Sherlock

Sherlock Holmes Mysteries

by Otto Penzler

An anthology of stories inspired by the greatest detective of all time: Sherlock Holmes.

In 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle put pen to paper and created a legend: Sherlock Holmes. The greatest detective of all time. His tall, slender, hawk-nosed figure with his deerstalker hat is instantly recognizable in every corner of the world.

Alongside Doyle's original stories, Sherlock has spawned a literature of his own in parodies and homages. More than 25,000 books, stories and articles have been written by authors, amateurs and scholars.

In this stupendous anthology, the best and most brilliant are collected together for the first time.

CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE:
Arthur Conan Doyle, James M. Barrie, O. Henry, Stephen King, Kingsley Amis, A.A. Milne, P.G. Wodehouse, Neil Gaiman, Anthony Burgess, Colin Dexter and Anne Perry

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Historical Fiction, Classics, Crime

899 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2015

About the author

Otto Penzler is an editor of mystery fiction in the United States, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, where he lives.

Otto Penzler founded The Mysteriour Press in 1975 and was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years.

Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977, and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994, and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003.

Reviews

[M.R. Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all anthologies, this one is a mix bag. Unlike some I've read, though, it leans much more heavily toward gems than duds. I greatly enjoyed the strange, genre-hopping pastiches and serious "lost cases". Many of the parodies, though, relied far too heavily on slapstick for my taste.

[Skjam! · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a fondness for Sherlock Holmes, as I am sure the majority of my readers do. Unsurprisingly, there has been a ton of Holmes fanfiction over the years. Pastiches that try to capture the feel of Arthur Conan Doyle’s prose, parodies that make fun of the detective’s odd habits, and weirder works. This is a collection of such, many done professionally by famous authors. Thus it might be better described as a big book of Sherlock Holmes-related stories.

There’s an editorial introduction, and the book proper begins with an essay by Arthur Conan Doyle regarding how and why he created Sherlock Holmes, and why he killed the character off. (The essay being written before he brought the detective back.) Interestingly, he mentions that the “arc” of a dozen individual stories designed to be collected into a book was an innovation at the time–most of the magazine authors aiming for book publication went with serialized stories. Then there are two short pieces by Doyle being silly with his own creations.

There are over eighty stories all together, most quite short. They range in time from the very first Holmes parody “An Evening with Sherlock Holmes” by J.M. Barrie (an obnoxious know-it-all engages in dueling observation with Mr. Holmes) to the very recent “The Case of Death and Honey” by Neil Gaiman (Holmes goes to China to solve one last mystery.) Several stories crossover with other fictional characters (three times with jewel thief Raffles) or real life people. Arthur Conan Doyle appears several times, but others range from U.S. President William McKinley to John Merrick, the “Elephant Man.”

There are stories as well, about Sherlockians (fans of the stories)solving mysteries, the most unusual of which is “The Martian Crown Jewels” by Poul Anderson (a Martian detective investigates the theft of the title gems.)

The selection process heavily favored stories that are historically important or are by famous writers; this means that several of the tales are not of good quality. “Sherlock Holmes and the Dasher” by the normally excellent A.B. Cox is particularly dreadful. Most of the bad stories are extremely short. Some of the stories are frequently reprinted (there’s a section of them towards the front), while others are rare.

There’s period sexism and ethnic prejudice in some of the stories. “The Marriage of Sherlock Holmes” by Gregory Breitman is particularly bad on the sexism front for purposes of humor; it fell flat for me. Suicide appears more than once, although some of them are actually murders.

The volume concludes with “The Adventure of the Marked Man”by Stuart Palmer (a Cornish man receives death threats, but he hasn’t an enemy in the world…right?)

Most of the stories are good, but due to the uneven nature of this anthology, I recommend it primarily for dedicated Sherlock Holmes fans who will appreciate the rare tales. Others should use the library, and borrow the volume to read the stories by authors they like. (I especially recommend the “Modern Victorians” section for casual fans.)

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a huge book with a collection of stories featuring a most beloved character, Sherlock Holmes. I confess that this was my first time reading Sherlock mysteries, but it certainly won't be my last. I loved having immediate access to his adventures.

Although this book requires that one reads its content over time, it is not so overwhelming that the reader gets lost or burdened. Each story invites more and more engagement. I look forward to learning more from this amazing character.

I believe that this book will hold much appeal for fans and collectors.

