The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1985)

Okay, this isn't a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, but I wanted to celebrate the 40th anniversary today of the first airing in the U.S. of the great Granda series starring Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes (it had premiered in the UK a year before). Still the best Holmes adaptations, IMO, and I love this Dell paperback from 1985 that tied-in with the series. Now that's a Holmes for the '80s!

"Come, Watson, come! The game is afoot!"

Here, in thirteen of his finest adventures––brought together for the first time in one paperback volume––Sherlock Holmes, the world's most famous detective, helps governesses in distress, clears young men wrongly accused of dire crimes, and catches criminals in cases hopelessly bungled by Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. No sinister development can dissuade Holmes from pursuing each mystery to its brilliant conclusion––not even the malevolent cunning of Morality, his arch enemy, the Napoleon of Crime. 

Just as the Granada TV series carries us back, with stunning authenticity, into the fascinating Victorian era, these stories carry us into a world of mystery without parallel, setting a standard still unsurpassed in a century of detective fiction.

If you also love Jeremy Brett and the Granada series as well, I HIGHLY recommend The Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes Podcast.

Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Year: 1985
Publisher: Dell
Purchase: Amazon.

VIDEO: Sherlock Holmes Pastiches

Something a little different today, but still on topic. All but one of these (R. Holmes & Co.) I've covered here on The Battered Tin. Enjoy.

The Dartmoor Horror (2021)

More problems at Dartmoor. Sir Henry, just move already! While this is touted as a sequel to The Hound of the Baskervilles, an authorized sequel, The Revenge of the Hound, came out in 1987.

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND DR. WATSON RETURN TO THE MOORS IN THE SHOCKING SUPERNATURAL SEQUEL TO THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES.  

All is finally safe and secure at Baskerville Hall. The legendary Hound from Hell has been shot and killed by Sherlock Holmes; the dog's master, Jack Stapleton, has been sucked down into the depths of the Grimpen Mire, and the case Dr. Watson chose to call "The Hound of the Baskervilles" for readers of The Strand Magazine is officially closed...or is it?

Mysterious events and untimely deaths continue to swirl around the squire of Baskerville Hall, prompting a frightened Sir Henry to call upon the services of the great detective once again. Holmes and Watson return to the moor to save the last of the Baskervilles; but this time, they must also combat supernatural forces that were so quickly dismissed before. The question then becomes...how can they possibly succeed?

Title: The Dartmoor Horror
Author: Joe DeSantis
Year: 2021
Publisher: Berlanger Books
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Devil's Blaze (2022)

The second novel by Robert J. Harris set during the time of the Universal Basil Rathbone films. Why then the cover image of Rathbone and Bruce from the Victorian-set 20th Century Fox films? That's the true mystery!

The world’s greatest detective returns. 

London, 1943. Across the city prominent figures in science and the military are bursting into flame and being incinerated. Convinced that the Germans have deployed a new terror weapon, a desperate government turns to the one man who can track down the source of this dreadful menace - Sherlock Holmes.

The quest for a solution drives Holmes into an uneasy alliance with the country’s most brilliant scientific genius, Professor James Moriarty. Only Holmes knows that, behind his façade of respectability, Moriarty is the mastermind behind a vast criminal empire. As they pursue the trail of incendiary murders, Holmes is quite sure that the professor is playing a double game and that there lies ahead a duel to the death which they cannot both survive.

A tribute to the classic Universal Pictures Sherlock Holmes film series starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

Title: The Devil's Blaze
Author: Robert J. Harris
Year: 2022
Publisher: Polygon
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Under a Raven's Wing (2021)

A collection of shorts stories by Stephen Volk that finds a young Sherlock Holmes in Paris under the mentorship of Auguste Dupin.

The Apprenticeship of Sherlock Holmes 

In 1870s Paris, long before meeting his Dr Watson, the young man who will one day become the world’s greatest detective finds himself plunged into a mystery that will change his life forever. 

A brilliant man―C. Auguste Dupin―steps from the shadows. Destined to become his mentor. Soon to introduce him to a world of ghastly crime and seemingly inexplicable horrors. The spectral tormentor that is being called, in hushed tones, The Phantom of the Opera . . . The sinister old man who visits corpses in the Paris morgue . . . An incarcerated lunatic who insists she is visited by creatures from the Moon . . .  A hunchback discovered in the bell tower of Notre Dame . . .  And―perhaps most shocking of all―the awful secret Dupin himself hides from the world. 

