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MX New Sherlock Holmes Stories #5
The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories - Part V: Christmas Adventures
The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories - Part V: Christmas Adventures features contributions by: Bob Byrne, Derrick Belanger, Amy Thomas, David Marcum, Denis O. Smith, C.H. Dye, Marcia Wilson, Julie McKuras, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bert Coules, John Hall, Jim French, S.F. Bennett, Narrelle M. Harris, William Patrick Maynard, Vincent W. Wright, James Lovegrove, Arthur Hall, Nicholas Utechin, Mike Chinn, Tracy J. Revels, Roger Riccard, Wendy C. Fries, Paul D. Gilbert, Jan Edwards, Molly Carr, S. Subramanian, Peter K. Andersson, Matthew J. Elliott, Hugh Ashton, and Mark Mower, with a poem by Ashley D. Polasek and forewords by Jonathan Kellerman, Roger Johnson, Steve Emecz, Melissa Farnham, and David Marcum.
564 pages, Hardcover
First published October 31, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 7, 2017
The tales continue…
My thanks go out to Steve and Timi at MX Publishing for my copy of this book. Long may Sherlock Holmes and Undershaw House live and prosper!
Volume V of this amazing series contains thirty-one short works of Holmes fiction. Giving a line or two to each would take up more lines of review than the average reader would be willing to peruse. Overall, the book is awesome! The major reason I am now in possession of Volume VI is a statement to the quality of the stories in this series! All are gems of value; like all gems, some worth more than others.
For me there were two entries I simply could not read. This is not a stain on the authors’ reputation, but my own taste. I find it nigh impossible to read plays. I would love to see them performed or listen to the radio play, but I just cannot read them…
I especially enjoyed “A Perpetrator in a Pear Tree” by Roger Riccard and it gets my vote for “Best in Book!” A man is killed in a locked room. The solving of this seemingly impossible crime and the method of dispatching the victim totally fit into the theme of this book! Hats off to the author!
Readers of this series will be glad to see familiar authors returning for another story. Dennis O Smith, Amy Thomas, Derrick Belanger, David Marcum, Molly Carr, Hugh Aston, and Peter K Andersson are known for their ability to channel the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They join a flock of new writers to bring the reader into Christmas no matter what day it actually is!
I am truly sorry, Peter K Andersson, but your story “The Adventure of the Improbable Intruder” was “Worst in Book” for me. The story felt a bit unfinished somehow. It just didn’t work for me.
Given the incredible amount of talent shining in this MX series, how could I give the volume anything except FIVE STARS PLUS!
Quoth the Raven…
My thanks go out to Steve and Timi at MX Publishing for my copy of this book. Long may Sherlock Holmes and Undershaw House live and prosper!
Volume V of this amazing series contains thirty-one short works of Holmes fiction. Giving a line or two to each would take up more lines of review than the average reader would be willing to peruse. Overall, the book is awesome! The major reason I am now in possession of Volume VI is a statement to the quality of the stories in this series! All are gems of value; like all gems, some worth more than others.
For me there were two entries I simply could not read. This is not a stain on the authors’ reputation, but my own taste. I find it nigh impossible to read plays. I would love to see them performed or listen to the radio play, but I just cannot read them…
I especially enjoyed “A Perpetrator in a Pear Tree” by Roger Riccard and it gets my vote for “Best in Book!” A man is killed in a locked room. The solving of this seemingly impossible crime and the method of dispatching the victim totally fit into the theme of this book! Hats off to the author!
Readers of this series will be glad to see familiar authors returning for another story. Dennis O Smith, Amy Thomas, Derrick Belanger, David Marcum, Molly Carr, Hugh Aston, and Peter K Andersson are known for their ability to channel the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They join a flock of new writers to bring the reader into Christmas no matter what day it actually is!
I am truly sorry, Peter K Andersson, but your story “The Adventure of the Improbable Intruder” was “Worst in Book” for me. The story felt a bit unfinished somehow. It just didn’t work for me.