Rating: 4.5/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: Lovers of mystery/suspense
Source: NetGalley

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories is a superlative anthology. It was a delight to find so many Holmes tales under “one roof” and apparently some of these are very difficult to track down. The list of contributors features so many famous authors I am not even going to try to detail them. Best story is arguably “The Doctor’s Case” by some guy named Stephen King. I could have done without the parodies-for some reason I do not like people making fun of Sherlock. Also as editor Otto Penzler states the majority of those tales really aren’t funny. I could have done without all of them except the JM Barrie selections. Also featured are two ultra short Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that are rarely included in any reprinting. Doyle wins the lifetime achievement award for most tone-deaf author by the way. In an interview that is also included here Doyle states no one could be better for having read Sherlock Holmes-an opinion I heartily disagree with.

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories collected in this very large book range from the silly to the serious, from very short two almost novelas in length. Some are quite good with strong clots and stay fairly close to the original style of Sherlock Holmes stories. Others are parities or almost complete reinventions, using Sherlock Holmes as a very small foundation pointPeriod I personally don’t like those particular stories and Wood have been quite happy to skip them. Fortunately, thry were in the minority, and there were many great stories to enjoy. I will probably read this again several years from now since I think it’s impossible to fully explore and appreciate every story when going through collection like this one time.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This thing was a BEAST! It took me 2.5 years to read. I quickly learned that you can only read so much Sherlock Holmes fan fiction in a row. Too many of the authors hit the same beats over and over. What I started doing was reading two short stories between each novel that I read. That made it a much more enjoyable way to digest everything.

There's a lot more good than bad here and a few that rival the master himself. But please heed my warning, take many breaks reading this or you'll quickly get burned out.

[Il confine dei libri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Per leggere la recensione e l'approfondimento: https://ilconfinedeilibri.blogspot.co...

[Jaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a collection of short stories starring Sherlock Holmes or Holmes-like characters written by various authors. Like most anthologies, some stories were great and some were junk. But, most of these stories were enjoyable. Which was good considering how long the book was. My favorite stories involved a Martian version of Sherlock Holmes and a story where Watson outsmarted both Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes. I enjoyed reading this collection.

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories edited by Otto Penzler does not exaggerate. It is a big, heavy book. If you are Sherlock Holmes fanatic, you will love this. I am not a fanatic, but I enjoyed most of the stories in this collection.

This collection groups the stories into different categories: “The Master,” “Familiar as the Rose in Spring,” “Not of this Place,” “You Think That’s Funny?” and others. In the table of contents, each section is introduced with a short explanatory paragraph. The brief section “The Master” includes parodies written by Arthur Conan Doyle and “Not of This Place” stories take Holmes and Watson out of their familiar Victorian London and place them in different eras—and sometimes different planets. One of my favorite stories in the collection is from this section. It is called “The Martian Crown Jewels” and it’s written by Poul Anderson, a well-known sci-fi author. Holmes has been transformed into a Martian named Syaloch; he looks something like a seven foot bird man who smokes tobacco and says “Elementary, my dear fellow.” The story itself is very interesting and l liked the sci-fi, alien-world setting. Another of my favorite stories is written by Neil Gaiman: “The Case of Death and Honey.” It takes place when Holmes is elderly and retired and the mystery is of a different kind. I loved it, which is usually how I respond to Gaiman’s writing—I either love it or hate it. Not a lot of in between.

The satires are funny as well and I liked “The Adventure of the Ascot Tie” and “The South Sea Soup Co.” They managed to be original in their humor, which some of the stories could not. Overall, that is the biggest problem with this giant collection of stories—the stories contain so many of the same elements of SH (his tobacco, his amazing deductions, Watson’s cluelessness, his “7 percent solution,” etc.) that it becomes tedious reading the same kind of story many times over. Even the satire grew old because the same elements were satirized and often in similar ways. Because of this, I don’t recommend reading this collection like a novel. It took me over two years to read this book, and that’s because I read it in short bursts so as not to tire of the subject matter. I still did, but that doesn’t mean the stories aren’t worth reading. The majority of them are very good to excellent. I recommend this to all readers who enjoy detective fiction; even the casual Sherlock fan will enjoy these stories and find the satires amusing.

[Yzabel Ginsberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

[I received a copy of this book through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.]

A huge collection of Sherlock Holmes-related short stories—as is made obvious from the title—written by various authors: some who were Doyle's contemporaries, some from the late 1990s or even 2000s, and some from the 20th century. Mostly two kinds of stories are represented: “serious” Holmes adventures, and humorous ones (the latter ranging from light pastiches to ridiculous ones).

Breaking down this collection into separate commentary for each story (there are 83!) would be too long and time-consuming, so I won't do this here, and keep to a more general commentary. As in every anthology, there are good things and less than interesting ones; as the editor himself wrote in the introduction, some of those are worth a shot because they were never reprinted, and were only published in obscure magazines in their time. In my case, I realised that I didn't really care about the comical Holmes stories: I guess I like my Sherlock somewhat “serious”, although I'm also known for liking heroic sociopath versions of him (see Thomas Day).

