I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Welcome to Undershaw — An Interview with Luke Kuhns

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"the high, thin window of old stained glass, the oak panelling" [HOUN]</h4>
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<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/Undershaw" target="_blank">Since 2010</a>, loyal Doyleans and passionate historians have been working feverishly to save and restore Undershaw. In 2014, the former estate was purchased by the DFN Foundation which has been working to both restore Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's study to its original splendor and also to use the property to house Stepping Stones, a school for special needs students. In September 2016, Stepping Stones school officially opened, and the public got their first view of Doyle's restored study.<br />
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One person who attended the grand opening was Luke B. Kuhns, author and scholar, whose book about Doyle's history at Undershaw, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Undershaw-History-Created-Sherlock/dp/1787050211/" target="_blank"><i>Welcome to Undershaw - A Brief History of Arthur Conan Doyle: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes</i></a>, was released on October 10th. We interviewed Mr. Kuhns via email about his Undershaw book, the grand opening, and his other Sherlockian work.<br />
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<b>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere:</b> The Stepping Stones school just recently opened at Undershaw, and you were at the ceremony. Tell us what it was like to see the restored Undershaw for the first time as well as what it was like to see the school portion of the estate.</h4>
<b>Luke Kuhns (LK):</b> It was incredible to see Undershaw alive. To see lights on, people walking in and out, it just felt alive. Finally. What DFN has done is remarkable. I know it cost them a lot more than originally planned, but they spared no expense, to quote John Hammond! The house is beautifully restored. I am very pleased with the extension as well. Rightfully it is architecturally different from Undershaw to show people what the house was in the past and what is new. The addition is beautiful and open and classy. One can turn and look back at Undersaw with reverence.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Undershaw during the opening night gala</td></tr>
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<b>IHOSE: </b> Your new book <i>Welcome to Undershaw</i> is a biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in relation to his time spent at Undershaw. Tell us about the book. How did you conduct your research? What makes this biography unique?</h4>
<b>LK:</b> I really felt to tell Undershaw's story we needed to know Conan Doyle's story. So the book begins with a look at his grandfather, father, and mother; then him. I explore his life from childhood through to his departure at Undershaw. Research was a mixture of reading many many books, visiting libraries in Portsmouth and London as well as rare book collectors, and spending time in Hindhead. It was very detailed and thorough, and I enjoyed every moment of it.<br />
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What makes it unique? Good question! I loved John Dickson Carr's biography...it read like a story. Plenty of Doyle biographies just say "on this date he did this...on this date he did that" and I found it painfully boring. There's a lot he did that is incredibly interesting, and there's a lot he did that is incredibly not interesting...I don't necessarily care who he had dinner with on a particular date! HA! So what I wanted to show people is that Sir Arthur was more than just the writer of Sherlock Holmes stories and <i>The White Company</i>. I explored his life through his writings starting all the way back in his childhood, and art the flows in his family's blood. Yes, all the biographies tell you about his writing, but looking at his life as an accomplished writer first rather than Doctor or anything else, you begin to see how his writing is impacting his daily life and vice versa.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First editions of some of Doyle's most famous work located on the shelf in the headmaster's office<br />
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<b>IHOSE: </b>You recently had a story published in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GG6M40K" target="_blank"><i>Beyond Watson</i></a>, a Sherlock Holmes story collection where each story had to be narrated by someone besides Dr. Watson.  You chose Violet Hunter as your narrator. What drew you to this Holmes character?</h4>
<b>LK: </b>Well, I feel next to Irene Adler she is the next best match for Holmes. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson don't do very much to solve the case. Violet is left to do it herself with Holmes 'on call' should she need him! And Watson recognised this and felt the two would be a good pair...I agree. I didn't want to explore a 'love story' angle with them...no. But I felt she is one of the strongest female characters in his short stories.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Luke Kuhns</td></tr>
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<b>IHOSE:</b>  Last year your story collection, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Scarlet-Thread-Murder-ebook/dp/B0167BICBY/" target="_blank"><i>The Scarlet Thread of Murder</i></a>, was released. The first tale in the collection is a bit of a mashup pastiche in that you had Holmes work with another Victorian detective character, Martin Hewitt. Why did you incorporate Hewitt into your Holmes tale?</h4>
<b>LK:</b> Widely speaking, no one knows about Hewitt. It's a sad truth. His stories are fun and he held the fort while Holmes took a dip in the Reichenbach Falls. These two (if we pretend they are real) would have been in business at the same time, and Sherlock Holmes, being who he is, would know and recognise talent. The two just work together, not because of their similarities, but because they are both very different but very brilliant! And I wanted to draw attention to other great characters in classic literature that aren't well known.<br />
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<b>IHOSE:</b>  You have now written Sherlock Holmes graphic novels, short stories, and a nonfiction book on his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. What are some similarities you have found in writing these three different genres?</h4>
<b>LK:</b> Making interesting crimes is never easy. I take the same approach to writing the stories with regards to plotting. So that is the same too. But the real painstaking work is creating an interesting crime/puzzle that isn't too cliche or overdone and making it work in a quick and believable way.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Stained glass at the main hall of Undershaw.</span></td></tr>
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<b>IHOSE:</b> If you were stranded on a desert island with just one Sherlock Holmes story, which would it be and why?</h4>
<b>LK:</b> <i>The Sign of Four</i>. It's my favourite novel...has a great mystery, a treasure hunt, and chase on the Thames. It's great!<br />
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<b>IHOSE:</b>  What are your current projects?</h4>
<b>LK:</b> I have a script for a new Sherlock Holmes comic book...I'm looking at making that into a reality. I'm currently working on my first non-Sherlock novel, but that's in very early stages with no release date in the near future. I've been changing the format of my website and how I conduct reviews, taking a more audio/video approach rather than text only. That's been fun and very time consuming too. I'm also knees deep in my Master program too...so there's a lot going on and changing of directions. Very exciting.<br />
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<b>IHOSE:</b>  Any last thoughts?</h4>
<b>LK: </b>Thanks for taking the time for this virtual chat! It's been great fun. I look forward to speaking again.<br />
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<b>Luke Kuhns</b> is an international crime writer and reviewer. His two best selling novellas <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Studies-Legacy-Kuhns-ebook/dp/B00CMFP0X8" target="_blank"><i>Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy</i></a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Scarlet-Thread-Murder-ebook/dp/B0167BICBY" target="_blank"><i>The Scarlet Thread of Murder</i></a> have been praised by critics and fans of Sherlock Holmes. Luke has also authored two graphic novels including <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Case-Crystal-Bottle-ebook/dp/B00FG2QF8I" target="_blank"><i>Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle</i> </a>and the critically acclaimed bone chilling horror <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Horror-Frankenstein-Kuhns-ebook/dp/B00L9GLNM8" target="_blank"><i>Sherlock Holmes and The Horror of Frankenstein</i></a>, the world’s first Sherlock Holmes and Frankenstein graphic novel.<br />
He has contributed to several crime fiction and academic collections inducing <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Watson-Sherlock-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B01GG6M40K" target="_blank"><i>Beyond Watson</i></a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Book-Sherlock-Holmes-Stories-Part-ebook/dp/B017J1CS1G" target="_blank"><i>The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories Vol 1</i></a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fan-Phenomena-Sherlock-Tom-Ue-ebook/dp/B01A27TGLY" target="_blank"><i>Fan Phenomena Sherlock Holmes</i></a>.<br />
His latest title, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Undershaw-History-Created-Sherlock/dp/1787050211" target="_blank"><i>Welcome to Undershaw: A Brief History of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes</i></a>, is a move into biographies. Luke has written a wonderful and unique history about Conan Doyle, his writings and his time living at his Surrey home, Undershaw.<br />
Luke has spoken at the University College London’s Past and Present Conference, debated in the Great Sherlock Holmes Debate 3 and 4, and has been featured on Japanese TV Network NHK. Luke’s official <a href="https://lukebenjamenkuhns.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">website</a> is a multimedia platform where he releases exclusive short stories and reviews popular tv series, films, books and more.<br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times new roman";">Derrick Belanger is the author of the #1 bestselling book in its category <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1519511957" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="1519511957" data-amzn-link-id="9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Adventure-Peculiar-Provenance/dp/1519511957/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3292728" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance</a><span style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-width: initial;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3292728" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&_cb=1451973203084" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>, which was in the top 200 bestselling books on Amazon. He also is the author of the MacDougall Twins with Sherlock Holmes books, the latest of which is <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B017862MVS" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="B017862MVS" data-amzn-link-id="5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur" href="http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Dinosaur-MacDougall-Sherlock-Holmes-ebook/dp/B017862MVS/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_7842789" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur</a><span style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-width: initial;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_7842789" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&_cb=1451973247482" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>, and he edited the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle horror anthology <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00P4E8AVI" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="B00P4E8AVI" data-amzn-link-id="a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural" href="http://www.amazon.com/Study-Terror-Revolutionary-Stories-Supernatural-ebook/dp/B00P4E8AVI/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5010397" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural</a><span style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-width: initial;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5010397" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&_cb=1451973259426" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>. Mr. Belanger has recently started the publishing company <a href="http://www.belangerbooks.com/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Belanger Books</a> which released the Sherlock Holmes anthology <a data-amzn-asin="1533202273" href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Watson-Sherlock-Anthology-Stories/dp/1533202273/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Beyond Watson</a>. Derrick Belanger also is a frequent contributor to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. He resides in Colorado and continues compiling unpublished works by Dr. John H. Watson.</i><br />
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Welcome to Undershaw — An Interview with Luke Kuhns