Given the incredible amount of talent shining in this MX series, how could I give the volume anything except FIVE STARS PLUS!
Quoth the Raven…
March 31, 2022
Book #5 in the MX anthologies of new Sherlock Holmes stories was the first one they did featuring Christmas-themed adventures. I read the second one (Part XXX) a while ago, and my one criticism here would be the same as it was with that one - while the stories take place in during the Christmas season and there are some token references to the holidays, many of them don't really "feel" like Christmas tales.
Having said that, they are all very good - in fact, I think these anthologies are by far the best offerings of new Sherlock Holmes tales - I have read several by other publishers, some featuring some "big name" authors, but if it's authentic Holmes you want, you have a better chance of reading it here.
My favorites in this edition are: The Jet Brooch (Denis O. Smith), The Adventure of the Missing Irregular (Amy Thomas) and The Adventure of the Empty Manger (Tracy J. Revels). There was also an excellent long ballad poem, "The Ballad of the Carbuncle" by Ashley D. Polasek.
Having said that, they are all very good - in fact, I think these anthologies are by far the best offerings of new Sherlock Holmes tales - I have read several by other publishers, some featuring some "big name" authors, but if it's authentic Holmes you want, you have a better chance of reading it here.
My favorites in this edition are: The Jet Brooch (Denis O. Smith), The Adventure of the Missing Irregular (Amy Thomas) and The Adventure of the Empty Manger (Tracy J. Revels). There was also an excellent long ballad poem, "The Ballad of the Carbuncle" by Ashley D. Polasek.
January 9, 2026
This project hold a special place in my heart and I was saddened to see it reach it's final pages, ending with a blast after reaching 52 volumes and over thousand of stories, this year (2025). [I have indeed started this review in the aforementioned year, yet I am finishing herding my thoughts on this book in January 2026. Ah, the perils of the hectic end of the year... what joy.] And what an incredible journey it took - from a supposedly one-off anthology that sprawled into 3 volumes that then snowballed into annual additional books. Quite a dauting task that now lies ahead of me.
Due to the theme of this volume's stories I was saving it for the Christmas time, which I almost didn't make on time (and had to actually postpone for one year), but in the end I perservered.
The quality of the stories remains satisfyingly consistent throughout - the particular rating depends mainly on whether those met my preferences or not. The following short summaries serve primarily for my orientation in the frankly ridiculous amount of Holmesiana I've read so far. Hic sunt spoilers, possibly:
Ashley D. Polasek - The Ballad of the Carbuncle - 3/5
A poem retelling the Blue Carbuncle through the titular stone's PoV.
Bob Byrne - The Case of the Ruby Necklace - 3/5
Holmes is asked to investigate and affair of a ruby necklace, intended as a wooing present for miss Bragington, going missing and is later being found in the room of miss Bragington's former nurse, who had no motive to stealing it.
Denis O. Smith - The Jet Brooch - 4/5
Holmes receives a package containing a jet brooch packed in flour. Shortly after the owner of the brooch arrives and demands its return, but Holmes determines that the package was a plea for help, and investigates the occurences that lead to it all.
Amy Thomas - The Adventure of the Missing Irregular - 3/5
Wiggins informs Holmes that one of the Irregulars went missing. Holmes then visits a chemist and a seller of old bread and concoct a family reunion.
Derrick Belanger - The Adventure of the Knighted Watchmaker - 3/5
Mrs Ehrly arrives at Baker Street with unusual tale – her husband's behaviour became quite weird after the deat of his son from his first marriage, who died at Maiwand. To make matters even worse, he began receiving strange letters containing crude drawing of two girls, that address him as the knight of the realm.
David Marcum - The Stolen Relic - 4/5
When a finger bone of St. Nicholas were stolen from the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, father Abele travels to London in pursuit of the thief. Aware of his lack of jurisdiction, he asks Holmes for help in recovering the stolen relic.