Among the most memorable ones for me:
* “The Case of the Unseen Hand”, which goes back on the Dreyfus affair. (And that was *quite* a big deal in late 19th France).
*“The Martian Crown Jewels” — one the rare really different takes on Sherlock Holmes here (considering it's science fiction).
* “A Case of Mis-Identity”, both quite amusing and clever, in presenting different points of view about the same situation.
* “The Startling Events in the Electrified City” — a plot against President McKinley's life.

While I still think a lot of these stories had an interest only as quirky little examples of what was once done regarding the Holmes & Watson corpus, this is a collection still worth borrowing, for want of actually buying the book.

[Loraine Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes was a huge book with 83 stories, two by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but along with these stories there were also stories by 81 other authors, some of them parodies and some of them pastiches, which I did not know the meaning of until I picked up this book which means-an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.

This anthology was put together by Otto Penzler, and it is a huge work, and the largest of its kind ever! In this book there are other tales of Sherlock Holmes told by some very well known authors as well; Anne Perry, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Lyndsay Faye, and Laurie R. King to name a few, as well as earlier authors, P.G. Wodehouse, Dorothy B. Hughes, and even O'Henry.

There are far too many authors to name, but one thing is certain there are 83 tales, 2 by by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, and at the beginning of these stories, Otto Penzler gives a brief description of each and interesting facts about the tales.

This book is over 800 pages so took a while for me to get through, but the main reason I wanted to read it was that although I had read some of the stories in school, I never read 83 of them so I wanted to go back and read them again. I am glad that I did, and I also found Otto Penzler's words before each story interesting and so I walked away with a better understanding of not only his tales, but also several things by other authors, using his characters. Also a lot of the stories it was mentioned a lot of people had not heard of before, me included.

I really enjoyed this anthology and look forward to looking into more anthologies Otto Penzler has put together as well! I gave this anthology 5***** stars.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given that there are 83 stories here, I'm not even going to attempt to go through and discuss them individually. For that matter, given how long it's taken me to finish this book - almost a year, on and off - I don't know that I want to try to remember all the high- and lowlights of the collection. I will say that I generally enjoyed this. There were definitely some stories that weren't very good, and to give an example I would've much rather had A Study in Emerald than the Neil Gaiman story included here. The section of parodies especially was weak, and I honestly could have easily done without it. It was nice to see a wide variety of authors, including some I've read before like Stephen King, and many more that I've never heard of before. The biographical notes will be worth my looking over again at some point to find new mystery authors to explore. I do feel like the way the book was organized was a bit weird. Yes, it makes sense to have sections for stories without Holmes and for sci-fi and fantasy stories (which included a great one about a Martian Holmes), but the last two sections seem to be divided entirely on the basis of living versus dead authors which is just silly. I think Penzler's other anthologies tend to have somewhat better organization, but that's probably because they cover wider rangers whereas Sherlock Holmes stories are largely going to be fairly similar and difficult to cut into significant sections. Overall, I had a fairly fun time reading this, and while the fact that all of these stories are by necessity standalone meant it wasn't quite as fun as reading the original canon, I still enjoyed seeing a nice cross-section of Holmes fiction from the past century and a bit. Whenever I want to look for new mystery writers, this book will be an excellent reference, making it well worth the price of admission on that alone. I think it's definitely worth checking out if you're a Holmes fan - though unlike me, see if you can read it as an ebook rather than the bulky and awkward print version.

[Tracce D'Inchiostro blog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sono felice di partecipare al review party di questa raccolta dedicata al grande investigatore Holmes. Oggi vi parlerò in particolare della prima parte dell'opera, in particolare Il maestro e Familiare come la rosa in primavera.
Si tratta di racconti di diversa lunghezza e scritti da vari autori, tra cui lo stesso Doyle, che hanno come punto di contatto la parodia. Infatti il personaggio di Holmes appare sagace, ironico, un uomo che si diverte a prendere in giro il suo amico Watson per supposizioni completamente errate, o gli ispettori di polizia che brancolano nel buio.
Vi immergerete nelle indagini sul furto di un famoso volume di Shakespeare, oppure di un portasigari; un ricercato che scompare nel nulla lungo una traversata in mare, fino a un testamento sparito e una camera chiusa.
Il mio preferito è stato proprio quest'ultimo, “Il caso del dottore”, scritto da Stephen King, in cui appunto Watson risolverà il suo primo caso, con risvolti sorprendenti.
Posso aggiungere che alcuni racconti sono molto brevi, sì risolvono quasi in una battuta; altri hanno una costruzione un po' lenta, mentre altri ancora mi hanno appassionato.
È una raccolta poliedrica, in cui ognuno saprà trovare il tema e lo stile dell' autore che preferisce. Ho apprezzato molto la prefazione e l'excursus storico sul personaggio iniziale e i riferimenti sui vari scrittori e il racconto in oggetto, come se fossero delle piccole introduzione per contestualizzare il tutto.

