THE SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERIES BOOKS 1-16: sixteen puzzling cases featuring a legendary detective

by Val Andrews

Sixteen ingenious cases. Over 1700 pages of detective work. One legendary detective. This complete collection of classic mysteries by Sherlockian author Val Andrews is now in one great-value box set.

Step back into Victorian London and the world of fog-shrouded alleys, hansom cabs, and the brilliant deductive mind of Sherlock Holmes.

In this magnificent 16-book short story collection, master storyteller Val Andrews continues the legacy of Arthur Conan Doyle with brand-new adventures faithful to the original spirit of Baker Street.

From stolen treasures and secret societies to royal intrigues and deadly conspiracies, Holmes and Watson confront mysteries that range from the eerie and atmospheric to the delightfully bizarre.

Perfect for lovers of classic detective fiction, these tales capture the wit, intellect, and charm of literature’s greatest sleuth. Whether unravelling crimes in the gaslit streets of London or confronting supernatural rumours in the English countryside, Holmes and Watson remain an incomparable duo.

A must-read collection for fans of Arthur Conan Doyle, Roger Riccard, David Marcum, Andrew Lane, Nicholas Meyer and Bonnie MacBird.

PRAISE FOR VAL

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘You may think that you are reading another Doyle book but you aren't. The style is full of twist and turns. You will not be disappointed.' RichardsonCop

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I have long been a follower of Sherlock Holmes, I found these short stories excellent well written and believable.' Kindle Reader.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This is a very nice collection of Holmes short stories.' Thomas G.C.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Some authors who use Holmes and Watson in their work don't do them justice. You have nothing to fear with this very entertaining.' Vickie W.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘As a life long fan of the Sherlock Holmes character I liked this very much. It classically hit all the right expected features of a Sherlock Holmes story.' Devere W.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A well written story, paying respect to Doyle's tales. Highly recommended to mystery readers of all ages.' Tonya.

1750 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 22, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Val Andrews was a music hall artist, ventriloquist and writer.
Andrews was born in Hove, Sussex, England a few hours after Valentine's Day, hence his name. Son of an architect, he was introduced to magic by his father. Andrews was a prolific writer on magic, having published over 1000 books and booklets from 1952. He also authored Sherlock Holmes pastiches and Houdini's novels. He lived for a number of years in Brighton, then in London (from 1943 onwards) where he joined the London Society of Magicians.

Reviews

[Tony P · Rating 2 out of 5]

Downrated, see Postscript below.

Moderately amusing, but lacks the sparkle of the authentic canon.

Reading these 16 pastiches close together, they become repetitious; there are repeated themes, such as stage/music hall actors, or Holmes upbraiding Watson for being "tardy" every morning. Or there's Holmes demanding Watson get him Scottish Mixture tobacco for his pipe, which he invariably lights explicitly with a vesta. What about Holmes' strong black shag? Lighting his pipe from the fireplace? And Watson whines a lot about mistreatment by Holmes, and no wonder, because Holmes in nearly every story does tease, mislead, glare at, and belittle him to an extent unlike the original. It becomes tedious.

There were some proofing errors in my copy (from Kindle Unlimited) including missing words, typos and missing punctuation. Actually the author was quite consistent in omitting the conventional comma before a noun or phrase in apposition, so it might be a deliberate modern style, but I found it irritating: Watson wouldn't write that way, so it created cognitive dissonance.

I recommend reading individual volumes of this series at well-separated intervals. There's plenty of fun in each story, but sixteen at once is too many, and, as I say, the repeated themes and clichés become tedious.

Postscript: I am just now reading "A Study in Terror" by Ellery Queen, which starts with Ellery 's discovery of an unpublished Sherlock Holmes MS. Much of the book is given over to the Holmes story, as Ellery reads it. The quality of the pastiche is superb. Queen, who as usual is the author as well as the protagonist, has perfectly captured Watson's style. He even uses English spelling (e.g. 'coloured'), which is unusual in an American publication. I bring this up because Queen's perfect recreation of Watson's/Conan Doyle's puts other parodies such as this one to shame. I shall review the Queen book when I finish it, but I expect to give it five stars, if only for the Holmes pastiche.

What I am trying to say is that the Queen book will be my touchstone in future for reviewing Sherlock Holmes imitations, which I've been reading a lot of recently. I am going to downrate this Andrews Holmes anthology, though I hasten to reiterate that I would rate the individual stories one star higher.

[Dwight Koslowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a big fan of mysteries, other than the Holmes type. Although these are written in the styles of Watson / Doyle, the mysteries are not very complicated and the solutions are very simplistic.

[Mrs. Priscilla M. Dicus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Became very tired of Watson whining constantly about Sherlock it was very exhausting and removed from the storyline

[Daniel Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books were such a fun read because the story is packed with twists and turns. Some of the stories take place when Sherlock Holmes is retired, and he gets drawn into a murder case with Doctor Holmes. You'll find yourself trying to crack the case too, but in the end, Sherlock will have the final say. This collection has a total of sixteen books.