C.H. Dye - A Christmas Goose - 5/5
Early on in their cohabitation at Baker Street, Holmes and Watson hit a bit of a hard time and are forced to pawn their possessions to have money for the rent. Luckily for them, Mrs Hudson has gone to Croydon for the birth of her granddaughter. Unluckily for them, Polly the maid has gone missing. Gregson gives Holmes a case involving jewellery thefts linked to the disappearance of young female servants. Holmes and Watson go undercover at a ball at the Langham Hotel and delve into Mrs Beeton and vie to see who will cook the Christmas Day goose for the Baker Street Irregulars.
What a beuatifully domestic story.
Marcia Wilson - The Adventure of the Long-Lost Enemy - 5/5
Watson walks among the multi-cultural Winter celebrations of London and by chance encounters Lestrade, who asks him to certify the death of a faith healer from an infamous slum. Shortly after a second body is discovered.
John Hall - The Case of the Christmas Cracker - 3/5
The beau of Beatrice Denby proposed an investment to her, but has fled in panic after seeing a poor woman at the street he claimed was his wife, but not before he stole some jewellery from Miss Denby. Also, Homes is not impressed by Watson's Christmas cracker.
Julie McKuras - The Queen's Writing Table - 3/5
Holmes is tasked by a person from Queen's household to investigate a series of petty thefts. A furniture restorer, who is soon bound to receive honours of the realm, is suspected.
Bert Coules - The Blue Carbuncle – 4/5
A radio script of the titular adventure.
Jim French - The Man Who Believed in Nothing – 3/5
A radio scrip from The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) on Imagination Theatre. Holmes and Watson travel to Harrow in search of a missing clergyman.
S.F. Bennett - The Case of the Christmas Star - 5/5
Watson arrives at Baker Street to collect a wax anatomical model he purchased at his honeymoon, but discovers that it had been replaced with a real corpse. Holmes deduces that the man died in police custody, which is confirmed by Lestrade. The three soon find themselves taken prisoner, for the dead man was complicit in a theft of the Christmas Star, a jewelled ornament.
Narrelle M. Harris - The Christmas Card Mystery - 4/5
Holmes receives a series of macabre Christmas cards accompanied with tiny wooden objects, clearly all parts of some gizmo. This leads to a trail of a missing carpenter, a toymaker and an upcoming stage magician.
William Patrick Maynard - The Question of the Death Bed Conversion - 2/5
Holmes and Watson read a newspaper article about the death of a scandalous publisher and his death bed repentance and religious conversion. Their oppinions on such thing differ drastically and Holmes sets to prove Watson wrong.
Vincent W. Wright - The Adventure of the Christmas Surprise - 2/5
A man arrives at Baker Street and immediatelly collapses. After he is revived, he claims that Holmes' life is in danger, which is proven correct by arrival of a gunman. It all seems to be linked to Holmes' pursuit of a criminal organisation. Or is it?
This was a bit confusing, not gonna lie, especially since the very next story deal with a very similar idea, but IMHO executes it better.
James Lovegrove - A Bauble in Scandinavia - 4/5
After an argument with Holmes, Mary sends Watson back to Baker Street on Christmas Day. Finding Holmes missing, he set on tracking him down.
Arthur Hall - The Adventure of Marcus Davery - 3/5
Holmes is consulted by a wealthy man, who is convinced that his son so-called suicide was in fact a murder. He discovers that this is only the latest in series of suicides linked to a man named Marcus Davery.
Nicholas Utechin - The Adventure of the Purple Poet - 4/5
Holmes and Watson go to Oxford the day before Christmas, as Holmes is asked by his old college friend to investigate who stained the statue of Percy Bysshe Shelley purple.
Tracy J. Revels - The Adventure of the Empty Manger - 5/5
Holmes and Watson investigate a theft of the baby Jesus, whose eyes were made of sapphires, from the nativity scene in St Rita's Church. Toby's successor lead them into the slums and to a sick child.