"the high, thin window of old stained glass, the oak panelling" [HOUN] Since 2010 , loyal Doyleans and passionate h...

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by Belanger Books

A Reading from the Gospel According to Horace Harker

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"Nothing but misfortune and disaster" [STUD]</h4>
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In the tale of "<a href="http://www.sherlockian.net/canon/stories/sixn.html" target="_blank">The Adventure of the Six Napoleons</a>," journalist Horace Harker finds himself in the middle of a murder case, and laments that he's unable to write about it for his newspaper syndicate. Worse, it's not the first time he has been so disadvantaged:<br />
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"You remember when the stand fell at Doncaster? Well, I was the only journalist in the stand, and my journal the only one that had no account of it, for I was too shaken to write it."</blockquote>
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A "stand" at Doncaster, a modest town in Yorkshire, could possibly be at a football stadium, but is more likely a grandstand at Doncaster Racecourse, where horses have raced since the 17th century. The grandstands at Doncaster were rebuilt in 1881, but there is no record that a previous stand had collapsed. Stand collapses are, however, a feature of engineering history, among them the so-called Ibrox disaster of April 5, 1902, which killed 25 people and injured 517 at a football stadium in Glasgow. That event, two years before the publication of "The Six Napoleons," might have been in the author's mind as he recorded Horace Harker's statement.<br />
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The Doncaster disaster is unusual in the Sherlock Holmes tales as being a mention of a public news event totally unrelated to one of Holmes's investigations. It is difficult to think of other examples, apart from Watson's bored and vague summary of the newspapers in "The Bruce-Partington Plans": "the news of a revolution, of a possible war, and of an impending change of government." Such interruptions from real life are normally irrelevant to the detective and reader alike.<br />
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The Doncaster note is surprisingly reminiscent of another such interruption that is familiar to those who know their Bible well, as many Victorians did, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and undoubtedly Horace Harker. The reference comes in chapter 13 of Luke's gospel, in the midst of a long passage in which Jesus talks to his followers about such matters as trust, faithfulness and repentance. Someone asks him about a horrible recent incident in which Pilate, the local dictator, had killed a number of Temple worshipers. Don't imagine that such an atrocity was punishment for those worshipers' sins, says Jesus; death comes to all, and bloodthirsty dictators only hasten it along. <br />
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And then Jesus adds a mention of <a href="http://gaonline.org/jesus-response-to-cruelty-and-trajedy/" target="_blank">another recent current event</a>, a building collapse in a suburb of Jerusalem. The King James translation, familiar in Doylean and Holmesian times, puts it in a few words: </div>
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"Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwell in Jerusalem?" </blockquote>
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On the contrary, he makes clear, everybody sins and needs to repent, and a civil engineering disaster is just one of those things that happen; the victims are not to be blamed.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjOXhg9BaTNd6Kt3v15_wz5tMDchxMkwcKZ6WgV9n-g65mQbPuHIuowNb0aXqwyOZ7ajWyJm81kig9vye0sJWgx555GOAFyzk72o5L3GFu_y8qiYArmUzEaMxwxw8bKHRxBQJKnnHT-8_/s1600/Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Tower_of_Siloam_%2528Le_tour_de_Silo%25C3%25AB%2529_-_James_Tissot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjOXhg9BaTNd6Kt3v15_wz5tMDchxMkwcKZ6WgV9n-g65mQbPuHIuowNb0aXqwyOZ7ajWyJm81kig9vye0sJWgx555GOAFyzk72o5L3GFu_y8qiYArmUzEaMxwxw8bKHRxBQJKnnHT-8_/s640/Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Tower_of_Siloam_%2528Le_tour_de_Silo%25C3%25AB%2529_-_James_Tissot.jpg" width="434" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tower of Siloam by James Tissot, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABrooklyn_Museum_-_The_Tower_of_Siloam_(Le_tour_de_Silo%C3%AB)_-_James_Tissot.jpg">via Wikimedia Commons</a></td></tr>
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It is an unusual comment for Jesus, who rarely gets specific about current historical events, though he is scathing about the government ("Caesar") and powerful folks in general. Having remarked on the news from Siloam, he goes back to telling tales that point the moral of a righteous life. Similarly, Horace Harker goes back to writing about the outrage in Pitt Street.<br />
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And the Sherlockian author checks his house insurance for earthquake coverage and goes back to preparing blog posts. The readers of the Central Press Syndicate are hungry for the latest news.<br />
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--<br />
<br /></div>

A Reading from the Gospel According to Horace Harker

"Nothing but misfortune and disaster" [STUD] In the tale of " The Adventure of the Six Napoleons ," journalist Hor...

