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The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Titan Books #16
Sherlock Holmes - The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes
Twelve sensational Sherlock Holmes short stories from a bestselling master of the genre.
Tales of treachery, intrigue and evil...
MAVERICK DETECTIVE SHERLOCK HOLMES AND HIS FAITHFUL CHRONICLER DR JOHN WATSON RETURN IN TWELVE THRILLING SHORT STORIES
The iconic duo find themselves swiftly drawn into a series of puzzling and sinister events: an otherworldly stone whose touch inflicts fatal bleeding; a hellish potion unlocks a person’s devilish psyche; Holmes’s most hated rival detective tells his story; a fiendishly clever, almost undetectable method of revenge; Watson finally has his chance to shine; and many more – including a brand-new Cthulhu Casebooks story.
350 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 21, 2020
50 people are currently reading
440 people want to read
About the author
James Lovegrove
151 books659 followersJames Lovegrove is the author of several acclaimed novels and books for children.
James was born on Christmas Eve 1965 and, having dabbled in writing at school, first took to it seriously while at university. A short story of his won a college competition. The prize was £15, and it had cost £18 to get the story professionally typed. This taught him a hard but necessary lesson in the harsh economic realities of a literary career.
Straight after graduating from Oxford with a degree in English Literature, James set himself the goal of getting a novel written and sold within two years. In the event, it took two months. The Hope was completed in six weeks and accepted by Macmillan a fortnight later. The seed for the idea for the novel — a world in microcosm on an ocean liner — was planted during a cross-Channel ferry journey.
James blew his modest advance for The Hope on a round-the-world trip which took him to, among other places, Thailand. His experiences there, particularly what he witnessed of the sex industry in Bangkok, provided much of the inspiration for The Foreigners.
Escardy Gap was co-written with Pete Crowther over a period of a year and a half, the two authors playing a game of creative tag, each completing a section in turn and leaving the other to carry the story on. The result has proved a cult favourite, and was voted by readers of SFX one of the top fifty SF/Fantasy novels of all time.
Days, a satire on consumerism, was shortlisted for the 1998 Arthur C. Clarke Award (losing to Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow). The book’s genesis most probably lies in the many visits James used to make as a child to the Oxford Street department store owned by his grandfather. It was written over a period of nine months while James was living in the north-west suburbs of Chicago.
Subsequent works have all been published to great acclaim. These include Untied Kingdom, Worldstorm, Provender Gleed, The Age Of Ra and the back-to-back double-novella Gig. James has also written for children. Wings, a short novel for reluctant readers, was short-listed for several awards, while his fantasy series for teens, The Clouded World, written under the pseudonym Jay Amory, has been translated into 7 other languages so far. A five-book series for reluctant readers, The 5 Lords Of Pain, is appearing at two-monthly intervals throughout 2010.
He also reviews fiction for the Financial Times, specialising in the Young Adult, children’s, science fiction, fantasy, horror and graphic novel genres.
Currently James resides in Eastbourne on the Sussex Coast, having moved there in August 2007 with his wife Lou, sons Monty and Theo, and cat Ozzy. He has a terrific view of the sea from his study window, which he doesn’t sit staring out at all day when he should be working. Honest.
James was born on Christmas Eve 1965 and, having dabbled in writing at school, first took to it seriously while at university. A short story of his won a college competition. The prize was £15, and it had cost £18 to get the story professionally typed. This taught him a hard but necessary lesson in the harsh economic realities of a literary career.
Straight after graduating from Oxford with a degree in English Literature, James set himself the goal of getting a novel written and sold within two years. In the event, it took two months. The Hope was completed in six weeks and accepted by Macmillan a fortnight later. The seed for the idea for the novel — a world in microcosm on an ocean liner — was planted during a cross-Channel ferry journey.
James blew his modest advance for The Hope on a round-the-world trip which took him to, among other places, Thailand. His experiences there, particularly what he witnessed of the sex industry in Bangkok, provided much of the inspiration for The Foreigners.
Escardy Gap was co-written with Pete Crowther over a period of a year and a half, the two authors playing a game of creative tag, each completing a section in turn and leaving the other to carry the story on. The result has proved a cult favourite, and was voted by readers of SFX one of the top fifty SF/Fantasy novels of all time.
Days, a satire on consumerism, was shortlisted for the 1998 Arthur C. Clarke Award (losing to Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow). The book’s genesis most probably lies in the many visits James used to make as a child to the Oxford Street department store owned by his grandfather. It was written over a period of nine months while James was living in the north-west suburbs of Chicago.