Mike Chinn - The Adventure of the Vanishing Man - 3/5
The Christmas party at Baker Street is interrupted by the arrival of Edwin M'Gurk, whose employer has vanished before his eyes.
Roger Riccard - A Perpetrator in a Pear Tree - 4/5
Lestrade asks for Holmes' assistance in investigatin a locked room shooting in Muswell Hill, where the troublesome local police sergeant arrested the victim's son, stating he stabbed this father.
Wendy C. Fries - The Case of the Christmas Trifle - 5/5
Watson introduces Holmes to a wealthy heiress, who fears that her fiancé has been kidnapped.
Paul D. Gilbert - The Adventure of the Christmas Stocking - 2/5
Sloane Cartwright returns home on Christmas Eve to find his wife dead and the gold penchant he had concealed in her Christmas stocking missing. He sets for help to Baker Street in a blizzard.
S. Subramaniam - The Case of the Reformed Sinner - 4/5
A stockbroker's clerk James Phillimore is seen in a conversation with two ruffians before he steps back into his house for his umbrella and vanishes.
A surprise crossover with Father Brown.
Jan Edwards - The Adventure of the Golden Hunter - 2/5
Upon impressing that they are distant relatives, the american railway magnate's daughter invites Holmes to spend Christmas at Rhyton Hall, where a number of thefts have recently taken place, implicating her fiancé. Holmes and Watson join the Boxing Day foxhunt, during which the very fiancé is murdered.
Molly Carr - The Curious Case of the Well-Connected Criminal - 2/5
Watson realises that he is being followed while Christmas shopping, which leads to an encouter with a woman with way too many pseudonyms.
Matthew J. Elliott - The Adventure of the Handsome Ogre - 3/5
A junior lawyer is murdered during a robbery and all the witnesses describe the perpetrator as an ogre.
Peter K. Andersson - The Adventure of the Improbable Intruder - 3/5
A secretary of an anthropologist consults Homes after encountering a tiny man, a supposed fae, in his employer's library.
Hugh Ashton - The Adventure of the Deceased Doctor - 4/5
Watson is serving at a hospital in Hampshire during the Great War. Holmes visits him for Christmas and coincidentally is given the very best gift – a murder mystery.
Mark Mower - The Mile End Mynah Bird - 4/5
During the great flu pandemic of 1919, Watson is assisting at the Charing Cross Hospital. A victim of shooting is brought in, refusing to reveal anything about his would-be murderer, who is, alongside his missing brother, wanted for a series of assaults carried under the name of a moneylender Holmes is investigating.
Due to the theme of this volume's stories I was saving it for the Christmas time, which I almost didn't make on time (and had to actually postpone for one year), but in the end I perservered.
The quality of the stories remains satisfyingly consistent throughout - the particular rating depends mainly on whether those met my preferences or not. The following short summaries serve primarily for my orientation in the frankly ridiculous amount of Holmesiana I've read so far. Hic sunt spoilers, possibly:
Ashley D. Polasek - The Ballad of the Carbuncle - 3/5
A poem retelling the Blue Carbuncle through the titular stone's PoV.
Bob Byrne - The Case of the Ruby Necklace - 3/5
Holmes is asked to investigate and affair of a ruby necklace, intended as a wooing present for miss Bragington, going missing and is later being found in the room of miss Bragington's former nurse, who had no motive to stealing it.
Denis O. Smith - The Jet Brooch - 4/5
Holmes receives a package containing a jet brooch packed in flour. Shortly after the owner of the brooch arrives and demands its return, but Holmes determines that the package was a plea for help, and investigates the occurences that lead to it all.
Amy Thomas - The Adventure of the Missing Irregular - 3/5
Wiggins informs Holmes that one of the Irregulars went missing. Holmes then visits a chemist and a seller of old bread and concoct a family reunion.