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by Chris Redmond

Kickstarter — The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories Part V: Christmas Adventures

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"With five volumes you could just fill that gap on that second shelf" [EMPT]</h4>
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Autumn is upon us, and even though Halloween is still weeks away, many are setting their sights on completing their Christmas shopping. This year, there is a perfect gift for Sherlockians. <i>The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories Part V: Christmas Adventures</i> is currently available on <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1229605719/mx-book-of-new-sherlock-holmes-stories-volume-5-ch" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a>. As with all the other MX Books of New Sherlock Holmes Stories all the proceeds go to the benefit of the restoration of Undershaw, Doyle's former estate. We spoke with David Marcum, the editor of the series on his latest collection, future collections, and his latest pilgrimage to England to see Doyle's restored study at Undershaw.<br />
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<b>IHOSE:</b> <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/07/behind-worlds-largest-new-sherlock.html#.V_ETxeArK70" target="_blank"><i>The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories</i></a> has gone from one planned book to multiple volumes, and now to several books annually. How did this change take place? Did you always know that there would be multiple volumes or were you pleasantly surprised?</h4>
<b>David Marcum (DM):</b> It was a very pleasant surprise. When the first three books were finishing up in the fall of 2015, it was intended to be a one-time event. I was very fortunate to get to go to London for the launch of the books in October 2015, and while I was there, a couple of people asked if there would be more, and a few others expressed regret that they hadn’t participated, after seeing how nice the books turned out.<br />
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It was only a week or so later, after I returned home, that I realized the process for making the books was still in place. From the time that I first thought of the idea in January 2015, up through publication, <a href="http://www.mxpublishing.com/index.html" target="_blank">Steve Emecz</a> and I had hammered out all the details, such as size and style, so the difficult questions were answered and the machinery was still in place. The author interest was still there, <a href="http://www.steppingstones.org.uk/Stepping-Stones-is-growing/" target="_blank">Stepping Stones School</a> (which receives the author’s royalties for the project and is located at one of Doyle’s old homes, Undershaw,) could still use the funds, and of course there are never enough new traditional Holmes stories.<br />
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Even though it was mid-October 2015 at that point, I sent out a message, inviting people to contribute even more stories. There was a much more urgent end-of-the-year deadline this time, but they all came through, and we ended up producing the fourth volume, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EG2C42E" target="_blank"><i>Part IV – 2016 Annual</i></a>, which came out last spring.<br />
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However, even at that point there was so much interest that we ended up deciding to have two volumes in 2016, which led to the next book in the series, <i>Part V – Christmas Adventures</i>, coming out later this year.<br />
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<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1229605719/mx-book-of-new-sherlock-holmes-stories-volume-5-ch/comments" target="_blank">The Kickstarter for the next volume can be found here</a>.<br />
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<b>IHOSE:</b> The latest MX volume is a collection of Christmas stories. Why did you decide to create a Christmas collection? Are these stories still traditional Holmes stories, or are you starting to allow some AU tales into the mix?</h4>
<b>DM:</b> The reason that it’s a Christmas book is because I didn’t want to have something awkward like <i>Part V – 2016 Annual (Part II)</i>. Also, it occurred to me that it would be appearing at the end of the year, and even though there have been a number of Holmes Christmas adventures, it had been twenty years since those last great Holmes-at-Christmas anthologies, <i>Holmes For the Holidays</i>, and <i>More Holmes For the Holidays</i>.<br />
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These stories are also traditional Holmes narratives. I’m a missionary for The Church of the Traditional Holmes Pastiche, so Alternate Universe (AU) tales aren’t accepted in anything that I’m editing.<br />
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<b>IHOSE:</b> As always, the proceeds from the sale of the book will go to support the Stepping Stones School and the restoration of Undershaw. How have the proceeds helped with the restoration work? What still needs to be done?</h4>
<b>DM: </b>I was very fortunate to get to go back to London in early September 2016 – Holmes Pilgrimage No. 3!! – for the dedication of Stepping Stones at Undershaw. I had never been down to Undershaw before, although I’d heard and seen for years about how decimated the building was. It’s really amazing how beautiful it is now, and how much has been lovingly restored to honor both Doyle and Holmes.<br />
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Because it’s a historic building, it had to be restored according to very strict guidelines. The stained glass windows have been amazingly rebuilt. The plaster, which had sloughed off the walls and ceilings due to massive leaks, was replaced using late 1890’s techniques. Floor joists had either rotted through, or in one case, had been cut completely across by a hotel that occupied the place years after Doyle left in order to install a water pipe – it was a wonder the building hadn’t cracked in half! All of this had to be repaired. The DFN Foundation, which bought the building for the school and did all the work, spent a lot more than they initially intended in order to restore the building to its former glory, as well as making it functional for the school.<br />
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The royalties from the MX anthologies have been donated by the authors, and so far, the books have raised an amount over five figures toward continued restoration and future maintenance of the school. In addition to the amazing work they do with their special needs students, the school really wants to make itself available in the future to Sherlockians and Doyleans. Doyle’s study will be available for the public to visit during breaks and holidays when the students aren’t there, and also they would like to make the place available for Sherlockian groups to have meetings or gatherings as a way to raise additional money for the school.<br />
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It was great for me and my ever-present deerstalker to be able to visit Undershaw and represent all the pasticheurs! While there, I was able to spend some time with Richard Doyle, great-nephew of the Literary Agent. And visiting in Doyle’s study, where he prepared <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> and <i>The Return of Sherlock Holmes</i> for publication, really gives one a sense of awe. I was able to sit in the same spot as Doyle to start working on my next pastiche, and it’s an experience I’ll never forget.<br />
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<b>IHOSE:</b> The Christmas MX anthology is your first anthology with a theme. Will we see more Christmas collections in the future? How about other themes?</h4>
<b>DM:</b> I believe that the Christmas-themed book will be a one-time thing. If someone wants to write another Holmes-Christmas adventure for a future anthology volume, that’s fine, but I don’t think there will be enough to make up another whole book for a while.<br />
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Even after two volumes in 2016, the enthusiasm to participate is very high. That’s why two more volumes have already been scheduled for next year, and I’m already receiving stories for them. Next spring will be the <i>Part VI – 2017 Annual</i>, and in the fall will be <i>Part VII – Eliminate the Impossible</i>. This will also be a themed book, in which each of the cases will initially seem to have some sort of supernatural mystery. However, they will absolutely have a rational explanation. “No ghosts need apply.” There won’t be any vampires or zombies, no mind-controlling fungi or time-travel. However, there may just be a bit of ambiguity at the end. Even though there will be a realistic solution, there might be the possibility of something additional beyond Holmes and Watson’s understanding – “There are more things in heaven and earth, [Watson], Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” That’s probably as close to AU as I’ll ever get, so if that’s the kind of story you write, please feel free to get in touch with me about submitting something.<br />
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<b>IHOSE:</b> Any last thoughts?</h3>
<b>DM: </b>I’d just like to thank both the participating authors who have made all of this possible, as well as the many people who have bought the books, and have made the series popular enough to continue. It’s really accomplishing great things for the school, and it’s allowing all of us pasticheurs to combine our efforts effectively as well.<br />
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And personally, I want to mention all the great people that this experience has allowed me to meet, both in person and by email. I’ve said it before, but it’s never been more true: Sherlockians are really the best!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtb5ttlHQ3PPakE3e4RWLmSE7aovKvVpRAMnpUd9DTCUN_eb1fcd5CctQZ7vgWg0WGrjxtHsqV9j_zM2pDi50WvGQ1mAv83lmHaxdVXy7pOCuYSiGD_o4tsYZZYFQuPvVltSxEtu8QMbA/s1600/Marcum+and+Doyle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtb5ttlHQ3PPakE3e4RWLmSE7aovKvVpRAMnpUd9DTCUN_eb1fcd5CctQZ7vgWg0WGrjxtHsqV9j_zM2pDi50WvGQ1mAv83lmHaxdVXy7pOCuYSiGD_o4tsYZZYFQuPvVltSxEtu8QMbA/s640/Marcum+and+Doyle.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Richard Doyle (center), his son, and David Marcum at the opening gala for Stepping Stones at Undershaw</span></td></tr>
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<br />
<i>The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories Volume 5 - Christmas</i> is available at <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1229605719/mx-book-of-new-sherlock-holmes-stories-volume-5-ch" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a>. Books purchased at Kickstarter will arrive in time for Christmas. For more information on the Undershaw restoration and Stepping Stones, please <a href="http://www.steppingstones.org.uk/Stepping-Stones-is-growing/" target="_blank">visit the Stepping Stones website</a>.<br />
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<br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times new roman";">Derrick Belanger is the author of the #1 bestselling book in its category <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1519511957" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="1519511957" data-amzn-link-id="9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Adventure-Peculiar-Provenance/dp/1519511957/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3292728" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance</a><span style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-width: initial;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3292728" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&_cb=1451973203084" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>, which was in the top 200 bestselling books on Amazon. He also is the author of the MacDougall Twins with Sherlock Holmes books, the latest of which is <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B017862MVS" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="B017862MVS" data-amzn-link-id="5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur" href="http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Dinosaur-MacDougall-Sherlock-Holmes-ebook/dp/B017862MVS/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_7842789" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur</a><span style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-width: initial;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_7842789" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&_cb=1451973247482" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>, and he edited the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle horror anthology <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00P4E8AVI" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="B00P4E8AVI" data-amzn-link-id="a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural" href="http://www.amazon.com/Study-Terror-Revolutionary-Stories-Supernatural-ebook/dp/B00P4E8AVI/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5010397" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural</a><span style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-width: initial;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5010397" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&_cb=1451973259426" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>. Mr. Belanger has recently started the publishing company <a href="http://www.belangerbooks.com/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Belanger Books</a> which released the Sherlock Holmes anthology <a data-amzn-asin="1533202273" href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Watson-Sherlock-Anthology-Stories/dp/1533202273/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Beyond Watson</a>. Derrick Belanger also is a frequent contributor to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. He resides in Colorado and continues compiling unpublished works by Dr. John H. Watson.</i><br />
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--<br />
<br />

