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This has to be one of the funniest interpretations of a Sherlock Holmes story I've seen in a while. Fellow Irregular Tom Francis ("The Imperial Opera at Warsaw") passed along the link to the new Valley of Fear, classified as a hard-boiled novel:

YEARS AGO, A P.I. OUT OF CHICAGO BROUGHT JUSTICE TO A DIRTY TOWN.

NOW HE’S GOING TO PAY.

A sawed-off shotgun blast to the face leaves one man dead—and reveals a secret that has pursued another across an ocean and set the world’s most ruthless criminal on his trail. The man needs the help of a great detective...but could even Sherlock Holmes save him now?
  • The legendary classic re-presented, Hard Case Crime style
  • Edgar Award winner Leslie Klinger on THE VALLEY OF FEAR: "The first real hardboiled detective story." [our own Leslie Klinger, BSI ("The Abbey Grange") -ed.]
  • By the best-selling author of THE LOST WORLD
  • Inspired by a true story!

While the original story does have some seedy and lurid details (at least compared to other Holmes stories and for the early 1900s, when it was written), I can't say I've ever considered it "hard-boiled" before. To paraphrase an email exchange on the topic (the author will remain anonymous, unless he wants to "out" himself):
"LOL - 'they all answered to the BODYMASTER!' Good to know A.C. Doyle's career is off to a good start. What's next? 'My shag is good...'"

I wonder what other classic Holmes tales could be creatively classified in different genres, with a humorous twist?

What are those four-letter abbreviations in the headlines?

1 comments:

Anonymous said... August 11, 2009 at 8:12 AM

And I thought I like my eggs over easy! What a great idea for getting new interest in the Canon, recasting Holmes as Mike Hammer.

BikerBob

 
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