Derrick Belanger - The Adventure of the Knighted Watchmaker - 3/5
Mrs Ehrly arrives at Baker Street with unusual tale – her husband's behaviour became quite weird after the deat of his son from his first marriage, who died at Maiwand. To make matters even worse, he began receiving strange letters containing crude drawing of two girls, that address him as the knight of the realm.
David Marcum - The Stolen Relic - 4/5
When a finger bone of St. Nicholas were stolen from the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, father Abele travels to London in pursuit of the thief. Aware of his lack of jurisdiction, he asks Holmes for help in recovering the stolen relic.
C.H. Dye - A Christmas Goose - 5/5
Early on in their cohabitation at Baker Street, Holmes and Watson hit a bit of a hard time and are forced to pawn their possessions to have money for the rent. Luckily for them, Mrs Hudson has gone to Croydon for the birth of her granddaughter. Unluckily for them, Polly the maid has gone missing. Gregson gives Holmes a case involving jewellery thefts linked to the disappearance of young female servants. Holmes and Watson go undercover at a ball at the Langham Hotel and delve into Mrs Beeton and vie to see who will cook the Christmas Day goose for the Baker Street Irregulars.
What a beuatifully domestic story.
Marcia Wilson - The Adventure of the Long-Lost Enemy - 5/5
Watson walks among the multi-cultural Winter celebrations of London and by chance encounters Lestrade, who asks him to certify the death of a faith healer from an infamous slum. Shortly after a second body is discovered.
John Hall - The Case of the Christmas Cracker - 3/5
The beau of Beatrice Denby proposed an investment to her, but has fled in panic after seeing a poor woman at the street he claimed was his wife, but not before he stole some jewellery from Miss Denby. Also, Homes is not impressed by Watson's Christmas cracker.
Julie McKuras - The Queen's Writing Table - 3/5
Holmes is tasked by a person from Queen's household to investigate a series of petty thefts. A furniture restorer, who is soon bound to receive honours of the realm, is suspected.
Bert Coules - The Blue Carbuncle – 4/5
A radio script of the titular adventure.
Jim French - The Man Who Believed in Nothing – 3/5
A radio scrip from The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) on Imagination Theatre. Holmes and Watson travel to Harrow in search of a missing clergyman.
S.F. Bennett - The Case of the Christmas Star - 5/5
Watson arrives at Baker Street to collect a wax anatomical model he purchased at his honeymoon, but discovers that it had been replaced with a real corpse. Holmes deduces that the man died in police custody, which is confirmed by Lestrade. The three soon find themselves taken prisoner, for the dead man was complicit in a theft of the Christmas Star, a jewelled ornament.
Narrelle M. Harris - The Christmas Card Mystery - 4/5
Holmes receives a series of macabre Christmas cards accompanied with tiny wooden objects, clearly all parts of some gizmo. This leads to a trail of a missing carpenter, a toymaker and an upcoming stage magician.
William Patrick Maynard - The Question of the Death Bed Conversion - 2/5
Holmes and Watson read a newspaper article about the death of a scandalous publisher and his death bed repentance and religious conversion. Their oppinions on such thing differ drastically and Holmes sets to prove Watson wrong.
Vincent W. Wright - The Adventure of the Christmas Surprise - 2/5
A man arrives at Baker Street and immediatelly collapses. After he is revived, he claims that Holmes' life is in danger, which is proven correct by arrival of a gunman. It all seems to be linked to Holmes' pursuit of a criminal organisation. Or is it?
This was a bit confusing, not gonna lie, especially since the very next story deal with a very similar idea, but IMHO executes it better.
James Lovegrove - A Bauble in Scandinavia - 4/5
After an argument with Holmes, Mary sends Watson back to Baker Street on Christmas Day. Finding Holmes missing, he set on tracking him down.
Arthur Hall - The Adventure of Marcus Davery - 3/5
Holmes is consulted by a wealthy man, who is convinced that his son so-called suicide was in fact a murder. He discovers that this is only the latest in series of suicides linked to a man named Marcus Davery.