Kickstarter — The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories Part V: Christmas Adventures

"With five volumes you could just fill that gap on that second shelf" [EMPT] Autumn is upon us, and even though Halloween i...

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by Belanger Books

Episode 106: The Ebb and Flow of Sherlock Holmes

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"now bright, now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned" [TWIS] </h4>
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After nearly 130 years in print, it seems like the phenomenon of Sherlock Holmes may have peaked. And yet, it's likely that every generation may have thought that — including the one in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was still writing the original stories.<br />
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We've often said that every generation has its Sherlock Holmes, and when we move beyond the printed page, it's quite true. From <b>William Gillette</b> to <b>Eille Norwood</b>, <b>Arthur Wontner</b> to <b>Basil Rathbone</b>, <b>Ronald Howard</b> to <b>Douglas Wilmer</b> and <b>Peter Cushing</b>, not to mention <b>Robert Stephenson</b>, <b>Nicol</b> <b>Williamson</b>, <b>Jeremy Brett</b>, <b>Robert Downey, Jr.</b>, <b>Jonny Lee Miller</b> and <b>Benedict Cumberbatch</b>. These are just a handful of names from two forms of media.<br />
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Sherlock Holmes fades but manages to come back, with no sign of abatement. Each time, the fandom receives a shot in the arm and there's a high-water mark left when the tide recedes. Then, it happens again, perhaps increasing slightly. But the interest in the character remains.<br />
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In this episode, we look at the cultural phenomena behind Sherlock Holmes and the impact that the character and his portrayers have had on us. We can't forget the news, the Editor's Gas-Lamp (from Autumn 2000, Vol. 50, No. 3 of the <i>Baker Street Journal</i>), and more.<br />
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<a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock106.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size 27.8 MB, 59:02</h4>
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<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Links</h3>
<ul>
<li>The <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Books Ngram Viewer</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/08/remembering-gene-wilder.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gene Wilder's death</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.inverse.com/article/19987-sherlock-holmes-and-the-birth-of-fandom" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Without Sherlock Holmes, there's no ComiCon</a></li>
<li>New game: <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118555799/sherlock-holmes-and-moriartys-web" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty's Web</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/758359-will-ferrell-john-c-reilly-holmes-and-watson" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly to star in Holmes & Watson</a></li>
<li>Chris Redmond's <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/10/about-sixty-eliminates-improbable.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>About Sixty</i> is now on sale</a></li><li><i><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/01/sherlock-holmes-vs-tarzan-by-numbers.html#.WBOcUuArKM8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes vs. Tarzan By the Numbers</a></i></li>
</ul>
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Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard magazine at <a href="http://ihose.co/flipsherlock" target="_blank">ihose.co/flipsherlock</a>, as well as through our <a href="https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">social accounts</a>.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">--</span><br />
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</span></div>
</div>

Episode 106: The Ebb and Flow of Sherlock Holmes

"now bright, now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned" [TWIS] After nearly 130 years in print, it seems like the phe...