Lo consiglio a:
Gli amanti delle indagini e della pazza coppia di investigatori!

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gigantic tome of pastiches had an ambition that can be summarised as 'collection to end all collections'. To do that, it had very large number of stories (each preceded by a write-up on the author) classified under following sections~
1. The Master: two pieces penned by Sir ACD.
2. Familiar as the Rose in Spring: Eight most popular 'traditional' parodies and pastiches.
3. The Literature of Crime: Here thirteen efforts from other literary superstars have been collected.
4. In the Beginning: Four initial and representative parodies have been placed in this section.
5. Holmesless: Three stories under the shadow of Holmes.
6. Not of This Place: These four stories take Holmes in non-canonical time and space.
7. Keeping the Memory Green: Ten pastiches, lovingly created by admirers of the Great Detective have been collected here.
8. You Think That's Funny: Eleven brilliant parodies.
9. Contemporary Victorians: Fifteen pastiches penned by Modern Masters of crime have got curated here.
10. The Footsteps of a Gigantic Author: Heroic authors of pulp-era had also written pastiches and ten such efforts are here.
Overall, this is a humongous anthology with something for every Sherlochian, or Holmesian
Recommended.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should’ve read the description before I checked out this book. However I did enjoy it. It is a collection of Sherlock Holmes related stories, some quite good and most of which are very short. The beginning of the book is excessively boring so I fast forwarded to the first or second chapter and from there on it was interesting.

I can’t imagine that anyone would enjoy this book unless they were a Sherlock Holmes fan.

[Lavender · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many stories, despite my repertoire of Holmes books I only recognized a few from this collection. It covers from comedic parodies to full length mysteries, and gave me many authors to look up and continue reading.

[Chloe]

Read every story pregnant with my first child. She is now near 60.

[Judy Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the best statement from me for this book would be that I liked some of it, but by no means all. There are 83 short stories in this book with a brief biography of the author of each story preceding it. There are over 900 pages. Under normal reviewing conditions I like to list each story with its author but that would simply be too unwieldy for this collection.

I am the type of reader who wanted this book to be made up of predominantly serious pastiches. I wanted to watch how other authors used the basic characters and methods of the Conan Doyle collection to show how they would and could entertain using the originals as examples to go by. The ingredients for the story should, naturally, be their own, but they should be serious mystery puzzles. This collection gave me very few of those types of stories. The vast majority of the 83 stories are spoofs and parodies and those just don't interest me at all.

This collection will have great appeal to readers who are collectors of "Sherlock Holmes" stories written by someone other than Arthur Conan Doyle. There are obscure stories in here that appeared only in privately printed chapbooks. There are stories written by authors whose expertise normally rests with a completely different genre. There were only two stories of this entire collection which I have read before and I have quite a few Holmes anthologies. If you are looking for short stories you most likely have not read before, and if you don't mind that some are completely awful (even Penzler admits that), and if you aren't expecting all the stories to be serious problems you will enjoy watching Holmes and Watson solve, then this collection will be right up your alley.

I received an e-ARC of this anthology through NetGalley.

[Peter Ackerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories" is another winning tome from editor Otto Penzler. Herein is collected a plethora of Holmes stories, mostly pastiches with some exceptions. The good news is that one does not need to dig deep to find the good entries...they all are top notch and deserving of their place in this collection.

The work opens up with the newly discovered short Holmes story called "The Field Bazaar" which was apparently written to be auctioned off at such an event. It is very short, but new and thus worth enjoying. Next is another slightly odd story, in which I found some similarity with the first but written by Adrian Conan Doyle entitled "How Watson Learned the Trick." And if these are not delightful to the Holmes reader enough (and I was delighted with the first two) the next offering in the collection is "The Unique Hamlet" by Vincent Starrett which is apparently considered by some to be one of the most authentic non ACD Holmes stories and I found it so myself.

The stories continue from there and they do not let the reader down whether they be faithful pastiches, or parodies, or ones that only just remain connected to the subject. If you have read the original series and want something more that includes many stories that remain faithful to the originals, then I highly recommend this collection. Even people new to reading Holmes will enjoy this and not be led astray but I would still recommend going to the original canon first.

[LGandT · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand now that I prefer the original canon. I don't need the same details rewritten a thousand times by different authors.

I would highly recommend it to any other fan looking for variety past Doyle. I read most of it and those stories I did enjoy.

Though upon borrowing it from the library, I learned I prefer the originals or single stories in a single book form, just not so many all in one place.

