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Sherlock Holmes Society of London Irene Adler is an elusive figure in the Sherlock Holmes canon. Was she more than the only woman who played Holmes at his own game — and won? David MacGregor has written three Holmes plays, now adapted as a series of short novels, taking the relationship of Adler and Holmes to a new level, under the overall title of Sherlock in Love: The Holmes-Adler Mysteries. The first, The Adventure of the Elusive Ear, introduces the reader to a whole new living situation at 221B: imagine if Mrs Hudson was Dr Watson’s creation to replace Miss...

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...

Sherlock Holmes Society of London  Following on from Rieke’s previous novel, The Mystery of the Three Monks, we find ourselves back in 1890, and Dr Watson has returned to London after his eventful holiday in East Sussex. Holmes is bored, but soon finds a diversion when a professor of archaeology calls seeking justice for his nephew, falsely accused of murder. What appears to be a straightforward case soon becomes more complex, involving stolen papers from foreign climes, Egyptian mummies, theatre performers and nefarious goings-on at the British Museum. One of Rieke’s strengths is in bringing canon characters into her stories...

Sherlock Holmes Society of London It’s summer of 1890, and Dr Watson has taken a holiday with his wife to a village in the sleepy East Sussex countryside. Before long, he is surrounded by ghosts, distressed women and dead canines. To add to his trouble, he finds himself being followed by a mysterious man. As the situation deteriorates, Watson writes to Holmes, who remains conspicuous by his absence. However, fear not, for Holmes’s presence looms large over this story. Very soon he is on the scene, making sparkling deductions as the case moves beyond the confines of the village to...

Sherlock Holmes Society of London Pastiche is a funny thing. You know you’re not going to be satisfied that it’s a proper Holmes story when you open the cover, but they still have value. We’re never going to have the thrill of reading a real Holmes story for the first time again, but a well written pastiche can show you how other people see the Canon and, often, what they think was missing, through their own additions. And, in a way, seeing the Canon through these other eyes is perhaps the closest we’ll get to being able to read the...