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by Scott Monty

Canonical Toasts

<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<h4>
<b>“Let us drink the
quarrelling <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">toast</span> of the Lodge.” [VALL]</b></h4>
</div>
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<a href="https://wellreadsherlockian.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/vall-22b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://wellreadsherlockian.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/vall-22b.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
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Lost in the mists of pre-history is the origin of
salutations via drink. Imbibing from a communal vessel to honor or celebrate an
event, occasion or deity to bind a group both figuratively through action and
literally through a shared liquid seems to be a common, world-wide human
ritual. In the 13th century B.C., Ulysses drank to
the health of Achilles in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Iliad</i>.
The Romans were famous for their toasts and usually put in a piece of burnt
bread into their wine to improve its taste. This custom became common in
Europe.<br />
<br />
According the website <a href="http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/05/the-origin-of-toasting-drinks/">Today I Found Out:</a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The term <i>“toast”</i> itself
originated in the 16th century. One of the first written accounts of it was in
Shakespeare’s <i>The Merry Wives of Windsor</i> when the character of Falstaff
demands – <i>“Go fetch me a quart of sack; put a toast in’t.”</i> To
translate, he’s asking for a great deal of wine with a piece of (literal) toast
in it.  …. This is thought to be due to the quality of wine in the past--
it was in many cases inferior to our modern vintages.  Thus, placing a
piece of toast within a jug was supposed to soak up some of the acidity and
improve the flavour.  This also had the side benefit of giving people
something to do with a piece of stale bread, often spiced or with fruit
embedded, that would improve the bread’s palatability.  Up until very
recently in history, wasting food just wasn’t something people tended to do, so
finding ways to make stale bread taste good was fairly common- waste not, want
not. (This was also more or less how French Toast got its start.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Over the coming centuries, the term
<i>“toasting”,</i> in English, slowly transformed to incorporate traditional
libations and the honouring of people. In the early days of this connection,
the person being honoured often received the physical toast saturated with wine
at the end.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Toasting became so popular in the
17th and 18th centuries that Toastmasters came into being. Acting as a kind of
party referee, they were there to ensure that the toasting didn’t become too
excessive and that everyone got their fair share of toasting opportunities.
This may sound silly, but it was a desperately needed role. If left to their
own devices, guests would occasionally go on toasting every individual in the
room. (This being a great excuse to drink excessive amounts of alcohol without
seeming like a lush.)</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The origins of the Sherlockian Toast is likewise lost in the
mists of alcohol and tobacco in the gathering places of New York City and
London in the 1930s. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have taken on
many forms, from a simple “Cheers” or “L’chiam” to our favorite Baker Street
denizens (and usually such toast are given within The Game) in poems,
especially limericks, and song, as well as prose of various length to various
characters (or occasionally objects), obscure or infamous, in the Canon. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose99" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Episode 99</a>: Chris Redmond, BSI ("Billy") talks about his toast at the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b>IHOSE:</b> So what I wanted to mention
that what stuck out to me in the book [<a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/html/quicksuccession.html"><i>A Quick Succession of Subjects</i></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">] was when you were down here in New York
for a BSI Weekend you actually attended the annual dinner of the Adventuresses
of Sherlock Holmes which until that time had not admitted men to their
proceedings and this was something of a first. I think you were brought by a
date and you made a toast which was speech-like in length but it was very good.
It was called “The Man Who Loved Women”. You remember that occasion?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><b>REDMOND:</b> I do remember that. I came to New York for several of the
January weekends in, I suppose, the early 1980s because of relationships and
circumstances and the first time I came was the first time the Adventuresses
invited men to attend their dinner, which was held on the same evening as the
BSI dinner. There were no women Irregulars at that time so nobody had to make a
choice. They invited me to come to that dinner. I was somehow able to get
myself on the list of people making toasts and, having stood up to make a toast,
took great advantage to being there and spoke for at least ten minutes about
men and women in the Sherlockian world and about Dr Watson as the model of the
man who loved women.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><b>IHOSE:</b> Yes, indeed he was. Do you remember the reception to your talk,
to your toast?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><b>REDMOND:</b> I don’t. I imagine it was mostly relief when I finished.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The lesson here for
would-be toasters is, unless you’re a raconteur of the ability of Chris
Redmond, don’t get too carried away in your speech.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span>The Origins of the Canonical (or Conanical) Toasts</h3>
</div>
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Baker Street Irregular historian Jon Lellenberg, in answer
to my inquiry as to whether there is any history available on the Canonical
Toast replied, “It would be an entertaining subject, but no one's tackled it
that I'm aware of -- maybe because most toasts are too  transient and even
ephemeral compared to dinner papers and the like.” During his talk on “A
Photographic History of the BSI” at the Mind and Art of Sherlock Holmes
Conference at the Chautauqua (NY) Institute on September 11, 2016 [see also <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose104" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 104: Sherlockians at Chautauqua</a>], Ben Vizoskie, BSI ("Alexander Hamilton Garrideb") amplified:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Toasts have been a part of the
annual meeting [of the Baker Street Irregulars] from the beginning. No minutes survive from the first two annual
dinners in 1934 and 1936, but the minutes of the third dinner in 1940 state
simply “…the toasts were drunk: first to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The</i>
Woman, then to Mrs. Hudson, then to Dr. Watson’s Second Wife.” The individuals
the BSI have honored with toasts have varied over the years, but there have
always been toasts.</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Whether the contents of the toast were recorded was another
matter. When I asked Ben later about it, he didn’t know. If they were, they are
not readily available or searchable.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ross Davies has sought to remedy that. He has a site called <i><a href="http://www.rossdavies.org/toasts">Sherlockian Toasts: Salutes to Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Mrs. Hudson, and others of their ilk</a>,</i> and we asked him about it.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b>IHOSE:</b> Why did you start the
website?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b>DAVIES:</b> Because I discovered a need
— mine! — for such a resource. A few months ago I was invited by Bob Katz,
Headmastiff of The Sons of the Copper Beeches (an ancient and renowned scion in
Philadelphia), to give my first Sherlockian toast. Bob assigned me the toast to
Dr. J.H. Watson. I was nervous. I wanted to do a good job. I’d seen enough
clever Sherlockian toasts (and heard about others) to feel some pressure to
live up to a long and entertaining tradition. I started my preparations by
looking online for examples and inspiration. Much to my surprise, I did not
find much. All those thousands of Sherlockian toasts, all those hundreds of
Sherlockian websites, and yet only a few toasts to be had online! I managed to
come up with a few words on my own, and to recite them to The Sons in
Philadelphia. I also resolved to make it easier for others who might find
themselves in the same boat in the future. So, I set up the Sherlockian Toasts
website. I hope it helps. </div>
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<b>IHOSE:</b> What is your interest in
Canonical toast? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b>DAVIES:</b> Once I started work on the
website, I started thinking seriously about Sherlockian toasts in general, not
just my panicky need to come up with something good to say about Dr. Watson.
And that’s when I began thinking about the toasts as fragmentary oral records
of Sherlockian culture. My hope now is that if we can accumulate enough toasts
— old and new — we will build a new perspective on Sherlockian history. So,
Sherlockians, please do send me your toasts: all of them!</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Toasters may send in their toasts; they need not be current.
Blow the dust of those yellowing index cards to the Canonical honoree given at
that half-forgotten scion meeting and <a href="http://www.rossdavies.org/toasts" target="_blank">head over to the site</a>.
You will need the following information: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
 Name of the author</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Subject of the toast</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Audience (scion society or state dinner or other)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Date it was offered</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Text of the toast (with annotations, and audio/video
recordings, if you like)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Copyright notice (we assume the author holds
it unless you say otherwise)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Note: By your submission you<b>’</b>re
giving the website permission to publish it there and elsewhere (maybe in a
“Sherlockian Toasts” pamphlet, for example). But of course it remains <b>your</b>
toast, to do with as you see fit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
This little-explored area of Sherlockian society will have a bit
light shed upon it in the upcoming Fall issue of <a href="http://johnhwatsonsociety.com/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Watsonian</i></a>. You will read just a sample of the many forms of
salutation and gratitude that have been given to that body of work, the Canon,
that we esteem so. Many scions today make an effort to collect their toasters'
notes and archive them. Perhaps some of the atmosphere of sodality and fellowship
are lost in the transition to print. Of course we can rectify that with a
figurative (or literal) “kampai”, and a fond remembrance of a meeting gone by
or anticipation of one to come.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
--<br />
<br /></div>

Canonical Toasts

“Let us drink the quarrelling toast of the Lodge.” [VALL] Lost in the mists of pre-history is the origin of salutations via drink....