[Laney]

Pastiche, literary references, many different takes on a classic character, as a whole, fun to read but still can't quite compare with the original stories themselves, though some of the individual stories are quite good.

[Catillbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questa edizione dei racconti di Sherlock Holmes è già la seconda che viene pubblicata in formato drago, e questa volta non contiene i racconti di Arthur Conan Doyle, ma quelli di tanti altri celebri autori che hanno voluto scrivere qualcosa sul personaggio di Sherlock Holmes. Io personalmente non ho ancora letto tutti i racconti della raccolta, ma solo alcuni, ed oggi vi parlerò di cinque di questi: Il caso del dottore di Stephen King, Il nobile marito di Peter Cannon, Il matrimonio di Sherlock Holmes di Gregory Beitman, Il mistero umano di Tanith Lee è L’uomo segnato di Stuart Palmer.

In generale ho trovato tutti i racconti super interessanti, è stato molto bello vedere il modo in cui i diversi autori si sono approcciati a un personaggio tanto conosciuto, tanto particolare e non loro. Prima di ogni racconto si trova una breve biografia della persona che l’ha scritto, cosa super utile visto che parecchi autori sono molto datati e che trasmettono quindi determinate idee nei loro scritti. Tutti i racconti che ho letto sono dal punto di vista di Watson, ma alcuni hanno presentato una narrazione in prima persona, e altri una in terza. Ritengo che sia una raccolta di racconti veramente fantastica, io mi sono goduta totalmente la lettura e mi sento di consigliarla sinceramente a chiunque, dando un voto di 5 stelline! Ma ora vediamo meglio nel dettaglio i racconti che ho letto io!

Il caso del dottore di Stephen King

Molto probabilmente questo è stato il mio racconto preferito. Un enigma di quelli che Sherlock Holmes ricerca costantemente. Vediamo l’investigatore alle prese con il classico enigma della stanza chiusa, ma non sarà lui a svelarne il mistero questa volta! Scritto veramente bene, e cosa potevamo mai aspettarci da Stephen King?

Il nobile marito di Peter Cannon

Ho apprezzato molto anche questo racconto, c’è un’insolita morale al suo interno. Sherlock Holmes non si ritroverà a investigare su un omicidio, ma ci sarà comunque da divertirsi! Considerate che lo stesso Doyle sarà un personaggio di questo racconto, addirittura sarà la persona su cui si investiga!

Il matrimonio di Sherlock Holmes di Gregory Beitman

Questo racconto è stato super odioso e insopportabile, volevo solo urlare mentre lo leggevo. In generale Sherlock Holmes non ha una grande opinione della donna, e questo lo si nota in tutti i racconti, ma questo in particolare la degrada in una maniera che mi è parsa disgustosa. Tuttavia comprendo benissimo anche il lato “divertente” di essa e ritengo che sia stato più che giusto includerlo all’interno della raccolta.

Il mistero umano di Tanith Lee

Anche qui una donna ha un ruolo super importante nella storia, anche qui quasi non si credeva che ne fosse capace, ma non l’ho assolutamente trovato irritante, anzi, è stato super interessante vedere lo shock e lo stupore di Sherlock Holmes quando ha risolto l’enigma.

L’uomo segnato di Stuart Palmer

L’ultimo racconto che ho letto è a tutti gli effetti anche l’ultimo della raccolta. Un altro racconto super interessante che mostra in maniera notevole le fantastiche doti deduttive dell’investigatore.

La vita di Sherlock Holmes

È difficile tracciare la vita di Sherlock Holmes poiché Doyle si è sempre limitato a semplici cenni sul suo passato. Si pensa quindi che sia nato attorno al 1854, e sappiamo che ha fatto la conoscenza del dottor John Watson nel 1878 durante la ricerca di un coinquilino per l’appartamento al 221B di Baker Street. Nel 1891 ha inscenato la propria morte, per mano del suo arcinemico Moriarty, per poter lavorare in segreto per il governo britannico, tornando quindi in attività nel 1894. Infine, dopo una lunga carriera, Holmes si ritira prima nel Sussex a studiare l’apicoltura, quindi in una fattoria vicino a Eastbourne, dedicandosi alla filosofia e all’agricoltura, non prima di aver aiutato l’Inghilterra nel corso della prima guerra mondiale, come agente del governo.

[Debora - All In My World Debbyna Libri che bello crescere · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recensione dal blog All In My World Debbyna:

Sherlock Holmes vi dice qualcosa?
Dalla voce del suo amico, il dottor John H. Watson e soprattutto dalla penna del suo scrittore sir Arthur Conan Doyle, capace di risolvere, enigmi e misteri durante le indagini.
Una figura che ha segnato, ancora oggi, tante generazioni.

