I Believe in Sherlock Holmes: Early Fan Fiction from the Very First Fandom

by Douglas G. Greene (Editor)

When Arthur Conan Doyle killed off his fictional sleuth in the 1893 story "The Final Problem," distraught readers resorted to producing their own versions of Sherlock Holmes's adventures―thus inventing the now-common genre of fan fiction. These tales by famous and lesser-known devotees offer the best of early Sherlockian tributes and parodies.


Editor Douglas G. Greene's informative Introduction provides background on each of the stories and their authors. The collection begins with Robert Barr's "The Great Pegram Mystery," a satire that appeared less than a year after the very first Holmes short story. Thirteen additional tales include Bret Harte's "The Stolen Cigar Case," praised by Ellery Queen as "one of the most devastating parodies" ever written about the Baker Street investigator; Mark Twain's "A Double-Barrelled Detective Story," featuring Holmes's nephew, Fetlock Jones; and "The Sleuths," by O. Henry, in which a bumbling New York private eye struggles to outshine a rival.

Genres: Anthologies

244 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 19, 2015

About the author

Douglas G. Greene is an American historian, editor, and author. Greene is Emeritus Professor of History at Old Dominion University, specializing in Tudor and Stuart Britain.

Reviews

[Janis Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would like to thank Dover Publications for an ARC of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.

Sadly this was a DNF (Did Not Finish) book for me. A compilation of short stories based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous Sherlock Holmes that were written at the time Holmes’ stories were originally in print sounded like a terrific book to read. Sadly, for me, the stories were rather hit and miss. Even sadder is the fact I found them more misses than hits. Some, like the story by Mark Twain, was well written and enjoyable. Others, I just scratched my head at and wondered what the point was.

What may have helped is if each story and its author were better introduced. Yes there was an introduction to the book, and it covered the basics of what the tales would be about… but in this sort of compilation, I do enjoy each new tale having a brief introduction about the author – to refresh the reader as to who they are again – and maybe a brief rundown of the story to put it into some context. That way they might not seem like such a mish mash of tales that got rather redundant and repetitive for me.

This book may suit others, or may have been more enjoyable if I restricted myself to a story a day rather than trying to read it all in one sitting… but it wasn’t a book for me. The concept is good, there are some notably good authors included, but all in all it just didn’t capture and keep my attention as hoped.

Would I recommend this book to others? I might mention it if the subject arose and point out why I didn’t like it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it, sorry.

Would I buy this book for myself? In its current formatting, I probably wouldn’t. If the chapters had the author intros and synopsis added, I might reconsider, but right now not a book I’d own.

In summary: A book with a lot of promise that just didn’t follow through or entertain me the way I had hoped it would. Not a book for me, but other fans of Sherlock Holmes may enjoy it.

[Andrea Stoeckel · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ I received this book free from the publisher through NetGalley. I thank them for their generousity. In exchange, I was simply asked to write an honest review, and post it. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising]

This book is a compilation of authors paying homage to both Arthur Conan Doyle and his character Sherlock Holmes. It is hard for us in the 21st century to picture a world without detective stories. When ACD introduced Holmes and his world to the public in 1887, the idea of this character took off around the world. When Doyle ended (killed off?) The series, the world mourned. Soon after "fan fiction": stories written by known authors paying honor to the idea of Holmes, began appearing.

Green has collected European and American short stories and novellas both skewering Doyle and praising him. In this reviewer's opinion, the best of the bunch is Mark Twain's "A Double Barrelled Detective Story": a true "pot boiler", and the worst is Maurice Leblanc's "The Jewish Lamp" which is simply too long and meandering, which bored me.

I look at these stories, and the different ways Sherlock Holmes is still honored in characterizations like Jean-Luc Picard finding a sencient Moriarty in the holodeck program, and then the recent Detective Robert Goran in "Law and Order: Criminal Intent", with the incomprable Nicole Wallace as his foil Moriarity, and, of course the current Holmes/ Watson twists of CBS' "Elementary", with Holmes dealing with a female Watson and she dealing with a female Moriarity.

I wonder what Arthur Conan Doyle would think of Sherlock Holmes in the 21st century?

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Dover Publications!
If you've heard of a little book called Fifty Shades of Grey, you have heard of Fan Fiction. What you may not know is that this phenomenon started as early as 1892, only five years after the debut of Sherlock Holmes. Even Mark Twain got in on the action. This volume features 13 such pieces of fandom, including Twain's. The problem with these kinds of books is that the content can be uneven. Bret Harte's The Stolen Cigar Case is the best, not only in my opinion but also according to Ellery Queen, who called it "one of the most devastating parodies ever written about Sherlock Holmes." I also loved The Adventure of the Unique Hamlet, by Vincent Starrett and The Jewish Lamp, by Maurice Leblanc. The problem with the rest of the stories is that they make Holmes look like a convoluted fool who doesn't know what he's doing, and Watson as a dog in his blind adoration. I know that that’s what parodies are for, but I really, un-ironically admire Sherlock Holmes and it hurt me a little to see him made fun of. I enjoyed all the stories and, if nothing else, it is interesting to read these pieces of fan fiction.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book's subtitle doesn't exactly do it many favours (and the main title isn't up to much, either, to be honest). Just by listing these tales as fan-fiction ties in with the introductory notes, that so many were invented to fill gaps left by Conan Doyle retiring, then returning to, the character, but there is more to it than that. On the whole these pieces are too professionally done to be mere homages. Some are pastiches with the intent on clearly being humorous, either in taking the mickey of Holmes and Watson in their relationship, or just by proving the master detective fallible. Generally they're serious efforts (or at least aren't amusing), and are pretty good, even if the editing could have been better – Holmes as a snakeoil salesman on a river boat is scraping the barrel (and no, that's not the Mark Twain effort, surprisingly- although both are stinkers). When the creators know their trade in telling a good story, in the detail that Conan Doyle could provide, generally they succeed, and at that level the parody of Watson's style comes easy. Certainly this is more grist to the mill of any Holmes aficionado, further proof of the timeless qualities of the character, and on the whole a pretty entertaining piece of work.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

**I received this book for free in exchange for a honest review**

This is a fun collection of stories (although I think that the Mark Twain one slows the reading down) and it's fun to see the made-up names for Sherlock Holmes that the other authors gave to Holmes! For a more complete review check out my blog, Rachael Reads!

https://rachaelsbookshelf.wordpress.c...

[Katie Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. Unsurprisingly, some were better than others but the better ones outweigh the good.

A really interesting homage.