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by James C. O'Leary

About Sixty Eliminates the Improbable

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"About sixty;" [BOSC]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6OWoGO_F4lmO6_gQiaDb2bCWVRxjVtcZcAbWTpWKfNiKQuRMUF-YmeBstjdhKK2hXyBfbMspsrOuTl0N9lnIjfW75hp5tOkPUuYM3ESU8Hl2q4Iub1kDF2QZnOfqVyf8eavzaVa6GBvH/s1600/About+Sixty+header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6OWoGO_F4lmO6_gQiaDb2bCWVRxjVtcZcAbWTpWKfNiKQuRMUF-YmeBstjdhKK2hXyBfbMspsrOuTl0N9lnIjfW75hp5tOkPUuYM3ESU8Hl2q4Iub1kDF2QZnOfqVyf8eavzaVa6GBvH/s640/About+Sixty+header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
As a devotee of Sherlock Holmes, you've probably asked — or have been asked — "What's the best Sherlock Holmes story?"<br />
<br />
And you've likely answered in the same way as most people who have read the entire set of 56 short stories and four novels. That is to say, you've mentioned "A Scandal in Bohemia," the first short story in the Canon, in which Sherlock Holmes meets Irene Adler, who captures his admiration when she beats him. Or "The Speckled Band," where a young lady seeks help after her sister dies under mysterious circumstances and she finds herself in the same situation. Or <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i>, with its spine-tingling exchange between Dr. Mortimer and Sherlock Holmes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
  "Footprints?"<br />"Footprints."<br />"A man's or a woman's?"<br />Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank almost to a whisper as he answered: —<br />"Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!"</blockquote>
Or a handful of others such as "The Red-Headed League," "Silver Blaze," "The Final Problem," etc. <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In 1927, the <i>Strand Magazin</i>e held a contest challenging readers to choose the top 12 Sherlock Holmes stories, to determine who would match a list of 12 stories selected by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>"The Speckled Band"</li>
<li>"The Red-Headed League"</li>
<li>"The Dancing Men"</li>
<li>"The Final Problem"</li>
<li>"A Scandal in Bohemia" </li>
<li>"The Empty House" </li>
<li>"The Five Orange Pips" </li>
<li>"The Second Stain" </li>
<li>"The Devil's Foot" </li>
<li>"The Priory School" </li>
<li>"The Musgrave Ritual" </li>
<li>"The Reigate Squires" </li>
</ol>
Of course, this was before the final installment of short stories, <i>The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes</i>, was published, so the final dozen stories aren't considered in Conan Doyle's original list. Randall Stock has <a href="http://www.bestofsherlock.com/story/storyhm.htm" target="_blank">a summary of all of the surveys that sought to revisit this eternal question</a>, including the results of one that he ran in the Baker Street Journal in 1999.<br /><br />The wonderful thing about asking Sherlockians to create such as list is, none of them would be wrong. We all like various stories for particular reasons. The Canon leaves a personalized imprint on our hearts and minds.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But what if someone asked you to defend the indefensible? What if you were asked to champion the worst story in the Sherlock Holmes collection? Well, <i>your</i> worst may not be someone else's worst. There may be other readers who have vastly differing opinions on the matter.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And so with that concept in mind, Christopher Redmond decided to undertake a project called <b><i>About Sixty</i></b>, in which he challenged sixty Sherlockians to make a case why each one of the stories in the Sherlock Holmes Canon is the best. He mentioned this in our interview with him in <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose99" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 99</a> of IHOSE. The result is <a href="http://wildsidepress.com/about-sixty-why-every-sherlock-holmes-story-is-the-best-edited-by-christopher-redmond-paperback/" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">About Sixty: Why Every Sherlock Holmes Stories is the Best</a>, edited by Redmond himself.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmPhVa635oNkjYQuaNF93m-FGUrIjvMI3M-8U-8I_cnn5DlJMqaBEE_bBGe0Kn0Jjql1aPlq39dCoPfUczapFU5oLM4IQrQYpO54wxZVX1hxEYNtlS-QCmmV-BSxyqRUwJYTQAaHhIS0mr/s1600/About+Sixty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmPhVa635oNkjYQuaNF93m-FGUrIjvMI3M-8U-8I_cnn5DlJMqaBEE_bBGe0Kn0Jjql1aPlq39dCoPfUczapFU5oLM4IQrQYpO54wxZVX1hxEYNtlS-QCmmV-BSxyqRUwJYTQAaHhIS0mr/s640/About+Sixty.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />Of the collective effort, Redmond says, “What they have written is compelling evidence that any one of the Sherlock Holmes stories can be the best; it’s all a matter of what the reader is looking for.”<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's a marvelous concept and one that should bring delight to readers, as we cheer on the authors making the case for our favorites, or assume our most skeptical pose for those saddled with convincing us of the superiority of the traditionally weak stories.<br /><div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the end, we think it's appropriate to quote Professor Moriarty in "The Final Problem": </div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It has been an intellectual treat to me to see the way in which you have grappled with this affair..."</blockquote>
<br />
<i><a href="http://wildsidepress.com/about-sixty-why-every-sherlock-holmes-story-is-the-best-edited-by-christopher-redmond-paperback/" target="_blank">About Sixty</a></i> is available in paperback from <a href="http://wildsidepress.com/about-sixty-why-every-sherlock-holmes-story-is-the-best-edited-by-christopher-redmond-paperback/" target="_blank">Wildside Press</a> for $14.99.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br /></div>
</div>

About Sixty Eliminates the Improbable

"About sixty;" [BOSC] As a devotee of Sherlock Holmes, you've probably asked — or have been asked — "What's the...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Episode 105: Echoes of Sherlock Holmes

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"The detectives and I must have echoed it" [VALL] </h4>
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Laurie R. King, BSI ("The Red Circle") and Leslie S. Klinger, BSI ("The Abbey Grange") are no strangers to the mystery genre. Laurie is probably best known for her Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes stories, and Les has annotated the Sherlock Holmes stories, Dracula, Sandman and H.P. Lovecraft.<br />
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Together, the two have edited two anthologies of stories inspired by Sherlock Holmes: <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Study-Sherlock-Stories-Inspired-Holmes/dp/0857689320/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475202335&sr=1-1&keywords=a+study+in+sherlock" target="_blank">A Study in Sherlock</a></i> and <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Company-Sherlock-Holmes-Stories-Inspired/dp/1605986585/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475202361&sr=1-1&keywords=in+the+company+of+sherlock" target="_blank">In the Company of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>. They're back at it again with a third volume, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Echoes-Sherlock-Holmes-Stories-Inspired/dp/1681772256/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475202292&sr=1-1&keywords=echoes+of+sherlock+holmes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Echoes of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>, and we sit down with them to discuss what it's like pulling together the work from a wide variety of mystery writers.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Echoes-Sherlock-Holmes-Stories-Inspired/dp/1681772256/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475202512&sr=1-1&keywords=echoes+of+sherlock" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTGkBpaiA-edCOI4beXWd4U2PPthWoZsdO3Tr6arxFDd1YJIjx85GvB_WOgEOi66LtaTQIeMD7E9U55ZcwTnOcoyJeH4gVAf0DPIk2LWJcKAU81Q0fzpdXMkrzYp7JAPehZnIVxGHFHpiY/s320/EchoesOfSherlockHolmes.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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If you'd like to see Laurie and Les in person, they'll be at the <a href="http://www.poisonedpenevents.com/?ai1ec_event=laurie-r-king-signs-mary-russells-war-and-echoes-of-sherlock-holmes-with-leslie-klinger&instance_id=2047" target="_blank">Poisoned Pen</a> in Scottsdale, Arizona on October 1 at 2:00 pm; and at <a href="http://www.bookpassage.com/marin-events" target="_blank">Book Passage</a> in Corte Madera, California on October 8 at 5:00 pm. And there will be a celebration of the publication of <i>Echoes of Sherlock Holmes</i> via the <a href="http://www.meetup.com/SHERLOCK-BREAKFAST-CLUB/events/234351431/?rv=ea1&_af=event&_af_eid=234351431&https=off" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes Breakfast Club</a> in Los Angeles on October 9 at 3:00 pm.<br />
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<a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock105.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size 27.8 MB, 59:02</h4>
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Links</h3>
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<li>Echoes of Sherlock Holmes (Amazon)</li>
<li><a href="http://laurierking.com/" target="_blank">Laurie R. King's website</a></li>
<li>Laurie's latest book: <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Russells-Russell-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/146420733X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475202559&sr=1-1&keywords=Mary+Russell%27s+War+%26+Other+Stories" target="_blank">Mary Russell's War and Other Stories</a></i></li>
<li><a href="http://lesliesklinger.com/" target="_blank">Leslie Klinger's website</a></li>
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<i>Image credit: <a href="http://sisters-in-crime-sinc.blogspot.com/2010/12/sinc-at-bouchercon-2010.html">Sisters In Crime</a></i><br />
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Episode 105: Echoes of Sherlock Holmes

"The detectives and I must have echoed it" [VALL] Laurie R. King, BSI ("The Red Circle") and Leslie S...