Subsequent works have all been published to great acclaim. These include Untied Kingdom, Worldstorm, Provender Gleed, The Age Of Ra and the back-to-back double-novella Gig. James has also written for children. Wings, a short novel for reluctant readers, was short-listed for several awards, while his fantasy series for teens, The Clouded World, written under the pseudonym Jay Amory, has been translated into 7 other languages so far. A five-book series for reluctant readers, The 5 Lords Of Pain, is appearing at two-monthly intervals throughout 2010.
He also reviews fiction for the Financial Times, specialising in the Young Adult, children’s, science fiction, fantasy, horror and graphic novel genres.
Currently James resides in Eastbourne on the Sussex Coast, having moved there in August 2007 with his wife Lou, sons Monty and Theo, and cat Ozzy. He has a terrific view of the sea from his study window, which he doesn’t sit staring out at all day when he should be working. Honest.
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March 27, 2020
As always this review can also be found on my blog The Tattooed Book Geek: https://thetattooedbookgeek.wordpress...
The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve short stories by James Lovegrove. Some of the included shorts have previously appeared in other collections and some are new, written especially for this collection.
The short stories are:
The Adventure of the Marchindale Stiletto. The Marchindale stiletto is an heirloom of the Marchindale family. The stiletto, whilst not having much monetary value it is of historical significance and a talisman to the family. There is a superstition surrounding it and it is believed to aid the family’s continued prosperity. It is also believed to be cursed and that without the stiletto the family will fall on bad times.
Since the stiletto disappeared strange events have befallen the family that seems to prove that the curse is true. Family members have fallen ill, injury has occurred and the family fortune has suffered.
The Problem of the Emperor’s Netsuke. This short sees Holmes recounting the events to Watson on an afternoon in Baker street while there is no current case for them to solve.
There is an exhibition of Japanese art on display at a museum including part of the Emperor’s own rare Netsuke collection. The Japanese envoy in charge of overseeing the safety of the collection notices that one of the Netsuke has been moved and on further inspection finds that all bar a couple have been stolen and replaced with high-quality replicas.
The Adventure of the Fallen Financier. A senior partner in a respected London bank has gone missing. He was last spotted at a local suicide spot and the police believe that it is suicide, his wife doesn’t. Her husband had no money worries, no problems, he wasn’t stealing from the firm, there is no reason that he vanished, for him to have taken his own life and she enlists the aid of Holmes to find the truth behind his death.
The Strange Case of Dr Sacker and Mr Hope. The collection takes a dark turn with this offering and sees Lovegrove merging together Holmes and Watson with the gothic story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Holmes behaviour has altered, he has been erratic, even for him and he hasn’t been himself. He has always been eccentric but, he is now rude and volatile. He is committing acts of vandalism and showing increasing levels of animosity and resentment towards Watson. It is like Holmes has been replaced, possessed and taken over by another persona. A twisted and evil version who is going around and solving Holmes’s current cases in rather more violent fashion.
The Affair of the Yithian Stone. Continuing the vein of darkness in the collection this is the Cthulu Casebooks short story. For those who don’t know, the Cthulu Casebooks trilogy (The Shadwell Shadows, The Miskatonic Monstrosities and The Sussex Sea-Devils) merges together Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic literary creations of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson with the cosmic horror of H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos. It is a delightfully weird combination that works really well and that I highly recommend.
This story takes the form of a letter from 1926 with an elderly Watson recounting events from 1887, a time before Holmes was famous or any of Watson’s work about him had been published to H. P. Lovecraft.
A renowned xenoanthropologist dies from a wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding, slowly succumbing to blood loss. The death is put down to a tragic accident and previously undiagnosed haemophilia. But the son of the anthropologist has misgivings about his father’s death.
The anthropologist had amassed a large collection of extraterrestrial artefacts from his travels. On his latest expedition to some newly excavated ruins in Mesopotamia, he had brought back an intricately carved stone adorned with glyphs and had become obsessed with the stone and finding out its true origins.
Pure Swank. This short is the first of two that are told from the perspective of a minor character from within the Holmes canon. This short is told by Clarence barker who appeared in ‘The Adventure of the Retired Colourman’ as a rival consulting detective to Sherlock Holmes. In The Adventure of the Retired Colourman Holmes is investigating a break-in that turns into something more sinister and joins forces with Barker to solve the mystery.
