Sherlock Book Reviews - A Continuum of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Posted by Steve Emecz on
Sherlock Holmes Society of London
A welcome volume of thirteen short stories that are very much in the style of the original tales. There are racy plots, colourful characters, and well-paced action throughout this collection, and healthy doses of both humour and intrigue. The two stand out tales for me, were: “The Adventure of the Impossible Murders” and “The Adventure of the Obsessive Ghost”. The first relates the story of the “Archangel Murders” — a case in which Dr Watson’s medical expertise comes to the fore in helping to uncover the nefarious activities of “The Left Hand of God.” The latter sees our heroes investigating the appearance of a seemingly supernatural figure which is threatening to murder a Captain James Morgan in the run up to the birth of his first-born child. The book contains frequent nods to the stories of the original canon and some of our favourite untold tales — two good examples of which are also featured in this fine collection. Overall, a well written and engaging volume which does not disappoint.
A Continuum of Sherlock Holmes Stories is available from this site with a share going to our good causes and also from:
Amazon USA Book Depository (Free worldwide delivery)
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are no strangers to peculiar cases. Be it the dilemma of an Indian princess on the run, perfectly healthy people dropping dead as divine punishment, being challenged to a duel, a heartbroken and suicidal young man, a beautiful woman claiming to be Mrs. Holmes, a little boy who loves his dog, an old Scottish ghost that traditionally haunts husbands of pregnant women – there is very little they haven’t seen (and solved). But, besides regular adventures, there are quite a few questions – Where was Holmes during the Great Hiatus? How was Sherlock Holmes as a child? Who was ‘the most repellent man’? What happened after ‘The Five Orange Pips’? What ingenious crime did Holmes solve by observing ‘the depth which the parsley had sunk into the butter upon a hot day’?
A Continuum of Sherlock Holmes brings together a baker’s dozen of such stories. These are all traditional-style pastiches published in various anthologies from 2015 – 2020, including the MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories. Jayantika Ganguly, better known as Jay, is an international Sherlockian from India who believes there can never be enough Sherlockian stories.