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by Scott Monty

Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century — An Animated Series That Never Was

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“…the future only could show how strange it was to be” [TWIS]</h4>
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Many Sherlockians are aware of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_in_the_22nd_Century" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes in the 22<sup>nd</sup> Century</a></i>, an animated series that aired in the United States from 1999-2000. But how many would be aware of <i>Sherlock Holmes in the 23<sup>rd</sup> Century</i>, a show planned more than a decade before, in 1988? It all began with space cowboy and would have been brought to you by the creative team behind He-Man.</div>
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmation" target="_blank">Filmation Studios</a> was known in the '60s, '70s and '80s for its massive animated output. Its cartoons included DC superheroes, Archie comics, Fat Albert, Star Trek, Gilligan’s Island, Tom and Jerry, He-Man and She-Ra. But its tie to the Sherlockian world comes from its last animated series, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BraveStarr" target="_blank">Bravestarr</a></i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Bravestarr</i> was a space western set on the planet of New Texas in the 23<sup>rd</sup> century, and aired in syndication from 1987 to 1988. Marshal Bravestarr, the titular character of the series, kept peace and order on his planet in episodic installments.  <o:p></o:p></div>
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One notable exception to this format is the two-part episode, “Sherlock Holmes in the 23<sup>rd</sup> Century,” meant to spin off as its own show. The first episode opens with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idSfpY4-kmk" target="_blank">the standard Bravestarr theme song</a>, and then takes the viewer to 1893 where Holmes and Professor Moriarty are battling atop the Reichenbach Falls during a brutal lightning storm.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A decidedly gray Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls</td></tr>
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But it ends differently this time.  As Watson watches from below, Moriarty pushes Holmes off the cliff!  Luckily, a time warp opens and Holmes is transported to the year 2249.  Holmes crashes through the roof of a futuristic hansom cab and is taken to the nearest hospital by Dr. Wt’sn, an alien of substantial strength.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Wt'sn - experience with women in three separate galaxies?</td></tr>
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Holmes adjusts quickly to his new surroundings, and shows a strong knowledge of astronomy, specifically the constellation Rigel. Wt’sn equips Holmes with a suitably futuristic jacket and deerstalker while Holmes tries to get used to having a scanner pipe and his newfound power to blast lightning bolts from his hands. The duo moves through New London on their way to 221B Baker Street to meet a Scotland Yard agent descended from the Holmes family, Ms. Mycroft Holmes (and her very large gun).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ms. Mycroft Holmes</td></tr>
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Baker Street has been turned into a Sherlock Holmes Museum, where Marshal Bravestarr finally makes his entrance to the story. Bravestarr is tracking down a lost alien boy who was aboard a hijacked space freighter and comes to the great detective for help. During their interview, Holmes is kidnapped but is saved by three street urchins and their dog, Baskerville. Chief Inspector Kitty Lestrade comes to take the would-be kidnapper away, and our heroes find that he was working for a larger foe. While tracking down this new villain, Holmes, Wt’sn, Bravestarr and Mycroft become trapped in a dungeon, but our heroes escape and find the lost alien child.<br />
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And then Moriarty shows up.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I won’t spoil the second half of this story, but things escalate quickly and include the Eiffel Tower and a futuristic punk rock band. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTqu5ryoU5o" target="_blank">part two</a> of the episode on YouTube or own the episodes on DVD from <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Bravestarr-Complete-65-Episode-Collection/dp/B004RA7XZE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474054547&sr=8-1&keywords=bravestarr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Of course, there never was a <i>Sherlock Holmes in the 23<sup>rd</sup> Century</i> series. Filmation was in financial trouble at this point. It was bought by the cosmetics company L’Oreal, and eventually shuttered, with no new series made after <i>Bravestarr.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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But one could wonder what the series would have looked like. These two episodes spent a lot of time world building. Sherlock Holmes is quickly outfitted for the future, with his new powers, gadget and sidekick. An overarching foe is established in Professor Moriarty, and one assumes he would have a new scheme each week. New London is built up with street urchins to take the place of the Baker Street Irregulars, and Mycroft Holmes and Kitty Lestrade take the place of the Victorian Lestrade and Gregson. It wouldn’t be a far stretch to assume that Holmes and Wt’sn would take up residence in the Sherlock Holmes museum, and the finicky curator would take the place of Holmes’ previous landlady (I wouldn’t be surprised if the caretaker even turned out to be named Hudson).<o:p></o:p></div>
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But we will never know. It’s a mystery what could have been.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century — An Animated Series That Never Was

“…the future only could show how strange it was to be” [TWIS] Many Sherlockians are aware of Sherlock Holmes in the 22 nd Centur...

+ Read more »

by Rob Nunn

Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty's Web

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"it is a singular and a dangerous web" [DANC]</h4>
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Over the years, Sherlock Holmes has inspired many board and card games. Among the earliest was <a href="http://www.grandoldtoys.com/toydb_Detail.php?id=1254" target="_blank">a Parker Bros. card game issued in 1904</a>. And while he wasn't named as part of the cast of characters, Sherlock Holmes was referenced in early editions of Clue.<br />
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With all of the focus on video games and virtual reality lately, we were delighted to discover that someone is doubling down on board games again, and in a very stylish way.<br />
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In this case, that someone is Lucy Keifer and her creation is <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118555799/sherlock-holmes-and-moriartys-web" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty's Web</a>. The game is being sourced on Kickstarter, and Lucy needs your help to bring this game to life. She's very close — just days away and so close to achieving her budget. Read on and watch below, and see if you're convinced <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118555799/sherlock-holmes-and-moriartys-web" target="_blank">to support this project</a> (complete with rewards!).</div>
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London is flooded with unsolvable crimes. Play as Holmes, Watson, Mycroft, Irene Adler, Inspector Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson to trace them back to the nefarious Professor Moriarty. But be careful! Moriarty is ruthless and brilliant, and unless you’re very, very careful you will find yourself caught in Moriarty’s Web.</blockquote>
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Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty's Web is a collaborative, moving board game. Unlike most board games which feature a static fold-out board, this is a build-your-own model, which changes based on how the game unfolds. This creative, unexpected approach fits with Professor Moriarty's cunning plans and solving it is fit for the brilliant mind of Sherlock Holmes.</div>
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In this case, brilliance can happen at ages 10 and up, and the game can accommodate three to six people. And players need to collaborate with each other in order to work their way through Moriarty's Web.<br />  <div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="no" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118555799/sherlock-holmes-and-moriartys-web/widget/video.html" width="640"> </iframe><br /></div>
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The <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118555799/sherlock-holmes-and-moriartys-web/updates" target="_blank">Kickstarter page</a> has many more graphics and even a 30-minute video with a preview of what actual game play looks like.<br />
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Minimum investment is $40, but there are other levels with deluxe models, incentives and other goodies to help you make your decision.<br />
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We're looking forward to adding this to our collection. We hope you are too. But, even if you aren't, please share this article to help make this wonderful project a reality.<br />
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Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty's Web

"it is a singular and a dangerous web" [DANC] Over the years, Sherlock Holmes has inspired many board and card games. Among...