Tales of Mystery, Imagination, and Terror. Investigated in the company of the darkest master of all.

Title: Under a Raven's Wing
Author: Stephen Volk
Year: 2021
Publisher: PS Publishing
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

A Study in Crimson (2020)

The first of two Holmes books by Robert J. Harris cleverly set during the era of the Universal Basil Rathbone films.

SHERLOCK HOLMES RETURNS!

LONDON, 1942. A killer going by the name of 'Crimson Jack' is stalking the wartime streets of London, murdering women on the exact dates of the infamous Jack the Ripper killings of 1888. Has the Ripper somehow returned from the grave? Is the self-styled Crimson Jack a descendant of the original Jack or merely a madman obsessed with those notorious killings?

In desperation Scotland Yard turn to Sherlock Holmes, the world's greatest detective. Surely he is the one man who can sift fact from legend and track down Crimson Jack before he completes his tally of death. As Holmes and the faithful Watson tread the blacked out streets of London, death waits just around the corner.

Inspired by the classic film series from Universal Pictures starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, which updated Sherlock Holmes to the 1940s, this is a brand new adventure from the acclaimed author of The Thirty-One Kings, Castle Macnab and the Artie Conan Doyle Mysteries.

Title: A Study in Crimson
Author: Robert J. Harris
Year: 2020
Publisher: Polygon
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas (2024)

A collection of new Holmes stories for the holidays from Belanger Books and the Strand Magazine.

An Advent Calendar of Twelve All New Sherlock Holmes Adventures

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas is a collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories to be read over the holiday season (i.e. from December 1st to December 26th). Each story is divided into two sections. The first day provides the case to the reader. The second day provides the ending. You get to think like Sherlock Holmes and see if you can solve the case before reading the thrilling conclusion.

Mysteries Include:

The Adventure of the Dreadful Author

The Auction of the Prehistoric Beast

The Christmas Ripper

The Adventure of the Gentle Axe Murderer

The Bordello Endemic

The Adventure of the Generous Miser

Dr. Watson Takes the Case

And many, many more traditional Sherlock Holmes adventures!

Title: Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas
Author: Derrick Belanger
Year: 2024
Publisher: Belanger Books
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)

No, not Mycroft. It's Sigerson! This is the novelization of the 1975 film written, directed, and starring Gene Wilder.

Can the sexual insecurities of one young beauty determine the fate of England?
Of course. But how?

Elementary!

Huh? As you can see, this is no case for any ordinary detective.
This is a case for...

Sigerson Holmes? 

It's Sherlock's smarter brother (believe us, he's not ordinary) up to the family snuff in a riotous case of stolen documents and stolen love where one clue doesn't necessarily lead to another–but you're too busy laughing to care!

Title: The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
Author: Gilbert Pealman
Year: 1975
Publisher: Ballantine
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Consultations of Sherlock Holmes (2023)

A unique set of sixteen Holmes stories featuring the great detective in his self-stated role as "Consulting Detective."

Instead of focusing on the usual mysteries in which Sherlock Holmes is the primary investigator, this volume puts a spotlight on an oft-overlooked part of his career in detection, putting the emphasis on his role as a consultant. 

For the first time ever, The Consultations of Sherlock Holmes collects sixteen ingenious cases in which he serves as a last resort for other detectives – both private investigators and those from the official police force – who come to Holmes for his unique perspective and aid as "the only unofficial consulting detective" in the world.

Title: The Consultations of Sherlock Holmes
Editor: Ray Riethmeier
Year: 2023
Publisher: Belanger Books
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Sherlock Holmes Solves the Mystery of Edwin Drood (1924)

A very early Holmes pastiche by Harry B. Smith published in Munsey magazine in December 1924.

THE FAMOUS DETECTIVE APPLIES HIS CRITICAL METHOD TO THE MOST FASCINATING OF ALL LITERARY PUZZLES

Title: Sherlock Holmes Solves the Mystery of Edwin Drood
Author: Harry B. Smith
Year: 1924
Publisher: Munsey Magazine
Read: Roy Glashan's Library