Nicholas Utechin - The Adventure of the Purple Poet - 4/5
Holmes and Watson go to Oxford the day before Christmas, as Holmes is asked by his old college friend to investigate who stained the statue of Percy Bysshe Shelley purple.
Tracy J. Revels - The Adventure of the Empty Manger - 5/5
Holmes and Watson investigate a theft of the baby Jesus, whose eyes were made of sapphires, from the nativity scene in St Rita's Church. Toby's successor lead them into the slums and to a sick child.
Mike Chinn - The Adventure of the Vanishing Man - 3/5
The Christmas party at Baker Street is interrupted by the arrival of Edwin M'Gurk, whose employer has vanished before his eyes.
Roger Riccard - A Perpetrator in a Pear Tree - 4/5
Lestrade asks for Holmes' assistance in investigatin a locked room shooting in Muswell Hill, where the troublesome local police sergeant arrested the victim's son, stating he stabbed this father.
Wendy C. Fries - The Case of the Christmas Trifle - 5/5
Watson introduces Holmes to a wealthy heiress, who fears that her fiancé has been kidnapped.
Paul D. Gilbert - The Adventure of the Christmas Stocking - 2/5
Sloane Cartwright returns home on Christmas Eve to find his wife dead and the gold penchant he had concealed in her Christmas stocking missing. He sets for help to Baker Street in a blizzard.
S. Subramaniam - The Case of the Reformed Sinner - 4/5
A stockbroker's clerk James Phillimore is seen in a conversation with two ruffians before he steps back into his house for his umbrella and vanishes.
A surprise crossover with Father Brown.
Jan Edwards - The Adventure of the Golden Hunter - 2/5
Upon impressing that they are distant relatives, the american railway magnate's daughter invites Holmes to spend Christmas at Rhyton Hall, where a number of thefts have recently taken place, implicating her fiancé. Holmes and Watson join the Boxing Day foxhunt, during which the very fiancé is murdered.
Molly Carr - The Curious Case of the Well-Connected Criminal - 2/5
Watson realises that he is being followed while Christmas shopping, which leads to an encouter with a woman with way too many pseudonyms.
Matthew J. Elliott - The Adventure of the Handsome Ogre - 3/5
A junior lawyer is murdered during a robbery and all the witnesses describe the perpetrator as an ogre.
Peter K. Andersson - The Adventure of the Improbable Intruder - 3/5
A secretary of an anthropologist consults Homes after encountering a tiny man, a supposed fae, in his employer's library.
Hugh Ashton - The Adventure of the Deceased Doctor - 4/5
Watson is serving at a hospital in Hampshire during the Great War. Holmes visits him for Christmas and coincidentally is given the very best gift – a murder mystery.
Mark Mower - The Mile End Mynah Bird - 4/5
During the great flu pandemic of 1919, Watson is assisting at the Charing Cross Hospital. A victim of shooting is brought in, refusing to reveal anything about his would-be murderer, who is, alongside his missing brother, wanted for a series of assaults carried under the name of a moneylender Holmes is investigating.
December 23, 2020
A definite 4+
Rarely a book of shorts where there are not two/three that disappoint but this is one where all were enjoyed -- I did skip the two radio scripts as that format holds no interest for me to read.
While most are only loosely tie to Christmas, the cases happen in late Dec. it is still a great book for December for a Holmes' fan. Totally enjoyed it.
Rarely a book of shorts where there are not two/three that disappoint but this is one where all were enjoyed -- I did skip the two radio scripts as that format holds no interest for me to read.
While most are only loosely tie to Christmas, the cases happen in late Dec. it is still a great book for December for a Holmes' fan. Totally enjoyed it.