CITAZIONE
Naturalmente, oggi Holmes continua a essere una superstar multimediale.

E’ una star multimediale e internazionale. Chi non lo conosce, dovrebbe prendere in mano i libri e vederlo a teatro, alla televisione.
Per ogni suo caso, una risposta logica e diretta, tanto da essere amato o odiato, ma rimanere sempre nel vivo di ogni lettore/lettrice.

CITAZIONE
L’istinto mi suggeriva di non farlo, perché credo sia sempre meglio concedere al pubblico meno anziché più di quello che pretende, e non mi va di annoiarlo.

Nel libro, troverete l’intervista all’autore sir Arthur Conan Doyle, che nonostante sia datata 1900, è ancora attuale. Descrive la nascita di Sherlock, le incertezze di un giovane romanziere, il continuare a scrivere nonostante la certezza di non volerlo fare.
La nascita, crescita e morte sia del personaggio ma anche dello stesso autore, ad ogni storia e enigma, portandolo da non essere riconosciuto ad una fama mondiale.

CITAZIONE
Questo racconto ha la particolarità di essere stato la prima parodia di Holmes.

Parodie ci sono? Sì come non citare quella del suo amico Barrie, nel quale lui stesso indaga su Holmes, sguardi che ben conosciamo e che rivelano ogni particolare. Devo dire che mi ha fatto ridere, con quale semplicità e intuizione, si sono invertiti i ruoli.

Possono cambiare le avventure, i nomi ma Sherlock Holmes rimarrà sempre il numero uno nel suo genere, con tutti i pro e contro, ma sempre un detective geniale.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tutti ormai conoscete la mia enorme fissa per i Gialli. Ebbene, se ho iniziato ad amarli e apprezzarli è stato proprio a "causa" del nostro amato Sherlock Holmes.
Quindi come potevo non dare un'opportunità a questa stupenda opera della nostra amata casa Oscar Vault?
Sono moltissimo critica quando si mette mano sul mio adorato investigatore, lo sapete e lo e lo avete anche constatato in questi mesi. Ogni volta, nonostante le grandi aspettative, mi spavento terribilmente a dare un'opportunità a qualcosa di nuovo su di lui e puntualmente vengo sempre delusa. Beh, che dire stavolta se non che DI NUOVO la Mondadori non mi ha deluso affatto! Dio sia lodato, Dottor Watson!
Questo libro mattoncino ha saziato pienamente la mia fame, lasciandomi conoscere molte opere che parlano di lui delle quali non ero a conoscenza! E, signori, ammetto la mia colpa: solo ora, per la prima volta ho potuto leggere anche qualcosa di King. Che dire se non che sono felice di averlo fatto grazie al nostro amato investigatore.
Alcune storie coinvolgono meno di altre ma questo non vieta nel complesso di divorare un libro di oltre mille pagine, come se ne fossero solo cento, tanto è in grado di prenderti.
Se siete amanti dell'eccentrico investigatore di Baker Street, dei suoi misteri e della sua intelligenza, beh, non DOVETE farvi scappare quest'opera. In più si avvicina il Natale, potrebbe essere una buona richiesta per Santa Klaus 😌

[James S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Penzler's boyish enthusiasm is hard to dislike, his taste in fiction is questionable. This taste is on display in the gargantuan The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories. Also on display is Penzler's definitive preference for quantity over quality. Very few stories in this elephant of a book are both actually good and faithful to the verve and snap of the originals. As you can see from my rankings below, by far most of the stories are mediocre and forgettable.

5s -
"The Devil and Sherlock Holmes," Loren Estleman

4s -
"Mrs. Hudson's Case," Laurie R. King
"A Case of Mis-Identity," Colin Dexter
"The Case of Colonel Warburton's Madness," Lyndsay Faye
"The Infernal Machine," John Lutz
"The Case of the Friesland Outrage," June Thomson
"A Trifling Affair," H.R.F. Keating
"The Man from Capetown," Stuart M. Kaminsky
"The Adventure of the Marked Man," Stuart Palmer

3s -
12 stories

2s and below -
60 stories

So, out of 81 total entries, only 9 (some 11% of the book) are worth reading. Whether those nine stories are worth the $25 this book costs is up to you.

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The preface is the most interesting of the collection, particularly because it notes that some stories will overlap in categories, so don't take it to heart; and that funny stories may not necessarily be funny, but they were included for historical significance.

Eighty-three short stories in total, averaging 2.71 stars. I rounded up as a whole for the book. Definitely some standouts, not as many as I'd hoped.

