"Somewhere in the vaults of the bank of Cox and Co., at Charing Cross, there is a travel-worn and battered tin dispatch-box with my name, John H. Watson, M.D., painted upon the lid. It is crammed with papers, nearly all of which are records of cases to illustrate the curious problems which Mr. Sherlock Holmes has at various times to examine."

Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Sherlock Holmes in Orbit (1995)

A "truly original" collection of 26 Holmes stories officially authorized by Dame Jean Conan Doyle. This is the paperback first. A hardcover was released in 1997.

NOT EVEN TIME CAN DEFEAT
THE MASTER SLEUTH
in this intriguing anthology of 26 new stories about the most famous and popular detective in the annals of literature–Sherlock Holmes. This volume, authorized for publication by Dame Jean Conan Doyle, contains stories by such top talents as Vonda McIntyre, Frank M. Robinson, Craig Shaw Gardner, David Gerrold, and Mike Resnick, masterful plotters who cleverly set their crime scenarios in every age from Holmes' era to own time or our future, and sometimes even dare to follow the great detective's career after his death. 
From confrontations with Fu Manchu and Moriarty, to a commission Holmes undertakes for a vampire, to a tale in which the master of logic is reconstituted as a computer program, here are truly original stories, all of which contain some science fiction or fantasy element and all of which remain true to the spirit and personality of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous and enduring creation.
THE MUSGRAVE VERSION
THE CASE OF THE DETECTIVE'S SMILE
THE ADVENTURE OF THE RUSSIAN GRAVE
THE ADVENTURE OF THE FIELD THOREMS
THE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING COFFIN
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SECOND SCARF
THE PHANTOM OF THE BARBARY COAST
MOUSE AND THE MOAST
TWO ROADS, NO CHOICES
THE RICHMOND ENIGMA
A STUDY IN SUSSEX
THE HOLMES TEAM ADVANTAGE
ALIMENTARY, MY DEAR WATSON
THE FUTURE ENGINE
HOLMES EX MACHINA
THE SHERLOCK SOLUTION
THE FAN WHO MOLDED HIMSELF
SCOND FIDDLE
MORIARTY BY MODEM
THE GREATEST DETECTIVE OF ALL
THE CASE OF THE PURLOINED L'ISITEK
THE ADVENTURE OF THE ILLEGAL ALIEN
DOGS, MASQUES, LOVE, DEATH: FLOWERS
YOU SEE BUT YOU DO NOT OBSERVE
ILLUSIONS
THE ADVENTURE OF THE PEARLY GATE 

Title: Sherlock Holmes in Orbit
Editors: Mike Resnick, Martin H. Greenberg
Year: 1995
Publisher: DAW
Purchase: Amazon (U.S.) | Amazon (UK)

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

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

Saturday, October 11, 2025

Cry for Thunder (2014)

An unusual pairing that seems right for this Halloween season. Kolchak: The Night Stalker was a popular TV show in the 1970s starring Darren McGavin as reporter Carl Kolchak, who uncovers paranormal mysteries and his fair share of monsters. This is the 2014 hardcover. It was also released in paperback.

BASED ON TRUE EVENTS... a historic unveiling! Not a dream, not a hoax, not a parallel universe! Two of the most unique investigators of all time try to untangle the same mystery... one hundred years apart from each other! The lawless Wild West; the hidden world of Victorian London; the present-day hell of Hollywood... there... and back again. Follow Holmes' trail of a man who was wrongfully - and willingly - imprisoned, to shocking New World Order anarchy, to a beautiful woman who needs Kolchak to delve into the surreal past, to the shunned man who has the key!

Title: Cry For Thunder
Author: Joe Gentile
Year: 2014
Publisher: Moonstone
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Friday, September 19, 2025

They Might Be Giants (1970)

Is this a Holmes movie? Is this a Holmes pastiche? Well, I consider it a Holmes movie, and a darn good one at that. But maybe I'm just delusional. This illustrated paperback is the original play by James Goldman on which the 1971 movie was based.

HE believed he was fiction's greatest super-sleuth!
SHE didn't–not for a second!
Until he led her on a wild and wonderful trackdown of his arch-nemesis who might–just might–exist!

Title: They Might Be Giants
Author: James Goldman
Year: 1970
Publisher: Lancer Books
Purchase: Amazon.com

Saturday, August 30, 2025

Sherlock Holmes and the Real Thing (2025)

Another Sherlock Holmes novel (No. 7) from the great Nicholas Meyer. I just hope the book is better than what appears to be an AI-generated cover. This is Nicholas Meyer for crying out loud! He and we deserve "the real thing."

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson delve into the world of art forgery in this new historical mystery from the author of Sherlock Holmes and the Telegram from Hell.

London, 189–: The great city is brought to a standstill by a series of blizzards and Sherlock Holmes is bored to distraction. It would take a miracle to bring a case to the detective’s door...

What arrives is not promising: a landlady who complains her artist tenant is behind on rent. Not exactly the miracle for which Holmes was hoping. But, next thing you know, there are several corpses and Sherlock Holmes and his biographer, John H. Watson, MD, find themselves drawn into one of the most bizarre cases of the great detective’s career. And into the cutthroat big business of Art, where chicanery and mendacity (and cut throats) proliferate.

What makes a work of art worth killing for? Is it the artist, his mistress, his dealer, or his blackmailer? The cast of characters is large. But are they perpetrators, accomplices, or victims? And just who is Juliet Packwood, with whom Watson has become infatuated?

