Sherlock Holmes: Adventures Beyond the Canon

Sherlock Holmes: Adventures Beyond the Canon #1

by David Marcum, Mike Hogan, Nick Dunn-Meynell

Sherlock Holmes himself would have us believe that, once a case was finished, it – or the people involved – never crossed his mind again. “A client is to me a mere unit,” he once told Watson, “a factor in a problem.” And yet, in a career spanning multiple decades and thousands of cases, he must have occasionally re-crossed paths with previous clients – and the occasional villain as well! This anthology, with twenty-nine brand new stories, spread over three volumes, reveals some of those sequel investigations. There are stories ranging from Holmes’s early days in Montague Street, through the legendary Baker Street years, and well into his retirement. We meet former clients with new problems, and former adversaries too. Sometimes we find that the published Canonical version of a story was only the beginning, while other tales in this collection reveal what was really going on during the original narratives. Join us as we return to Baker Street and discover more authentic adventures of Sherlock Holmes, described by the estimable Dr. Watson as “ . . . the best and wisest . . . whom I have ever known.” The game is afoot! Volume I – 1887-1890 The Swamp Adder (A Poem) – Rhea Belanger A Gentleman’s Disagreement – Narrelle M. Harris The Incident of the Frantic Countess – Arthur Hall The Ten Orange Pips – Jayantika Ganguly The Adventure of the Spectral Menace – Benjamin Langley The Greek Murder – Katie Magnusson The Adventure in Nancy – Stephen Herczeg The Shadow of Malice – Brenda Seabrooke The Adventure of the Upright Man – Nick Dunn-Meynell A for Argentina – Mike Hogan

Genres: Mystery

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 26, 2018

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an eminently readable collection of sequels to canonical classics. Stories here have aimed at tying up a few loose threads, also putting forward their own adventures. The experience was, overall, enjoyable. Except one overlong piece that mired itself into Biblical allusions and lost itself, the other stories were crisp and compact. My favourites were~
1. Narrelle M. Harris's "A Gentleman's Disagreement";
2. Arthur Hall's "The Incident of the Frantic Countess";
3. Jayantika Ganguly's "The Ten Orange Pips";
4. Benjamin Langley's "The Adventure of the Spectral Menace";
5. Stephen Herczeg's "The Adventure in Nancy";
6. Brenda Seabrooke's "The Shadow of Malice".
Recommended to lovers of orthodox pastiches.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

The canonical stories are expanded and/or used as a jumping off point for these new tales of the Great Detective!

My thanks go out to Derrick Belanger for my copy of this book.

I am going to assume that readers of this volume will be already familiar with the Holmes canon. I am using the official Holmes story abbreviations.

Readers of Sherlock Holmes might often ask what happened after Holmes solved the case, or where Holmes might have crossed paths with a villain before the current case. That is the premise of this volume. Occasionally in the canon, the story seems incomplete. This could be because there is obviously so much more to the tales offer a glimpse behind the scenes. Sometimes a tale is explained, sometimes a crook is traced further, and sometimes it is a “how they met” story.

David Marcum returns with another exciting volume of great Sherlock Holmes stories. Readers of the MX series of New Sherlock Holmes adventures will find that many of the authors are familiar.
In accordance with the SPOILER WARNING on page 21, I will be more careful than usual with my detailed review. I will give little beyond what the reader will encounter on the first page of each adventure. And now, on to the stories!

• “Gentleman’s Disagreement” by Narrelle M Harris
This is a further look into BLUE. The reader will recall that Holmes let Ryder escape at the end of the case…
• “The Incident of the Frantic Countess” by Arthur Hall
Lord St. Simon of NOBL fame, advises his cousin to allow Holmes to solve her own case…
• “The Ten Orange Pips” by Jayantika Ganguly
As the title suggests, this story continues FIVE. Readers will recall that the case ended rather mysteriously…
• “The Adventure of the Spectral Menace” by Benjamin Langley
Holmes and Watson return to Stoke Moran, site of SPEC. The new owner has problems of his own…
• “The Greek Murder” by Katie Magnusson
This is an explanation of the ending of GREE, tracing the further adventures of Sophy… I absolutely love this story from concept to the last word! This will get “Best in Book!” honors from me!
• “The Adventure in Nancy” by Stephen Hereczeg
Firstly, “Nancy” is Nancy, France! Victor Hatherley of ENGR fame returns for more adventure…
• “The Shadow of Malice” by Brenda Seabrooke
This is based on BOSC. Alice Turner, now married to James McCarthy, asks for Holmes to return to Boscombe Valley…
• “The Adventure of the Upright Man” by Nick Dunn-Meynell
This story is a further look into CROO. It is the longest story in the book. I found it to be— interesting… Frankly, I liked it the least.
• “A for Argentina” by Mike Hogan
Continuing immediately from REDH; the arrest of John Clay sets off more problems. I would like to see in the future someone tell the story of Holmes’ previous encounters with Clay…

These stories should delight any fan of the Holmes canon! And since this is only volume one of three, more stories are to follow. According to the publisher, this may very well only be the beginning…

I give the book four stars…

Quoth the Raven…

[P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were enough decent reads to give this a three, but there are many quite marginal reads as well.