News — Book Reviews

"Volume 1 of A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan  Doyle’s Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the  Supernatural, edited by Derrick Belanger. The  influence of Poe on Conan Doyle wasn’t limited to his  stories of detection: the tales of mystery and imagination  left their mark as well. ACD didn’t write very much in  that vein, but the best of it can be classed with the best of  Poe. Here are eight stories – ‘The Terror of Blue John  Gap’, ‘The Horror of the Heights’, ‘The Captain of the  Pole Star’, ‘J Habakuk Jephson’s Statement’, ‘The  Leather Funnel’, ‘The Silver Mirror’,...

“Project Two, to One, Be: Sherlock Holmes and a House of Light, Shadows and Views edited by Carrie Carlson & Lynn Gale. John Gibson has written the introduction, and the foreword is by Laurie R King. There follow nearly 140 pages of essays, long and short, enhanced by photographs and original artwork, some of it, like Riley  Stark’s cover design, outstanding. Ms Carlson notes:  ‘Not all of our contributors are professionals in their chosen medium, and many of the writers are non-native English Speakers, and yet they all speak from the heart.” All the royalties from the book go to the...

“If there’s one thing I love besides Sherlock Holmes, it’s Lego. I have a shelf full of Lego figures (I have lots of character ones-Marvel, Lord of the Rings etc) and I loved The Lego Movie beyond comprehension. So when I saw that P James Macaluso Jr  had created illustrated versions of Conan Doyle’s work using Lego figures, I was giddy beyond belief! I looked at three of Macaluso’s Holmes books: A Case of Identity, The Red-Headed League and A Scandal in Bohemia. (Others are available but they’re currently in pre order-check the links at the bottom of the review to order!)...

"Advance Review: A Scandal in Bohemia by Petr Kopl Strange, eh? The book isn’t even out yet. But I am one of the privileged few to see it (thank you, Steve Emecz and Petr Kopl), and I couldn’t be happier. The funding of this comic book on Kickstarter has gathered well over thrice the amount aimed at. There’s still time left, so it will probably cross fourtimes the required amount. If you haven’t booked your copy yet - do so right away here; I have a feeling all places stocking it would put up “sold out” boards within days of its release, and Steve will have to...

"May 14 #7 Brian W. Pugh continues to revise his A CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (Mar 13 #6); the third edition (London: MX Publishing, 2014; 303 pp.) delightful and valuable as a resource for information about the life and work of Conan Doyle. The chronology starts in 1755 (the birth of James Doyle) and ends in 1998 (the memorial service for Dame Jean), and there are splendid photographs (old and new), a list of statues and plaques around the world, a new section detailing his Arctic voyage in 1880, careful citations of sources, and much...