Highlights:
- How Watson Learned the Trick - Arthur Conan Doyle - 4 stars (Watson learning some of Sherlock's tricks of the trade, but also proving that sometimes there's such a thing as a simple (and easier) answer).
- The Late Sherlock Holmes - James M. Barrie -4.5 stars (My strongest rating of the collection, it was a particularly fun read -- particularly when Watson is accused to have killed Sherlock!)
-The Case of the Unseen Hand - Donald Thomas - 4 stars (This short study makes use of the Dreyfus Affair, and examines the evidence proof against belief; which was an interesting read.)
-A Case of Mis-Identity - Colin Dexter -4 stars (That there's always another perspective to the crime.)

Ratings for individual stories, for reference:

THE MASTER
1. The Field Bazaar - Arthur Conan Doyle -3
2. How Watson Learned the Trick - Arthur Conan Doyle -4

FAMILIAR (OFTEN REPRINTED)
1. The Unique 'Hamlet' - Vincent Starrett -4
2. The Stolen Cigar-Case - Bret Harte -3
3. The Case of the Man who was Wanted - Arthur Whitaker -3
4. The Adventure of the Two Collaborators - James M. Barrie -2
5. The Sleuths - O. Henry -4
6. Holmes and the Dasher - A.B. Cox -2
7. An Irreducible Detective Story - Stephen Leacock -2
8. The Doctor's Case - Stephen King -4

THE LITERATURE OF CRIME
1. The Brown Recluse - Davis Grubb -3
2. The Darkwater Hall Mystery - Kingsley Amis -3
3. The Case of the Gifted Amateur - J.C. Masterman -3
4. The Late Sherlock Holmes - James M. Barrie -4.5
5. Sherlock Holmes and the Drood Mystery - Edmund Pearson -2
6. The Rape of the Sherlock - A.A. Milne -2
7. From a Detective's Notebook - P.G. Wodehouse -3
8. The Ruby of Khitmandu - Hugh Kingsmill -3
9. The Adventure of the Remarkable Worm - August Derleth -2
10. The Enchanted Garden - H.F. Heard -3
11. A Study in Handwriting - Ring W. Lardner -3
12. The Case of Death and Honey - Neil Gaiman- 3
13. Murder to Music - Anthony Burgess -3

IN THE BEGINNING
1. An Evening with Sherlock Holmes - James M. Barrie -3
2. Detective Stories Gone Wrong: The Adventures of Sherlaw Kombs - Robert Barr -2
3. Sherlock Holmes vs. Conan Doyle - Anonymous -4
4. The Duke's Feather - R.C. Lehmann -2
5. The Sign of the '400' - Roy L. McCardell -3

HOLMESLESS
1. Codeine (7 per cent) - Christopher Morley -4
2. Mrs. Hudson's Case - Laurie R. King -4
3. The Final Problem - Bliss Austin -4

NOT OF THIS PLACE
1. The Adventure of the Bogle-Wolf - Anthony Boucher -3
2. The Martian Crown Jewels - Poul Anderson -4
3. Sherlock Among the Spirits - Anonymous -2
4. The Case of the Missing Partriarchs - Logan Clendening -3
5. The Devil and Sherlock Holmes - Loren D. Estleman -2

KEEPING THE MEMORY GREEN
1. The Strange Case of the Megatherium Thefts - S.C. Roberts -3
2. The Adventure of the Noble Husband - Peter Cannon -2
3. A Night with Sherlock Holmes - William O. Fueller -4
4. The Adventure of the Wooden Box - Leslie S. Klinger -2
5. The Case of the Unseen Hand - Donald Thomas -4
6. The Abandoned Brigantine - Sam Benady - 3
7. The Adventure of the Curious Canary - Barry Day -4
8. The Adventure of the Murdered Art Editor - Frederic Dorr Steele -2
9. The Darlington Substitution Scandal - David Stuart Davies -3
10. The Problem of the Purple Maculas - James C. Iraldi -4

YOU THINK THAT'S FUNNY?
1. The Adventure of the Second Swag - Robert Barr -4
2. Sheer Luck Again - Stanley Rubinstein -2
3. A Pragmatic Enigma - John Kendrick Bangs -3
4. Herlock Shomes At It Again - Anonymous -1
5. The Reigate Road Murder - Anthony Armstrong -1
6. The Succored Beauty - William B. Kahn -1
7. The Marriage of Sherlock Holmes - Gregory Breitman -1
8. The Return of Sherlock Holmes - E.F. Benson and Eustace H. Miles -1
9. The Unmasking of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Chapman -2
10. The Adventure of the Diamond Necklace - George F. Forrest -3
11. The Adventure of the Ascot Tie - Robert L. Fish -2

