think the crimes contributors include PG Wodehouse and (good grief!) may be the work of Jack the Ripper, but Holmes has EF Benson. As scholar, editor, author and publisher, other ideas. Besides Lestrade and Mycroft, characters Mr Peschel deserves our thanks. If you’ve any doubts, include Charles Augustus Howell, Walter Sickert, and check his web page at http://planetpeschel.com/ Arthur Conan Doyle. The author’s deep knowledge of VKHUORFNKROPHVIDQ¿FWLRQ the time, the place and the criminal history is evident RJ throughout. It’s a gripping read — but be warned: descriptions of mutilation and murder are much more explicit than anything in the canon. The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories edited RJ by Otto Penzler. 9LQWDJH%RRNV . 2015. xxii + 789pp. £26.29 (hbk), £16.54 (pbk) Here are eighty-three pastiches and parodies, Sherlock Holmes: Murder Most Foul by Gordon some very slight, from JM Barrie’s “An Evening With Punter. 2O\PSLDQ 3XEOLVKHUV . 2015. 364pp. £12.99 Sherlock Holmes” (1891) to Neil Gaiman’s “The Case (pbk) of Death and Honey” (2011). There’s some overlap The cover states that this is ‘Not for the squeamish’, with the books edited by Messrs Greene and Peschel, which is pretty accurate if your literary and feminist but not very much. This one has more in common GLVSRVLWLRQLVHDVLO\RIIHQGHG1RWIRUWKH¿UVWWLPH 136
Sherlock Holmes is in Jack the Ripper territory, with the area in which the ELT Press specialises (“English potential for a new take on the killer’s motivations. Literature in Transition”). Rowland is a Hornung However, the book isn’t sure what it is trying to be. biographer, and this literary venture (uncompleted at There are lengthy descriptions of the actual Ripper the time of Hornung’s death in March 1921) comes murders, and the author has made use of footnotes and from a large collection of the author’s papers at an extensive glossary for practically every word in the Birmingham University. There is an informative book which might be considered tricky for a twenty Introduction, some notes, three very small ¿UVW FHQWXU\ UHDGHU 6XFK DQ DPDOJDP FDQ ZRUN LI reproductions of MS pages and six pages of pure with accurate research which adds something new to speculation as to what might have happened if the KLVWRULFHYHQWVDQGFUXFLDOO\LIWKH¿FWLRQDOLVHGWKUHDG QRYHOKDGEHHQ¿QLVKHG,HQMR\WKH5DIÀHVVWRULHV and characterisations of Holmes and Watson are EXW¿QGWKLVVRPHZKDWRYHUZULWWHQ WKHKHDYLQHVVRI sound and vivid. Unfortunately, despite an interesting sentences gets in the way of a potentially interesting twist on the identity of the Ripper, this book doesn’t little plot: young Caleb York comes back from what GHOLYHU LW¶VDQXQHDV\K\EULGRIIDFWDQG¿FWLRQZKLFK has been presumed to be his death, is charmed by his VDWLV¿HVRQQHLWKHUFRXQW young step-sister, may or possibly may not (here’s the KD speculation) have murdered his brother and is driven away by an unknowing chauffeur of a stranger’s car (York somewhat implausibly burning his beard off The Final Problem by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with matches while hiding under rugs on the back adapted and illustrated by Petr Kopl. 0;3XEOLVKLQJ . seat…) Obviously this has nothing to do with Holmes, 2015. 196pp. £9.99 (pbk) but will be interesting to those who have a hankering Petr Kopl’s series of graphic novels, translated for Hornung. from the Czech, is as intelligent, loving and witty an NU adaptation as, say, 6KHUORFN . This third book links “The Final Problem”, “The Empty House” and “Charles Augustus Milverton” — and, since the eight-volume In brief 9LFWRULD5HJLQD series isn’t limited to the adventures $)DUHZHOOWR%DNHU6WUHHW by Mark Mower (MX, of Sherlock Holmes, there are elements from Bram IHDWXUHV¿YHHQJDJLQJWDOHVYHU\ZHOOZULWWHQ 6WRNHU.DUHOýDSHNDQG-XOHV9HUQHDVZHOO,W¶VPDG in the traditional manner. exciting, funny and superbly illustrated. 7KH6KHUORFN+ROPHV3X]]OH&ROOHFWLRQ 7KH/RVW RJ &DVHV by Tim Dedopulos (Carlton Books, £14.99) is the second in a series. Don’t expect real detective mysteries in this handsome volume. Nearly all the 141 The Return of Sherlock Holmes: The Case Notes “cerebral challenges” are mathematical puzzles, with by Joel Jessup. $QGUH 'HXWVFK . 2015. 63pp plus 3 no story to speak of. If that’s the sort of thing you like, “evidence bags”. £19.99 (hbk) then I think you’ll like this book. Joel Jessup evidently read 7KH 5HWXUQ before Every three years, Irregulars convene at Saratoga producing what purport to be Watson’s original Raceway in upstate New York for the running of notes for nine of the thirteen cases. The result is a the Silver Blaze and a programme of short talks. very nice looking book, with photographs and faux 6DUDWRJD $W WKH 5DLO ² )URP ³6LOYHU %OD]H´ WR documents that mostly have the right appearance ³6KRVFRPEH2OG3ODFH´ edited by Candace J Lewis and atmosphere. True, Hugo Oberstein has been and Roger Donway (The Baker Street Irregulars, renamed Johann Jurgenstein; “Captain Basil” has $18.95), the third published collection to come from become “Basil Shenton”; there’s an anachronistic those meetings examines the art of Sidney Paget pair of handcuffs; the murder at Appledore Towers is and Frank Wiles, who illustrated “Silver Blaze” and apparently investigated by the City Police instead of “Shoscombe Old Place” respectively, and Frederic the Met; and, astonishingly, Watson claims not to be Dorr Steele; the behaviour of dogs in the night-time; a smoker! Generally, though, the book is clever and how Sir Robert Norberton made crime pay; alleged JUHDWIXQ7KH¿UVW &DVH1RWHV volume, published in anti-Semitism in the canon; and the identity of 2009 was a sadly wasted opportunity. This one is an Shoscombe Prince. Excellent! immense improvement! %DUU\ %DVNHUYLOOH 7UDSV D 7KLHI by Richard L RJ Kellogg, illustrated by Gary Kato (Airship 27, £7.02) brings back the boy sleuth of Watsonville. These little books are intelligent, entertaining and attractive. Ideal +LV%URWKHU¶V%ORRG±7KH/DVW 8Q¿QLVKHG 1RYHO for young readers. by EW Hornung, edited by Peter Rowland. (/7 RJ 3UHVV (Johns Hopkins University Press). 2015. 111pp. £19.81 (hbk) Hornung was, of course, Doyle’s brother-in-law DQG FUHDWRU RI 5DIÀHV WKH ³$PDWHXU &UDFNVPDQ´ From 1890-1921, he produced some thirty novels, collections of short stories and poetry — precisely