Oh, and there’s one other problem: Is this a genuine Holmes case or a clever forgery? Is this the real thing?

If you can’t tell the difference, what is the difference?


Title: Sherlock Holmes and the Real Thing
Author: Nicholas Meyer
Year: 2025
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Purchase: Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

Sunday, August 3, 2025

Of Shadows and Wonders (2025)

A collection of three original Holmes stories by Aurelien Louvet. Nice cover.

Step once more into the heart of Victorian London with the legendary Sherlock Holmes and his loyal companion, Dr. Watson

In this collection of three original mysteries—faithfully inspired by the world and style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—Holmes faces baffling puzzles, sinister conspiracies, and secrets long buried. As danger lurks in the fog and deception lies at every turn, only his unmatched intellect can bring the truth to light.

The Chronofabulist
A man claiming to have traveled from 1824 arrives in London with disturbing predictions and a strange invention. As Holmes investigates the enigmatic Gideon Blacksmith and his wealthy followers, he must untangle a web of science, illusion, and manipulation—where time itself may be the greatest mystery.

The Case of the Missing Airship
When a revolutionary airship disappears during its maiden voyage, Holmes is called upon by the government to investigate. In a world of industrial espionage, secret societies, and grand ambitions, the great detective must navigate the moors of Dartmoor and the corridors of power to prevent a national crisis.

The Child of the Fog
In a quiet village shrouded in mist, a young child vanishes while staying with his grandparents. Faced with tangled family secrets and carefully hidden lies, Holmes must see through layers of deception to rescue the missing and reveal the truth.


Title: Sherlock Holmes - Of Shadows and Wonders
Author: Aurelien Louvet
Year: 2025
Publisher: Independently Published
Purchase: Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Baker Street: The Curious Case Files of Sherlock Holmes (2025)

Something a little different today, but definitely a book that will be of interest to fans of pastiche adventures. 

Baker Street is your ultimate guide to the enduring world of Sherlock Holmes. This comprehensive book explores the original tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, delving into the genius behind the legendary detective. From there, it ventures into the fascinating realm of pastiche novels, tracing their evolution from the early 1900s to the present day. Dive into Holmes’ cinematic journey, from silent-era experiments to today’s sophisticated adaptations, and discover how each era reimagined the detective and his loyal companion, Dr. Watson. A must-read for Holmes enthusiasts, Baker Street celebrates the literary and cultural impact of the world’s greatest consulting detective across generations and mediums.
 
Title: Baker Street: The Curious Case Files of Sherlock Holmes
Author: David Foster
Year: 2025
Publisher: Genius Book Publishing
Purchase: Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

Sunday, July 6, 2025

Holmes and Moriarty (2024)

A Holmes pastiche by Gareth Rubin endorsed by the Conan Doyle Estate. Cover image below is the 2025 paperback edition sporting the estate's logo.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson have been hired by theater actor George Reynolds to find out why the audience who comes to see him perform onstage every night are the same people—only wearing different disguises each time. Is something sinister going on and, if so, what?

Meanwhile, Holmes’s archenemy, Professor James Moriarty, is having problems of his own. Implicated in a rival gang leader’s murder, Moriarty and his second, Moran, must go on the run from the police as they try to find out who’s behind the frame-up.

But their investigation puts them in the way of Holmes and Watson and it’s not long before all four realize they’re being targeted by the same person. With million of lives on the line, Holmes and Moriarty must form an uneasy alliance in order to unmask the true villain.

For fans of Anthony Horowitz's The House of Silk and Moriarty, this is the first Sherlock Holmes book endorsed by the Conan Doyle Estate in over a decade.


Title: Holmes and Moriarty
Author: Gareth Rubin
Year: 2024
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Purchase: Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini, 1897-1899

This one wasn't found inside the tin dispatch box. In fact, it's not even a Sherlock Holmes story. But it is about an acknowledged Sherlockian who became a friend (and then foe) to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and is known to have helped the great detective from time to time. This is my own first book about Harry Houdini!

HOUDINI BEGINS! 

Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini, 1897-1899, reproduces every page of Houdini's very first diary, kept when he was a struggling performer playing dime museums, medicine shows, circuses, and séance chambers. It's an incredible artifact that has never been made available to the public, and an inspiring story of perseverance. The diary is annotated by Houdini historian John Cox and illustrated with previously unseen material from the world's finest magic collections.

Will Houdini escape his obscurity? Read the story in his own words.

Title: Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini, 1897-1899
Author: John Cox
Year: 2025
Publisher: Mike Caveney's Magic Words
Purchase: Mike Caveney's Magic Words

Saturday, June 21, 2025

A Three-Pipe Problem (1976)

The exploits of wannabe or delusional Sherlocks were popular in the 1970s. There was the excellent 1971 film They Might Be Giants with George C. Scott, as well as a TV movie The Return of the World's Greatest Detective with Larry Hagman. This 1976 novel by Julian Symons picked up on the theme.

Small-time actor, Sheridan Haynes, had a rather unhealthy preoccupation with Sherlock Holmes. So when the chance came for him to play the famous detective in a TV series, it seemed his dreams had come true. And when London was plagued by a series of unsolved murders, well it seemed only natural for him to take his role into real life. Was this a case of a laughable and misguided actor, or was Sherdian actually on to something?

Title: A Three-Pipe Problem
Author: Julian Symons
Year: 1976
Publisher: Avon
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

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