News — Book Launches

It is well documented that Sherlock Holmes is the most depicted literary character on screen; he even has an entry in the Guinness Book of Records to prove it. This reference guide covers depictions of the world’s most famous detective, and his faithful companion, from the first silent film Sherlock Holmes is Baffled (1900) to the Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly comedy Holmes and Watson (2018). As well as cinema and television portrayals, this book by Nicko Vaughan (Author of The Wordy Companion: An A-Z Guide to Sherlockian Phraseology) also covers documentaries, animations and web series adaptations alongside début feature...

As chief spokesperson for St. Benignus University in small-town Erin, Ohio, Jeff Cody’s job responsibilities include handling “crisis communications.” And a crisis it is when veteran journalist Maggie Barton calls Jeff on the day after Thanksgiving. She wants the whole story about a dean forced to step down because of complaints of inappropriate behavior from three women who worked for him. But that’s just the overture to double murder at SBU, taxing the abilities of larger-than-life amateur sleuth Sebastian McCabe and the police agencies of both town and gown. There are clues aplenty – too many, in fact. But how...

The eleven stories gathered together in these two volumes share their own common feature. All have connections to the world of belles lettres, the world of literature–some to celebrated authors in particular, others to themes or stories associated with specific writers … . Let others plumb this collection for more subtle themes. From Maupassant to Stevenson to Fitzgerald, the authorial giants who populate these pages are explanation enough for its title. As interesting as such literary associations may be, of course, one can never forget that in the finest tradition of all the other adventures of Sherlock Holmes, these sketches...

Welcome back, once again, to Polar Paradise in the Shetland Islands, part-time home of Octavius Bear’s spouse Bearoness Belinda Béarnaise Bruin Bear (nee Black.)  In Book Eight – The Crank Case, we introduced you to Preston Pavel Polar, Russian movie star and matinee idol. He’s back, this time with a full-scale movie crew to shoot another one of his highly successful swasgger and swords epics in the castle/resort and using most of the Octavians as his cast members. Belinda and Octavius are financial partners in the production. Things seem to be going smoothly but then, an ingenue cast member takes...

Reluctantly, Sherlock Holmes agrees to assist Inspector Lestrade who is being hounded by an obnoxious nobleman whose jewel-encrusted dagger has gone missing. However, what Holmes initially believes to be a simple theft turns out instead to be his first encounter with a master criminal, who is as ruthless as he is brilliant, and whom Watson dubs “The Merchant of Menace.” Soon Holmes finds himself matching wits with a man who will steal anything – if the price is right. Moreover, this thief will go to any lengths, including blackmail and murder, to achieve his desired goal. As Holmes comes to...