February 26, 2017
Despite their common Christmas season setting, the 30 stories in this latest collection of traditional pastiches are not lacking in variety. For connoisseurs of pure deduction, tales by Mike Chinn, Jan Edwards, Arthur Hall, Roger Riccard, and S. Subramanian show Holmes at his most brilliant. (A future MX volume will feature more “untold” cases from the Canon like Mr. Subramanian’s.) Several pairs of stories revolve around a single theme. Jealousy motivates the crimes recorded by Bob Byrne and Denis O. Smith; Queen Victoria figures in offerings from Derrick Belanger and Julie McKuras; S.F. Bennett and Marcia Wilson tell similarly gruesome Christmas stories, the former redeemed by an unexpected heroine. In selections by James Lovegrove and Vincent Wright, Holmes and Watson concoct Christmas entertainments for each other, with rather mixed results. Most enjoyable of all, perhaps, are tales that cast new light on the personalities and relationship of our two heroes. C.H. Dye paints a delightful portrait of their second Christmas as young bachelors, while David Marcum illuminates Holmes’ religious beliefs in an even earlier story. Two fine concluding works by Hugh Ashton and Mark Mower, set in and after World War I, show that the long friendship between our detective and his Boswell has only deepened through the years. As Marcum notes in his introduction, Conan Doyle’s London was only a generation removed from Charles Dickens’. The Dickensian spirit of Christmas shines through many of these tales, notably John Hall’s, Tracey Revels’, and Amy Thomas’s. Ms. Revels’ moving story, in particular, proves that those who consider Holmes as much a misogynist as Scrooge are very much in error. Happily, the quality of this ongoing MX anthology remains as high as ever, with four new volumes set to appear within the next two years. Surely that news, for Sherlockians, is the nicest Christmas gift of all.
April 11, 2017
I know it's not Xmastime. But I got this one for Xmas, and didn't want to wait a whole year to read it! As we all (not we all--all we canon nerds, I should say) know, there is only one Holmes Xmas story. It it great to have so many more now. These stories (with only one exception I can think of--Watson, Lestrade, drainpipe, ew...) contain fairly cozy-type mysteries with lots of roasted chestnuts, Xmas geese, puddings, trees, and snow thrown in as atmosphere. Mary and Mrs Hudson make decent appearances (Mrs Hudson saves the day in one of them!), and the actual mysteries are really top-notch. I'll be happy to read the other four MX collections.
April 18, 2017
MX Publications often doesn't edit properly so sometimes their offerings can be a little rough. However, this volume is excellent, with much less than the usual number of historical errors. It also helps that the contributors to this excellent volume of Sherlock Holmes stories are all regular writers and contributors to the world of Sherlockiana.
These stories are all set around Christmas times, but be aware that the sugar plum factor is very low. No risk of overdoing it an sugary Dickensian style Christmas stories.
The calibre of the stories is high. My personal favourites are:
"The Jet Brooch" bu Denis O. Smith;
"The Case of the Christmas Star" by S. F. Bennett;
"A Bauble in Scandinavia" by James Lovegrove;
"The Adventure of the Empty Manger" by Tracy Revels; and
"The Mile End Mynah Bird" by Mark Mower.
All deliciously Christmassy and all pure Sherlock Holmes gold.
Highly recommended.
These stories are all set around Christmas times, but be aware that the sugar plum factor is very low. No risk of overdoing it an sugary Dickensian style Christmas stories.
The calibre of the stories is high. My personal favourites are:
"The Jet Brooch" bu Denis O. Smith;
"The Case of the Christmas Star" by S. F. Bennett;
"A Bauble in Scandinavia" by James Lovegrove;
"The Adventure of the Empty Manger" by Tracy Revels; and
"The Mile End Mynah Bird" by Mark Mower.
All deliciously Christmassy and all pure Sherlock Holmes gold.
Highly recommended.
abandoned
February 27, 2019I liked the first 4 volumes and I will certainly pick up volume 6 and beyond, but this one was tedious reading.
The story plots were wafer thin and seemed contrived to fit in with the theme of Xmas. Abandoned a little after midway.
The story plots were wafer thin and seemed contrived to fit in with the theme of Xmas. Abandoned a little after midway.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews