Holmes and Houdini (2017)

The latest Holmes-Houdini crossover is from Ron Fortier's Airship 27. Nice Peter Cushing inspired Holmes on the cover. Interestingly, Cushing also played Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the 1976 television biopic The Great Houdinis.

 

Terror in Gaslight 

They call themselves the Far Edge Club, a mysterious cabal of rich, sadistic hedonists who live only to create pain and fear in others. Just one man has ever bested their perverted schemes, the world renowned magician and escape artist, Harry Houdini. London becomes the stage for their final confrontation. 

The Club has recruited an army of killers in their maddened goal to destroy Houdini. But they are unaware he is not without his own allies. Joining the fray at the American’s side is none other than the Great Detective of Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes, and his loyal companion, Dr. Watson. Together these exceptional heroes will battle an insidious evil and attempt to solve the mystery of the Ghost Mask of L’Inconnu. 

Writer I.A. Watson delivers an incredible adventure mystery that will keep readers up till the wee hours of the night. “Homes & Houdini” is New Pulp fiction at its finest.

Title: Holmes and Houdini
Author: I.A. Watson
Year: 2017
Publisher: Airship 27
Purchase: Amazon.com

The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons, Vol. II (2017)

The second volume of a limited two-volume set collecting the Basil Copper Solar Pons adventures. Release date is February 2017 from PS Publishing.

From the Introduction: 

Basil never had the pleasure of seeing all his Pons stories collected in a definitive omnibus edition. However, before his death in April 2013 at the age of 89, he and I started working on these two volumes. I also wanted to collect all his macabre fiction together and, with the help of PS Publishing, we did just that in 2010. Two years later we collaborated again to publish Basil’s Gothic novel The Curse of the Fleers in a version that the author originally intended. 

Although it saddens me that he never lived to see this handsome presentation of his entire Solar Pons Canon from the same imprint, I’m also heartened to know he was aware that we were working on it. 

It has taken forty years but here, finally, are The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons by Basil Copper. Once again prepare to be plunged into an idyllic English countryside or the chill and foggy streets of London, as that great city’s second most famous consulting detective—ably supported by the reliable Dr. Lyndon Parker—uses his “ratiocinative” powers of logical deduction to solve murders both mysterious and macabre . . . 

—Stephen Jones 

CONTENTS Volume II 

THE EXPLOITS OF SOLAR PONS; The Adventure of the Verger’s Thumb, The Adventure of the Phantom Face, Death at the Metropole, The Adventure of the Callous Colonel.

THE RECOLLECTIONS OF SOLAR PONS; The Adventure of the Cursed Curator, The Adventure of the Hound of Hell, The Adventure of the Mad Millionaire, The Adventure of the Devil’s Claw.

THE SOLAR PONS COMPANION; Foreword, In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes, Plots of the Stories, Characters in the Stories, The Sayings of Solar Pons, Solar Pons Plot and Dialogue Notes (Stephen Jones), The Adventure of the Northleach Stocks (Stephen Jones), Painting Pons: Artist Ben Stahl (Stephen Jones).

THE FINAL CASES; The Adventure of the Defeated Doctor, The Adventure of the Agonised Actor, The Adventure of the Persecuted Painter.

Title: The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons, Vol. II
Author: Basil Copper, Stephen Jones (editor)
Year: 2017
Publisher: PS Publishing
Purchase: PS Publishing

The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons, Vol. I (2017)

The first volume of a limited two-volume set collecting the Basil Copper Solar Pons adventures. Release date is February 2017 from PS Publishing.

From the Introduction: 

Basil never had the pleasure of seeing all his Pons stories collected in a definitive omnibus edition. However, before his death in April 2013 at the age of 89, he and I started working on these two volumes. I also wanted to collect all his macabre fiction together and, with the help of PS Publishing, we did just that in 2010. Two years later we collaborated again to publish Basil’s Gothic novel The Curse of the Fleers in a version that the author originally intended. 

Although it saddens me that he never lived to see this handsome presentation of his entire Solar Pons Canon from the same imprint, I’m also heartened to know he was aware that we were working on it. 

It has taken forty years but here, finally, are The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons by Basil Copper. Once again prepare to be plunged into an idyllic English countryside or the chill and foggy streets of London, as that great city’s second most famous consulting detective—ably supported by the reliable Dr. Lyndon Parker—uses his “ratiocinative” powers of logical deduction to solve murders both mysterious and macabre . . . 

—Stephen Jones 

CONTENTS Volume I 

THE DOSSIER OF SOLAR PONS; Explanation by Dr. Lyndon Parker, The Adventure of the Perplexed Photographer, The Sealed Spiral Mystery, The Adventure of the Six Gold Doubloons, The Adventure of the Ipi Idol, The Adventure of Buffington Old Grange, The Adventure of the Hammer of Hate. 

THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SOLAR PONS; The Adventure of the Shaft of Death, The Adventure of the Baffled Baron, The Adventure of the Surrey Sadist, The Adventure of the Missing Student.

THE SECRET FILES OF SOLAR PONS; The Adventure of the Crawling Horror, The Adventure of the Anguished Actor, The Adventure of the Ignored Idols, The Adventure of the Horrified Heiress.

SOME UNCOLLECTED CASES OF SOLAR PONS; The Adventure of the Haunted Rectory, The Adventure of the Singular Sandwich, Murder at the Zoo, The Adventure of the Frightened Governess.

Title: The Complete Adventures of Solar Pons, Vol. I
Author: Basil Copper, Stephen Jones (editor)
Year: 2017
Publisher: PS Publishing
Purchase: PS Publishing

The Childhood of Sherlock Holmes (2000)

Mona Morstein's studious take on Sherlock's childhood as recalled by the family butler.

A butler who shared years of employment with the Holmes family draws a clear portrait of Sherlock as a child. Read about Sherlock’s precocious and unsettling older brother Mycroft. Revealed at last is the whole dysfunctional household that shaped the character of the great detective. We are enabled to interpret Holmes’ personality traits in a more sympathetic and lucid manner.

Title: The Childhood of Sherlock Holmes: The Butler's Tale
Author: Mona Morstien
Year: 2000
Publisher: Galde Press
Purchase: Amazon.

A Study in Brimstone (2016)

A comedic, supernatural reimagining of Holmes by G.S. Denning. This first book spawned a sequel, The Hell-Hound of the Baskervilles.

Sherlock Holmes is an unparalleled genius. 

Warlock Holmes is an idiot. 

A font of arcane power, certainly. But he’s brilliantly dim. Frankly, he couldn’t deduce his way out of a paper bag. The only thing he has really got going for him are the might of a thousand demons and his stalwart companion. Thankfully, Dr. Watson is always there to aid him through the treacherous shoals of Victorian propriety… and save him from a gruesome death every now and again.

Title: Warlock Holmes: A Study in Brimston
Author: G.S. Denning
Year: 2016
Publisher: Titan Books
Purchase: Amazon.

SHERLOCK returns

Tonight sees the return of Benedict Cumberbatch's SHERLOCK. Season 4 consists of three stories: The Six Thatchers, The Lying Detective, and The Final Problem. SHERLOCK airs in the U.S. on PBS.