CONTEMPORARY VICTORIANS
1. A Case of Mis-Identity - Colin Dexter -4
2. The Startling Events in the Electrified City - Thomas Perry -4
3. The Case of the Colonel Warburton's Madness - Lyndsay Faye -3
4. The Infernal Machine - John Lutz - 2
5. The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey - Peter Tremayne -2
6. The Adventure of the Agitated Actress - Daniel Stashower -3
7. The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodge - Michael Moorcock -3
8. The Adventure of the Venomous Lizard - Bill Crider -2
9. The Case of the Friesland Outrage - June Thomson -3
10. The Strange Case of the Tongue-Tied Tenor - Carol Bugge -2
11. The Human Mystery - Tanith Lee -3
12. Hostage to Fortune - Anne Perry -3
13. The Adventure of the Missing Countess - Jon Koons -3
14. The Adventure of Zolnay, the Aerialist - Rick Boyer -2
15. The Adventure of the Giant Rat of Sumatra - John T. Lescroart -3

THE FOOTSTEPS OF A GIGANTIC AUTHOR
1. Did Sherlock Holmes meet Hercule? - Julian Symons -2
2. A Trifling Affair - H.R.F. Keating -2
3. Raffles: The Engima of the Admiral's Hat - Barry Perowne -3
4. Raffles on the Trail of the Hound - Barry Porowne -3
5. The Adventure of the Cipher in the Sand - Edward D. Hoch -2
6. The South Sea Soup Co. - Kenneth Millar -1
7. The Adventure of the Clothes-Line - Carolyn Wells -2
8. Sherlock Holmes and the Muffin - Dorothy B. Hughes -2
9. The Man from Capetown - Stuart M. Kaminsky -3
10. But Our Hero Was Not Dead - Manly Wade Wellman -2
11. The Adventure of the Marked Man - Stuart Palmer -2

[Red Kedi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ormai ci siamo abituati a conoscere due versioni di Sherlock Holmes.
Quella originale di Arthur Conan Doyle, e quella cinematografica di Robert Downey Jr, che pur essendo lo stesso personaggio, hanno caratteristiche differenti. Il secondo, è realmente tanto diverso dal primo? Sotto molti punti di vista, mi verrebbe da dire che effettivamente ci siano molte differenze ma, c’è un dettaglio che li accomuna anche se nella versione letteraria non si vede praticamente mai.
Arthur Conan Doyle ha creato un personaggio pensatore, un tipo di persona che ha studiato solo ed esclusivamente quello che solleticava il suo interesse e ignorato tutto il resto. Però, il dettaglio che lo accomuna a Robert Downey Jr, è il combattimento.

Lo so, chi ha letto i suoi libri si starà chiedendo se ho sbattuto la testa ma, nel 1903 uscì L’avventura della casa vuota.

---Continua su Red Kedi---
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[Jacopo Giuca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Affrontare la lettura di questa raccolta, presupponendo di avere già familiarità con il mondo ideato da Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, è come incontrare nuovamente e dopo lungo tempo un vecchio amico. La selezione di racconti di Otto Penzler è indubbiamente completa e affascinante ma, al contempo, questa pretesa di completezza sacrifica in maniera importante la qualità complessiva del volume, che contiene al sue interno tanti (troppi!) prodotti più che dimenticabili. Il bilancio complessivo del libro, di cui non si nega affatto il valore collezionistico, è dunque piuttosto negativo, perché non basta una manciata di racconti di qualità (quelli di Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Davis Grupp, Peter Cannon e William O. Fuller su tutti) a controbilanciare una vastissima produzione di scarsa qualità, talvolta presentata francamente come tale persino dal curatore della raccolta.

[Francesca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una raccolta di racconti con protagonista Sherlock Holmes, scritti da diversi grandi scrittori come Stephen King, Neil Gaiman e Anne Perry, oltre che dallo stesso Arthur Conan Doyle.
Non sono un'appassionata di Sherlock Holmes per cui la mia conoscenza di questo personaggio è limitata, ed alcuni rimandi a suoi vecchi casi all'interno dei racconti non sono stati per me particolarmente significativi.
E' un libro tutto sommato piacevole da leggere, sebbene alcuni racconti, in particolare le parodie, non le abbia proprio apprezzate.
Io non l'ho inframezzato con altri libri, ma a posteriori, forse, sarebbe stato meglio leggere qualche racconto ogni tanto, non essendo tra loro collegati in nessun modo.

[Hamish Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

An indispensable collection of Holmes stories, speculations, and oddities. Kinglsey Amis' 'Dr. Watson and the Darkwater Hall Mystery' was excellent, hinting at the propriety and censorship that lurk at the back of all Sherlockian scholarship. Neil Gaiman's Holmes in retirement story is also a mystical highlight. Inevitably there are some weak patches--the parodies in particular plumb some depths--but the variety is surely part of the appeal of such a mammoth collection. Well put together by Otto Penzler.