Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Years

by Michael Kurland (Editor)

In 1891, Sherlock Holmes in a struggle with his arch-enemy, the Napoleon of Crime, Professor James Moriarty, plunged with him over the Reichenbach Falls to his inevitable death. All of England - indeed the entire world - mourned the irreplaceable loss of the world's greatest detective. And that's where things stood until 1894 when Holmes suddenly reappeared in London, revealing himself to his friend Dr. John Watson, and resumed his activities as a consulting detective. Holmes remained very quiet and mysterious on those missing three years, never really revealing precisely where he'd been and what he'd done in the 'hidden years."

Now, in this anthology of original stories the truth about those thirty-five months is unveiled and Holmes' adventures described. While some stories place Holmes in such familiar locations as New York and San Francisco, others find him high in the Himalayas or above the Arctic Circle. With stories from such writers as Rhys Bowen, Peter Beagle, Carolyn Wheat, Michael Collins and many others, Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Years is a must-have book for every fan who has every wondered about the untold adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Victorian, Historical Mystery

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

aka Jennifer Plum

Michael Kurland has written many non-fiction books on a vast array of topics, including How to Solve a Murder, as well as many novels. Twice a finalist for the Edgar Award (once for The Infernal Device) given by the Mystery Writers of America, Kurland is perhaps best known for his novels about Professor Moriarty. He lives in Petaluma, California.

Reviews

[TheRavenking · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like with most anthologies the quality of these stories varies. The compilation is worth reading for Michael Kurland’s “Reichenbach” alone which is one of the more interesting interpretations of Sherlock Holmes’ “death”. Other entries I enjoyed were Peter Beagle’s lightly satirical “Mr. Sigerson”, Bill Pronzini’s “The Bughouse Caper” and “The Adventure Of The Missing Detective” by Gary Lovisi which has the feel of a Twilight Zone episode with Sherlock Holmes as the protagonist. But even the lesser stories here are fun if unmemorable. One of the better Sherlockian anthologies.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another collection of Sherlockian pastiches, edited by Michael Kurland, but this time with a very specific theme: trying to explain the activities actually undertaken by the Great Detective during the 'hiatus', i.e. the period between his "death"(1891) and "rise"(1894). The contents of this collection are:

(*) Introduction by Michael Kurland

1) 'THE BEAST OF GUANGMING PARK' by Michael Mallory: a thoroughly enjoyable story, with subtle hints thrown at a surprising lot of intriguing ideas.

2) 'WATER FROM THE MOON' by Carolyn Wheat: a very competent story of Holmes in the far east.

3) 'MR. SIGERSON' by Peter Beagle: another very good story that shows how thin a line was treaded by the Great Detective, even while performing those astonighing feats of deduction, and how easily things can be waylaid.

4) 'The Mystery of Dr. Thorvald Sigerson' by Linda Robertson: the 4th successive story featuring Holmes as Sigerson, and the weakest.

5) 'THE CASE OF THE LUGUBRIOUS MANSERVANT' by Rhys Bowen: another superlative adventure featuring memory-deprived Holmes solving a murder, in the presence of Dr. Sigmund Freud no less!

6) 'The Bughouse Caper' by Bill Pronzini: interesting premises, but simply overdrawn to have any impact left for the end.

7) 'REICHENBACH' by Michael Kurland: the best story of this collection, and you should really get hold of Kurland's other Professor Moriarty stories on a priority basis!

8) 'The Strange Case of The Voodoo Priestess' by Carole Bugge: too long, too long-drawn with all its attempt to mix exotica with murder, and one of the weaker stories.

9) 'THE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING DETECTIVE' by Gary Lovisi: a very good story mixing Reichenbach falls (obviously), science, Tibetan wisdom, and a tremendous role played by Watson!

10) 'CROSS OF GOLD' by Michael Collins: a superb pastiche, and a hint to the origin of another great detective of the present who fights for justice.

11) 'God of the Naked Unicorn' by Richard Lupoff: a farce, nothing less-nothing more.

To sum up, it is indeed difficult to find so many good stories of repeat-reading value in an anthology, and hence this anthology is indeed worthy of 5-star rating. Recommended.

[John Peel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another collection of modern Sherlock Holmes stories, and, like most of them, a bit of a mixed bag. This one is set in "the hidden years", the three years between Holmes' supposed-death at Reichenbach Falls and his turning up again in London. What happened during those years? Various authors with varying success offer a few suggestions. There's a nice tale by Peter Beagle (well, he never disappoints!), and another by BIll Pronzini (another old pro). The worst is undoubtedly Richard Lupoff's rambling, disjointed tale that's completely pointless. The oddest is Gary Lovisi's in which Sherlock finds himself in a parallel universe where he's dead and Watson is an alcoholic mess. A fairly light read, and something in it for just about everyone.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that you keep by the bed and read one story a night. A collection of tales which fill in the "missing years" of Holmes between Reichenbach Falls and his return in "The Adventure of the Empty House". Written by contemporary authors, most of whom are not familiar to me, the stories range from clever to adequate. The final story is a parody of the pulps and is populated by the likes of Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Green Llama et al.
This is a fun read if you don't think too much about the Conan Doyle stories which are, of course, the only Holmes stories worth considering. It's a diversion and a quick read.

[Seph Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A serviceable collection of what if stories set after the Fall at Reichenbach.

While there are some very good stories here, notably The Beast of Guangming Peak, Water From the Moon and my favorite, Reichenbach (Moriarty sets the record straight), most are merely alright, and several suffer from some issues.

Most notable in the negatives is The Case of the Lugubrious Manservant which has multiple spelling errors as well as a thoroughly unoriginal setting (Holmes and Sigmond Freud work on a case, haven't we seen that before?), and Holmes solves the case easily despite his issues, and without giving us any clues, it simply happens, not that the villain was hard to guess. God of the Naked Unicorn is another disappointing one, which is a shame, it's a great concept handled very poorly (a League of Extraordinary Gentleman but not the one you've heard of). The Adventure of the Missing Detective is another story with great potential, but poor execution.

Still, the stories aren't terrible, and if you find a copy at a reasonable price, any Holmes fan should put this one in their collection. I'm particularly fond of Reichenbach as I mentioned, I really should look into more of Michael Kurland's work, this story could've been twice as long and I would've enjoyed it just as much.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an okay read. I enjoyed the first story even though it read rather awkward. The other stories were alright, but didn't really hold my interest.

I think that the reason for why I didn't enjoy this book as much is because it tries to explain what Sherlock did in the years Watson and all of Britain thought that he had died, but it didn't read as good as the other fanfiction I've read over the years. A lot of the time, I forced myself to continue on with the short stories in this book, which are all interconnected in some way.

I am going to keep this book on my Sherlock shelf for now and will probably re-read to see what I think of these stories later, but I don't think my opinion is going to change about them. I don't really like how these authors collab with one another, pushing their fanfiction on all of us as though we will think they are the most amazing Sherlock Holmes collection outside of the canon. It went from okay to okay, this is pretty mediocre, but because it's Sherlock, I love these stories for what they offer.

[Mike McAdam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting idea with varying degrees of success. Tasking authors with writing a story about Sherlock Holmes during his missing years (after his "death" and before he returned 3 years later). Some of these stories are quite gripping (Reichenbach by Michael Kurland is by far the best and there are a couple of other really strong ones). There are a few weak ones and one that was a little too strange for me. I am still giving it 4 stars as most of them were enjoyable. Some captured the spirit of the SH stories and a few that didn't but I am still glad I read it and recommend it!

[Outlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

This set of 10 tales are not as entertaining as those of the previous set (SH: Untold Stories of the Great Detective) with only 2 of the short tales coming up to scratch. My favourites were "The Beast from Guangming Peak" and "Water from the Moon", all the others were fair to middling with one title "God of the Naked Unicorn" which took the wooden spoon award for absolute drivel !

[Susan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compellation of short stories about Sherlock Holmes, his friend John H. Watson and their nemesis Moriarity. Several of the stories I enjoyed greatly. A few were not to my taste at all. An enjoying read just the same to have some semblance of the great detective at work again.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed bag. Some stories were a definite 4 rating. Still enjoyable for Sherlock aficionados.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

So what was Sherlock Holmes up to during the Great Hiatus? These stories try (and mostly fail) to explain what Holmes did during his time before he resurrected. There are three stories are FABULOUS and the only reason this anthology gets as many stars as it does. The bad news is that there are more than three short stories in this book (eight more), including a novella called "The Bughouse Caper" that I'm only mentioning so you know to avoid it.



So, all you Sherlock Holmes fans, just read first two stories and Carolyn Wheat's "Water From the Moon", then close the book, stick it back on the shelf and get on with your life.

[Mike Gowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, which I read and reread at an early age so I think my tendency to read pastiches come naturally. I'm curious to know how other writers treat the character.

I liked some of these stories better than others. I particularly liked the Peter Beagle story, "Mr. Sigerson" for its setting in a small community orchestra in a small, practically, if not literally, nonexistent eastern eastern European country. I also liked "The Bughouse Caper" by Bill Pronzini for the great 19th century San Francisco background, including the slang, which has the ring of authenticity.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stories didn't impress me all that much. They were slow - which isn't a good quality for a short story - or they seemed to focus on an uninteresting character other than Holmes.

The first half of the book only had one story that I liked: Water from the Moon.

After that, I was seriously thinking about putting the book down for good until I reached Kurland's story. Finally! After that, things went uphill. Mostly. There were several good stories in a row that had interesting cases and felt like the author put some time into them.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eleven stories based on the "hidden years" after Reichenbach Falls and Sherlock Holmes' reappearance in the "Adventurte of the Empty House" by eleven top authors (Rhys Bowen, Carolyn Wheat, Michael Collins to name a few). A good mix of stories and a good mix of ideas. Holmes became a mountaineer, an explorer, a healer, had amnesia, and actually worked alongside Professor Moriarty in one of the stories I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I am not a big fan of "short stories" but this was not the usual collection I highly recommend it

[Elderberrywine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An assortment of so, what was Holmes up to anyways, post-Reischenbach tales. The fun thing is that they can basically be set anywhere, and this lot - from India to the Bering Sea to San Francisco to Switzerland to New Orleans (etc, etc) pretty much are. The bad news is that they are, of a necessity, bereft of Watson.

Except for a nifty little parallel universe bon-bon which benefits a good deal from the presence of the good doctor. Worth the whole book, that one is.

[David Elkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it overall and it was a different treatment of Holmes. A couple of the stories stood head and shoulders above the rest. Granted the topic was offbeat and a couple of the tales were not really close to the real Holmes. I enjoyed the Voodoo story as much as any. I would finally recommend other Holmes books before this one. 4 stars after I finished the book. Well worth the read and it is a great sampling of some fine authors.

[Ronn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short story anthologies are almost always a mixed bag; this one is no exception. The last two stories excepted, these range from OK to really good. Nothing strands out as exceptional. Except for those last two, which are exceptionally bad. One just has a problem presented, skips any real story, and goes right to the solution involving all kinds of characters that we knew nothing about. The last is a parody, lacking humor or anything else that would make a parody worth reading.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. It was interesting to see what Holmes had been up to during his three years away, and it was good to encounter Louis Leonowens again. I felt bad for Holmes when he was so sick and delirious with malaria.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading... only one story had the great detective's character wrong enough to annoy me.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

a fun read

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

a retake of sherlock holmes by modern writers very invovled very good retake of the stories

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of the later stories in this book were weak entries, but on the whole, very enjoyable speculations about the three years when all the world though Holmes was dead.

[Erniepineault · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last two stories did not comport with the Sherlockian tradition.In fact, the last one was absurd. I have rated in a 3 an the strength of the first 3 or 4 stories.

[Krishna Shah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked some of the short stories but not all. An interesting look at the hidden years of Sherlock.

[Cyn McDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the previous collection, with a couple of very good stories. Reichenbach by Michael Kurland was outstanding. Also I learned that the original Fortress of Solitude belonged to Doc Savage.