News – Tagged "Book Reviews" – Sherlock Holmes Books

Book Reviews - August 22, 2019

Review of Sherlock Holmes and The Sword of Osman

“It is rare that I pick up a Holmes pastiche and immediately fall in love with it – but it happened with this book. Symonds managed to catch the voice of early retirement Watson so perfectly and with so much love and whimsical sarcasm that it is a joy to read from beginning to end. The story itself is set in a time when European powers were slowly realizing that a war unlike any before was approaching. Holmes and Watson come together for an adventure set in 1906 to make sure that the Sword of Osman, an insignia of the...

Review of The Bird and The Buddha - A Before Watson Novel - Book Two

”With eloquent, refined, and precise prose, this novel calls forth the ethos of the time and the nature of Sherlock’s mind. In A.S. Croyle’s The Bird and The Buddha, a young Sherlock Holmes stalks a serial killer with the aid of a lovely young doctor whose need to solve the mystery is almost as great as her passion for the romance-averse detective. In this, the second book in Croyle’s Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-inspired Before Watson series, questions arise that threaten to lead the sleuthing pair to some unsettling conclusions: is the killer someone whose goal is to end suffering, or...

Eloquent, refined, and precise prose

Review of The Bird and The Buddha - A Before Watson Novel - Book Two ”With eloquent, refined, and precise prose, this novel calls forth the ethos of the time and the nature of Sherlock’s mind. In A.S. Croyle’s The Bird and The Buddha, a young Sherlock Holmes stalks a serial killer with the aid of a lovely young doctor whose need to solve the mystery is almost as great as her passion for the romance-averse detective. In this, the second book in Croyle’s Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-inspired Before Watson series, questions arise that threaten to lead the sleuthing pair...

Philip K. Jones reviews The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories Part IV: 2016 Annual

“This book is the fourth in a series of Sherlockian anthology volumes from MX Publications and the new title addition indicated that the publisher plan to continue this remarkable series. All of the authors have donated their royalties for this publication to the support of Undershaw. It includes twenty-two short stories and novellas as well as a poem. The poem is a “Toast to Mrs. Watson,” by Arlene Mantin Levy, written as a series of rhymed couplets. “The Tale of the First Adventure” is a short story by Derrick Belanger that tells how Sherlock learned to restrict the details he...

Peter E. Blau reviews The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories

“THE MX BOOK OF NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES STORIES, edited by David Marcum (London: MX Publishing, 2015), is an anthology of straight-forward pastiches, carefully selected from what Marcum calls the “Great Watsonian Oversoul.” Marcum believes that “there never can be enough good Holmes stories, relating the activities of the true, correct, and traditional Holmes,” and he offers more than sixty stories, almost all previously unpublished, by authors who are old hands at writing pastiches or newcomers to the genre. The stories (and occasional poems and scripts) are nicely done indeed, and the collection consists of three volumes (439/416/418 pp.) Recommended. MX’s web-sites are at <www.mxpublishing.com> and...

Holmes in the World of Jules Verne - Review of Sherlock Holmes in the Nautilus Adventure

“…Once again, Joseph W Svec, III takes us (and Holmes and Watson) deep into another fictional world that somehow manages to be real. All of the scenes that excite the reader from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, such as the giant squid, are here in this exciting tale. While showing us the wonders of the Nautilus, and delighting us with Luna the Mermaid, Svec manages to also produce a challenging mystery! I am also pleased to see that the teaser at the end of the book promises more adventures, perhaps at Camelot! I gladly give this amazing book five stars...

Review of The Lost World – An Arthur Conan Doyle Graphic Novel

“…The tremendous novel that introduces the reader to Professor George Edward Challenger—brilliant, apelike, powerfully muscled, and short tempered—is recreated here in this graphic novel. The artwork is whimsical, but the story for the most part goes along with the book. There will be a twist or two that may surprise the reader, but trust me, they are great! I enjoyed the original novel (a reprint, of course!) and this graphic novel is a joy to read. I will give this GN five stars. Petr Kopl has other graphic novels available, and I hope to read them all!” Reviewed by Raven’s...

Review of Sherlock Holmes and The Menacing Moors

“...The story winds through the poetry, to Baskerville Hall, to a confrontation on the moors with a beast like none they had seen, to the inquest on Will Abernathy, (which enrages Holmes,) back to 221B, and thus to the Sussex Downs where Holmes trains as a apiarist and solves a crime, and back to Baker Street for the shock ending I didn’t see coming! The story is really good and the Herculean effort it must have been to write it all in verse—well, my hat is off to you, Mr. Allan Mitchell! I wouldn’t dream of seeing such work get...

Review of Sherlock Holmes and The House of Pain

“…This one is quite the page-turner. It is hard to believe such a great mystery could be crammed into about 150 pages! It keeps your attention from the first word to the last. Much like a mountain climber; when you think you have reached the climax of the novel, it simply means you are viewing the next peak.I have absolutely no hesitation in giving this novel five plus stars!” Reviewed by Raven’s Reviews Sherlock Holmes and The House of Pain is available from all good bookstores including The Strand Magazine, Amazon USA, Amazon UK, and for free shipping worldwide Book Depository .In ebook format...

The Sherlock Homes Society of London reviews No Better Place

“This excellent book is the eagerly awaited third and final volume in Alistair Duncan’s study of the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It deals with the last twentythree years of the great author’s life from the year of his second marriage to Jean Leckie until his death in 1930. These years saw his move to Windlesham, the birth of three children, more literary success, the discovery of a new faith, the final stories of Sherlock Holmes and, of course, the First World War. This meticulously researched book gives us an impartial account of Conan Doyle’s life in a chronological...

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