The Resurrected Holmes: New Cases from the Notes of John H. Watson, M.D.

by Marvin Kaye (Editor), J. Adrian Fillmore (Introduction)

A new collection of adventures and mystery stories featuring the inimitable sleuth Sherlock Holmes encompasses fifteen tales written by Morgan Llywelyn, Richard Lupoff, Mike Resnick, Craig Shaw Gardner, Edward D. Hoch, and others.

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery, Anthologies, Mystery Thriller

337 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1996

About the author

Marvin Nathan Kaye was an American mystery, fantasy, science fiction, horror author, anthologist, and editor. He was also a magician and theater actor. Kaye was a World Fantasy Award winner and served as co-publisher and editor of Weird Tales Magazine.

Reviews

[Jane Cairns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories.

[Read1000books · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars. An uneven collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories by writers using the style of famous authors such as Hammett, Hemingway, Spillane, Lovecraft, etc. A novel concept but inappropriate in more than a few cases, to the extent that I quit three of the stories: Repulsive Story of the Red Leech (too graphic), Mrs. Vamberry Takes A Trip (too risqué), and Boulevard Assassin (voices of characters totally wrong). And considering that Carole Bugge wrote a great SH novel ("The Star Of India"; see my review), even her ss wasn't all that good. Skip the stories in the "Long Shots" section (sci-fi/fantasy has no place in a true Sherlock Holmes story) and those named above, and you will be left with seven that are decent.

[Cyn McDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories written as if by contemporary authors of note: H.G. Wells, Ernest Hemingway, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.P. Lovecraft (he did The Giant Rat of Sumatra), Dashiell Hammet and the like.

[DOLLY · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really difficult to put this book aside since it's filled with action, suspense and fascinating minds.

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Editor Marvin Kaye counts The Resurrected Holmes as one of the most unusual books he's ever edited, an it may be the most unusual Sherlock Holmes-themed anthology I've read. Writing pastiches of Holmes (Conan Doyle) has become something of a cottage industry, but here we have writers writing pastiches of Holmes' unrecorded cases (ones with which Watson entices readers with the briefest of passing comments in the Canon), but they do so with the voices of other writers, such as H.G. Wells, Ernest Hemingway or Ellery Queen. The whole thing is a send-up, of course, attributing the stories to famous writers, who were commissioned by the fellow who bought Watson's storage box at auction, even to the commentary from "J. Adrian Fillmore" of Parker College. It does not rise to the level of a literary hoax, however, because everyone is in on it; in one or two centuries, however, literary scholars may be arguing over whether it's a hoax or a literary treasure, even as some of them endeavor to prove Sherlock Holmes was just a fictional character...good luck with that.

How you react to any of the fifteen stories may depend on what you think of the literary "ghost" who wrote the story. For example, buried in "The Adventure of the Boulevard Assassin" is a good Sherlock Holmes story, but trying to find it in Jack Kerouac's stoned-out prose may drive you nuts. And while I enjoy P.G. Wodehouse's writing very much, it's difficult reading about Sherlock Holmes' encounter with "Ricoletti of the Club Foot and his Abominable Wife" when you have the apprehension that Bertie Wooster and his pal Bingo may pop in at any moment for a w & soda. Similarly J. Thorne Smith's witty light-hearted banter may be a bit too much for the purist; and that may be the case when we learn Holmes can speak the language of Gorillas in a story attributed to Edgar Rice Burroughs (actually, I rather liked that one)

On the whole, the stories are all extremely well written, and when there are lapses perceived, we can always blame them on the "ghost writers" as when Watson refers to a fellow physician as a "croaker" in a story by Dashiell Hammett. On the other hand, some of the stories seem to succeed more than others (allowing for personal taste), such as H.P. Lovecraft's take on "The Giant Rat of Sumatra" and C.S Forrester's tale of the loss of the barque Sophy Anderson. For the reader and the collector alike, this book is a valuable and necessary addition to your Sherlock Holmes bookshelf.

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

You may have decided to pick this up b/c you read all things Holmes; this is a collection of stories written by others (not only are the tales written by published authors, some are told by actors and and librarians) *who are writing in the guise of famous authors. One example is Richard Lupoff, who was commissioned for this book by Kaye to write a Holmes story as if he were Jack Kerouac. Kaye's premise for this collection is that Watson's unpublished notes supposedly lost in a WWII bombing surfaced and were bought by a mysterious man w/ lots of money; he commissioned the likes of Kerouac to write these stories. So, this is Lupoff et al writing as Kerouac et al writing as Conan Doyle writing as Watson. Further, this is meant to be pastiche - meaning they are meant to write the story as Doyle would have written it (so what's the point of pretending that they are Kerouac et al if they are meant to write in Doyle's style????). Metafiction, anyone? Whew.

Despite all these literary pyrotechnics, the stories generally are no match for Conan Doyle's Sherlock: (Note: some spoilers below)
--Amateur Mendicant Society - told from Watson's perspective; too pat
--Victor Lynch - Watson's perspective; visit @ Baker from mysterious woman; one of the better ones
--Case of Canary Trainer - told from 3rd person; a woman wants to kill b/c canaries were sent to the mines? Seriously?
--Red Leech - told from Watson's perspective; a vampire doctor who happens to be an acquaintance of Watson's?
--Loss of the British Barque - told from Watson's perspective; naval sabotage; just OK
--Politician, Lighthouse, Trained Cormorant - told from Watson's perspective; gorilla-humans? is this sci-fi or Holmes?
--Dragon-Slayer - told from 3rd person; a haunted hill; meh
--Ricoletti of the Club Foot - told from Watson's perspective; young Holmes as he learns his trade; why do I prefer to believe he came from the womb w/ his skills?
--Giant Rat - told from Watson's perspective; boiling oceans and human sacrifice
--Mrs Vamberry - silly and creative; is parody; clearly *not* pastiche
--Madness - Watson's perspective; on a cruise; evil female character; not bad
--Manor House - Watson's perspective; African animals in private zoo and playing cards; OK
--Cripple Parade - Sherlock's perspective; aluminum; not great
--Stains - Sherlock's perspective; not pastiche

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Famous authors" are asked to write new Sherlock Holmes stories from Watson's notes of unpublished cases. According to the introduction of this anthology, the "authors" are supposed to suppress their own styles and voices and to write in the voice of John Watson. The "authors" included in this volume pretty much suck at this.

I don't have any favorites among these stories, and there are a couple I doubt I'll read again:
Mrs. Vamberry Takes a Trip - "Mike Resnick" ascribed to J. Thorne Smith (silly nonsense)
The Adventure of the Boulevard Assassin - "Richard A. Lupoff" ascribed to Jack Kerouac (Red pen alert! I'd like to buy some punctuation.)

[Saklani · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit bizarre overall, though the concept was interesting. Some of the stories were pretty good, but several were just weird. My favorite was the HP Lovecraft Holmes pastiche. That had a nice blend of worlds.

[Serhiy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Майже всі записки відповідають стилю А.Конан-Дойля. Особливо сподобалися останні розповіді в книзі. Деякі з них можна й екранізувати, під сучасний манер. Впершу чергу історію про те, як Холмс вперше став детективом - студента Оксфорда одногрупник попросив допомогти, і...

[LuAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good but not great collection of pastiches written in the styles of a variety of authors.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute idea -- famous writers each taking a turn at a Sherlock Holmes pastiche. But it gets a bit old, though. If you are not familiar with the authors who "write" the short stories, then you're in for a long haul. Sherlock Holmes fans will probably get bored with it quickly. This seems to be geared more for English majors than Sherlockians.

[Rosalie · Rating 3 out of 5]