SHERLOCK HOLMES, NO. 1 (1975)

In 1975, D.C. Comics attempted to add Sherlock Holmes to their pantheon of superheroes with SHERLOCK HOLMES, NO. 1. This was an adaptation of The Final Problem and The Adventure of the Empty House with an emphasis on ACTION (of course). There was never an issue No. 2.

Title: SHERLOCK HOLMES, NO. 1

Author: Dennis J. O'Neil & E.R. Cruz

Year: 1975

Publisher: National Periodical (D.C. Comics)

Purchase: Amazon.

Red Leech (2010)

Andrew Lane's second Young Sherlock Holmes novel had Sherlock traveling to America during the Civil War. Unlike the first book, this time the title nicely tied into the canon. In the The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez, Watson makes mention of "the repulsive story of the red leech." Unfortunately, in the U.S. the book was retitled Rebel Fire.

A DEAD MAN WALKING

A SCARRED FACE

A CRIME THSAT SHATTERED A COUNTRY

Sherlock Holmes knows that adults keep secrets. But he didn't expect to find the world's most famous assassin apparently living in Surrey when he's meant to be dead – and his own brother somehow involved.

When no one will tell you the truth, sometimes you have to risk all to discover it for yourself. So begins an adventure that will lead Sherlock to America, to the centre of a deadly web – where life and death are cheap, and the truth has a price no sane person would pay . . .

Title: Young Sherlock Holmes: Red Leech

Author: Andrew Lane

Year: 2010

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Purchase: Amazon.co.uk.

Also see: Young Sherlock Holmes: Death Cloud

The Three Monarchs (2014)

This original Sherlock Holmes short story by House of Silk author Anthony Horowitz was released as an eBook in 2014.

An original Sherlock Holmes short story from the New York Times bestselling author of The House of Silk and Moriarty—one of the only writers to earn the seal of approval from Conan Doyle’s estate. 

In this e-original short story, Sherlock Holmes and James Watson come together once again to uncover the motive behind a robbery gone awry. When an elderly man shoots an intruder he finds in his home, it seems like a clear case of self-defense. What’s not so clear is why the robber was there. His bag contains no silver or jewelry­—only three crude ceramic figurines of Queen Victoria which were mass-produced for her Golden Jubilee. When two of the figurines are traced to other houses on the same street, it’s Sherlock Holmes who sees the key to unlock the mystery. 

Title: The Three Monarchs

Author: Anthony Horowitz

Year: 2014

Publisher: HarperCollins

Purchase: Amazon.

Also see: The House of Silk

The Revenge of Moriarty (1975)

Long before the Anthony Horowitz bestseller, Moriarty, author John Gardner penned two novels about Sherlock Holmes' arch nemesis: The Return of Moriarty and The Revenge of Moriarty. The long delayed third book, originally to be called The Redemption of Moriarty, was published posthumously in 2008 as just Moriarty. This Berkley paperback edition of Gardner's second book was the first U.S. edition.

THE NAPOLEON OF CRIME IS BACK!

San Francisco, 1896. The foggy mists are lifting, and who should emerge from the sinister back alleys to reclaim his title as the most dangerous scientific criminal of his time but the nefarious Professor James Moriarty! Rising like a wicked phoenix from the ashes of his own destruction, Moriarty vows to launch a vendetta against the European underworld leaders who turned on him and left him in the clutches of Sherlock Holmes.

Back in London to take revenge! Baiting them with their favorite vices––spectacular German jewels, a delectable Italian beauty, the prized Mona Lisa, a very accommodating servant girl––Moriarty plays on their sinful weaknesses, and one by one ropes them in as only he can. Then, daring to commit his most horrible scheme, the professor masterminds a plot to destroy the legendary Holmes by cutting off his cocaine supply and bringing him to public disgrace.

Is there no stopping this dastardly genius? Does this really mean the end of the Baker Street Sleuth––and a gruesome triumph of Professor Moriarty??

Title: The Revenge of Moriarty

Author: John Gardner

Year: 1975

Publisher: Berkley

Purchase: Amazon (hardcover).

Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street (1962)

A fictional "biography" of the great detective by noted Sherlockian, William S. Baring-Gould. In the UK the book was titled just Sherlock Holmes. Pictured here is the first U.S. hardcover edition.

Although millions know of Sherlock Holmes through the chronicles of Dr. Watson, it is only now that, owing to his recent death, the full biography and facts of his life can be brought before the public. This volume brings together for the first time every known fact that can be fully authenticated about the life of one of the world's most extraordinary men, and reveals much more about him that has not been heretofore generally known. From twenty years' research into every possible source, the author has written as definitive and account as could ever be assembled. 

SHERLOCK HOLMES OF BAKER STREET reveals far more than Watson ever could, including the whole story of his running battle with the infamous Professor Moriarty, his dangerous brush with Jack the Ripper, his long association and love for Irene Adler, the question of his own son, the story of his retirement, the writing of his great book, and the circumstances of his death.

Title: Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street

Author: William S. Baring-Gould

Year: 1962

Publisher: Bramhall House

Purchase: Amazon.

LINK: You Say Fanfic, I Say Pastiche - Is There a Difference?

Here's another excellent post at the premiere Sherlock Holmes website, I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, that is related to our little niche here at Sherlock's Vault.

When is a Holmes story considered a Pastiche, Parody, or Fanfic?

Click on the headline to find out.

Sherlock Holmes: A Play (1974)

Was William Gillette's play Sherlock Holmes the very first Holmes pastiche? I'm afraid I'm not Sherlockian enough to answer that question, but it may have been the first officially sanctioned non-canonical adventure. When Gillette wrote to Doyle asking if he could marry off Holmes, the author responded, "You may marry him, or murder or do what you like with him."

Below is the play in a limited edition hardcover from 1974.

Based upon the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Gillette's play in a book edition, illustrated by Frederic Dorr Steel–with his Reminiscent Notes–and the Introduction by Vincent Starrett, was first published by Doubleday Doran in 1935, and although differing somewhat from the Samuel French Play Edition, 1922, which gives both William Gillette and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as authors, subsequently became a coveted and scare book. The present edition is printed from the original Doubleday Doran plates, including illustrations and dust jacket.

Besides Gillette himself (below), the famous play has seen many notable actors playing Holmes, including: H. A. Saintsbury, John Barrymore (on film), John Wood, Leonard Nimoy, and Frank Langella. Gillette's own 1916 silent film adaptation, long thought lost, was discovered in 2014.

Title: Sherlock Holmes: A Play

Author: William Gillette

Year: 1974

Publisher: Helan Halbach

Purchase: Amazon.

LINK: Author Lyndsay Faye on the Art of Pastichery and the Lost Sherlock Holmes Story

As this is a blog devoted to pastiche Holmes adventures, I thought I'd direct your attention to this excellent interview with author and BSI member, Lyndsay Faye, at my favorite Sherlockian website, I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. Good stuff here.

"Pastiches shouldn't read like a stream of rehashed cliches. The story we are about to hear should be true--or at least sound it."

Click here or on the headline to have a read at I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.