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by Scott Monty

The Symmetry of Sherlock

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"a little short and thick for symmetry" [NAVA]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC0xz2Zal3RyQT2ncMdwJeyrfzKFSN2r-bC44qXESbClgxl6OqcewcBNlLMA76nAYgKUCFC4QEGWlqBD1BS-dTH_AmnIOiqJi8IFXIMwVIqMKkKXdbXUKMzsL_icNNLNUCogRUmPiKPyev/s1600/Symmetry.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC0xz2Zal3RyQT2ncMdwJeyrfzKFSN2r-bC44qXESbClgxl6OqcewcBNlLMA76nAYgKUCFC4QEGWlqBD1BS-dTH_AmnIOiqJi8IFXIMwVIqMKkKXdbXUKMzsL_icNNLNUCogRUmPiKPyev/s640/Symmetry.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Sherlock Holmes said, "Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms." And with his penchant for noticing details that others fail to notice, one might wonder if his tendencies border on the obsessive.<br />
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Take, for example, the classic scene in which Holmes asked Watson about a very common architectural feature in Baker Street, in this scene, described by Watson:<br />
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I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I remarked," the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled, until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours."<br />"Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room."<br />"Frequently."<br />"How often?"<br />"Well, some hundreds of times."<br />"Then how many are there?"<br />"How many! I don't know."<br />"Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed."</blockquote>
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That level of detail and minutiae — a level that escapes the average person — is what sets Sherlock Holmes apart.</div>
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So when Steve Lawes, the principal cinematographer for the series, had an opportunity, he was equally as obsessive about the details of some of his shots. In particular, <a href="https://vimeo.com/cgmzz">Celia Gómez</a> determined that a number of shots were arranged in a perfectly symmetrical fashion. She created <a href="https://vimeo.com/183124955" target="_blank">a short video</a> (embedded below) that highlights her astute observations.<br />
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It's quite clever, and the cinematography reflects the nature of Holmes's ordered mind. What do you think? </div>
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<i>Tip of the deerstalker: We originally discovered this video via Bob Katz, BSI ("Dr. Anstruther") on Facebook, where he shared a link to <a href="http://www.ew.com/article/2016/09/23/sherlock-video-symmetry-cinematography" target="_blank">an article on Entertainment Weekly</a>.</i><br />
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The Symmetry of Sherlock

"a little short and thick for symmetry" [NAVA] Sherlock Holmes said, "Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest f...

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by Scott Monty

Review — The R.X. Problem (The Adventures of Watts and Sherlock Book 1)

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"in which the future city was sketched out" [STUD]</h4>
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Sherlock Holmes and science-fiction have a surprisingly good relationship. Many great science-fiction authors from Harlan Ellison to Isaac Asimov to <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/04/interview-with-sci-fi-legend-jack.html" target="_blank">Jack McDevitt</a> have written their own Holmes scholarship and pastiches. Perhaps because, unlike fantasy, science-fiction must be grounded in the realm of logic and possibility, it is much easier to see Holmes dealing with mechanical menaces than fairies or gnomes.  Spooks need not apply, but computers are another matter.  Which brings us to Katie Magnusson's delightful cyberpunk Holmes story collection, <i>The R.X. Problem (The Adventures of Watts and Sherlock, Book 1)</i>.<br />
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In this book which technically is a short story collection but has a narrative thread connecting all of the tales together, we have a Holmesian character (not Sherlock Holmes, though he is inspired  by the great detective) who becomes roommates with Dr. Watts, a wounded veteran who now has a portion of his body replaced with cybernetics — much better treatment than poor Dr. Watson received for his injury from Maiwand. After being discharged from combat, Watts must find a roommate, and he is connected with the mysterious Sherlock, a consulting detective from a Historic Colony (a village where people still live as if it is the Victorian time period), who now resides in the city.<br />
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While the beginning of the story is a futuristic revision of the introductory chapters of <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>, once the mysteries begin, we are in all new adventures. A smart move on Ms. Magnusson's part. She sprinkles in connections to Doyle's adventures such as adding in Irregulars and a Lestrade stand-in with Detective Murphy, but the vision of this dystopian future in which corporations run what remains of the world and a vast wasteland is all that's left of the suburbs is entirely her own creation. We have traditional Holmes adventures grounded in this bleak futuristic world which makes for a great read. The overarching mystery connecting the stories together deals with a new highly addictive street drug known as "sunshine" and its connection to the supposedly benevolent R.X. corporation.<br />
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The writing is quite good and rightly focuses on the development of the friendship between the two men. Sherlock is very much like Sherlock Holmes. When reading his voice, you can feel the Doyle connection. Watts is quite different from Dr. Watson. He is a gruff, no nonsense doctor jaded from his battle experience. I found his voice to be more like that of characters from Chandler than characters from Doyle, and that is not a criticism. He makes a nice bridge between the two worlds, save with one exception. At one point, Watts uses a vulgar expletive. It isn't necessarily out of character, but it did not seem to fit the book, and I almost saw Dr. Watson taking Watts to task for using such a term in his name. <br />
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My only other complaint is one that fits with most other cyberpunk books — the technology. It is difficult to find the right footing in a futuristic world and while some of the changes such as easily getting an arm replacement are visionary, they are juxtaposed with standard technology that feels like it too should be more advanced. In a world where people can literally plug into the Internet via connections in their arms, they are still using cell phones and sending text messages.  In a world where people can get a mechanical leg replacement at a local hospital or even in the black market, police still have to send DNA evidence away to a lab to get tested. It is a minor complaint, but it is one that took me out of the stories on a few occasions. The writing is of such high quality, however, that it did not take me long to be rapt in the tales again.<br />
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On a different point, the story I found to be the absolute best in the collection was also the most traditional. "A Murder in the Colony," has Sherlock returning to his home historic colony and solving a murder that his father supposedly committed. It is not completely traditional. The new technology is important to the tale, but for the most part, the characters must only use what was available in the Victorian time period as well as their wits. The relationship between Sherlock and his parents is strained and we get glimpse into what made the man become the futuristic consulting detective.  Even if you are not a fan of anything non-traditional with Sherlock Holmes, I still recommend reading this collection if only for this story.  It is truly exceptional.<br />
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I look forward to Katie Magnusson's next Watts and Holmes collection (the book ends with a sneak peek at the second volume), and I also hope she writes a traditional collection of Holmes tales as well.  She is a talented writer and can easily write for both worlds. <br />
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<i>The R. X. Problem (The Adventures of Watts and Holmes Book 1)</i> is available as a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/R-X-Problem-Adventures-Watts-Sherlock/dp/1532929242/" target="_blank">paperback</a> and  an <a href="https://www.amazon.com/R-X-Problem-Adventures-Watts-Sherlock-ebook/dp/B01EAZN066/" target="_blank">ebook</a> on Amazon.  You can also visit the series' <a href="http://www.wattsandsherlock.com/" target="_blank">website</a>.<br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman";">Derrick Belanger is the author of the #1 bestselling book in its category <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1519511957" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Adventure-Peculiar-Provenance/dp/1519511957/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3292728" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3292728" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&_cb=1451973203084" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" />, which was in the top 200 bestselling books on Amazon. He also is the author of the MacDougall Twins with Sherlock Holmes books, the latest of which is <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B017862MVS" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur" href="http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Dinosaur-MacDougall-Sherlock-Holmes-ebook/dp/B017862MVS/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_7842789" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_7842789" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&_cb=1451973247482" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" />, and he edited the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle horror anthology <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00P4E8AVI" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural" href="http://www.amazon.com/Study-Terror-Revolutionary-Stories-Supernatural-ebook/dp/B00P4E8AVI/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5010397" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5010397" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&_cb=1451973259426" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" />. Mr. Belanger has recently started the publishing company <a href="http://www.belangerbooks.com/" target="_blank">Belanger Books</a> which released the Sherlock Holmes anthology <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Watson-Sherlock-Anthology-Stories/dp/1533202273/" target="_blank">Beyond Watson</a>. Derrick Belanger also is a frequent contributor to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. He resides in Colorado and continues compiling unpublished works by Dr. John H. Watson.</i><br />
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