This blog will confine itself to reviews of three MX publications, including works by David Marcum, Dan Andriacco, and Claire Daines. It may be of interest to fans of Charles Dickens as well as Conan Doyle.

Sherlock Holmes and a Quantity of Debt by David Marcum

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This 2013 publication, set to reappear this fall in paperback and audiobook editions, is perhaps the most literary of David Marcum’s works. Its title references a line from Dickens’ Great Expectations, and plot elements from that classic aid Sherlock Holmes in his solution. However, the tale behind the case (which begins with the discovery of a mummified body on a dying philanthropist’s estate) has the retributive darkness of a Thomas Hardy novel. Marcum’s book is a worthy tribute to the Victorian writers who inspired it. Naturally, they include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for no modern Sherlockian is more faithful to Doyle’s style, or the relationship between his central characters, than Marcum. We find Holmes in top deductive form, unraveling a convoluted mystery while offering sympathy (if few clues) to a bereaved Dr. Watson and sandbagging (for the best of motives) his official colleague. As a bonus, Marcum provides information on Watson’s little-known first marriage. A Quantity of Debt fully satisfies as a detective story, but it is the strange fate of Martin Briley that lifts this pastiche above the common run. While David Marcum’s editing of MX Publishing’s ongoing anthology remains a boon to all Sherlockians, his novel’s pending re-release reminds us that he is also an exceptionally fine writer.

Sherlock Holmes and A Quantity of Debt is available from all good bookstores, including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, and for free shipping worldwide Book Depository. In e-book format it is in Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and Apple Book (iPad/iPhone).

Sherlock Holmes in the Peculiar Persecution of John Vincent Harden by Dan Adriacco

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Although Conan Doyle mentioned this case in “The Solitary Cyclist,” it was never included in the Canon. Dan Andriacco fills the gap admirably with a story in Doyle’s classic format. His “Watson voice” is excellent; Sherlock Holmes is in top acerbic form; and the persecuted Harden, a Kentucky tobacco millionaire, makes a sympathetic client. The language is true to its period throughout, and references to the Civil War and Shakespeare add interest to the tale. So deft is Andriacco’s plotting that I was as chagrined as Watson not to deduce the solution (which in its timing left Holmes chagrined as well). Steve White, the narrator, enlivens the audio version with an entertaining variety of accents. While the dulcet sweetness of a Southern belle may be a bit beyond his range, as a Tennessean I can vouch for his Kentucky twang. In short, “The Peculiar Persecution of John Vincent Harden” fully satisfies, both aurally and as a Holmes pastiche.

"The Peculiar Persecution of John Vincent Harden" is available in Kindle and Audible versions on Amazon USA, as an audiobook on Amazon UK, and as an e-book on Kobo.

A Criminal Carol by Claire Daines

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This short story is a clever, nicely written fusion of Dickens’ “Christmas Carol” and Doyle’s “Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.” Ms. Daines’ tale takes place on Christmas Eve in 1890, as Professor Moriarty contemplates the growing threat to his criminal empire posed by Sherlock Holmes. At this critical juncture, he is visited (like Dickens’ miser) by the ghost of an old colleague, followed by three spirits who reveal his past, present, and future. Only the last, of course, is of real interest to him. While the Napoleon of Crime may seem less redeemable than Scrooge, he is reconciled to his future, partly by a vision of Sherlockian pastiches stretching out, like Banquo’s issue, to the crack of doom. This story‘s premonition of the Reichenbach Falls differs from the outcome Ms. Daines’ presented in her 2013 novel, A Study in Regret. Having enjoyed this brief sample of her writing, readers who have not already done so will want to take up that fine book.

"A Criminal Carol" is available on Amazon Kindle.