Pure Swank recounts that case but from the perspective of Barker where he offers the true version of events and not those that were originally chronicled by Watson.
The Adventure of the Innocent Icarus. This is a different type of Holmes story. Sherlock Holmes is still Sherlock Holmes but, the world is populated by people who possess various abilities and superpowers. Those with powers are in the majority and the minority who don’t are seen as inferior and they include Holmes. In a world where people can fly and have superhuman strength Holmes using his own superior intellect and skills of deduction investigates the death of one of Britain’s richest men who accidentally fell to his death from the second storey of his house.
The Adventure of the Challenging Professor. This short includes Professor Challenger another Sir Arthur Conan Doyle creation from The Lost World. The story takes place after Challenger’s return from exploring the mist-shrouded plateau in South America that is The Lost World. The assistant to Professor Challenger dies in Challenger’s house. His assistant was an able and competent man who shouldn’t have been negligent, who knew to fastidiously undertake the safety procedures that were required. Challenger believes that there is more going on and that what has been put down to an accident, isn’t and asks for Holmes help in finding out the truth.
The Adventure of the Noble Burglar. This is the second short story following on from Pure Swank that takes a minor character from the Holmes canon and tells a story from their perspective. This time around, in a rather bizarre turn of events (the introduction to the story explains how the, if you will pardon the wordplay tail, came about) the story is told from the perspective of Toby the dog. Toby originally appeared in and aided Holmes in The Sign of the Four.
In The Adventure of the Noble Burglar Holmes is on the trail of a thief but, so far, any proof has eluded him and so, he enlists Toby and his keen sense of smell to help solve the case and bring the criminal to justice.
The Adventure of the Botanist’s Glove. In the waning years of his role as a consulting detective, in fact, not long before he retired to the Sussex coast and bee-keeping Holmes takes on the case surrounding the death of a renowned botanist who died in his conservatory and foul play is suspected.
A Bauble in Scandinavia. This short is a Christmas story that sees Watson taking centre stage. Holmes has been in a rather down and despondent mood recently and he and Watson didn’t part on the best of terms after their previous meeting. Wishing to put things right and at the insistence of Mary, his wife Watson heads to Baker street to wish Holmes a merry Christmas only to find that Holmes isn’t there.
Holmes had left earlier in the morning with nothing but a begrudging goodbye to Mrs Hudson. With worries over his current mood and fearing that something might have happened to his friend A Bauble in Scandinavia sees Watson piecing together clues and following the trail to find out what has happened to Holmes.
The Adventure of the Deadly Seance. After visiting a medium, taking part in a séance and receiving a message from the spirits that agitated and troubled him the wealthy owner of a shipping company dies in the night of a heart attack. His personal secretary, the sole beneficiary of his will and due to inherit his fortune comes to Holmes seeking his aid as there are murmurings amongst the household staff that he poisoned the owner. He is adamant that he had nothing to do with the death and hopes that Holmes will be able to prove his innocence.
I had a lot of fun with this collection. The short stories are full of mystery, intrigue, deduction and are a bunch of marvellous and cleverly plotted little puzzles. Some of the short stories have a very classic Holmes feel whilst others offer the reader something different, straying from the traditional and into the unusual. Having that variety serves to create an eclectic, varied and impressive assortment of stories. The stories take place throughout the course of Holmes career as a consulting detective from his fledgeling years when his name was just being made through the years when he was a household name, revered and well-known to all and up to his retirement.
Before each short story, there is an introduction by Lovegrove where he explains a little about the story and its origin. These introductions are a nice touch, interesting to the reader and serve to give you additional insight into Lovegrove, his work and his love for the iconic duo. Occasionally, there is a little bit of trivia about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Holmes and Watson too.
The writing, the characterisation and the sense of place for the settings are stellar throughout. Lovegrove is a terrific storyteller with a style that is reminiscent of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle but with the addition of some modern flourishes. He both pays homage to and respects the original creations whilst breathing fresh new life into them. All of the included shorts have their own individual merit, there is enjoyment to be found in each and every one of them and as a whole, they form what is a very satisfying and highly entertaining collection.
The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve short stories by James Lovegrove. Some of the included shorts have previously appeared in other collections and some are new, written especially for this collection.
The short stories are:
The Adventure of the Marchindale Stiletto. The Marchindale stiletto is an heirloom of the Marchindale family. The stiletto, whilst not having much monetary value it is of historical significance and a talisman to the family. There is a superstition surrounding it and it is believed to aid the family’s continued prosperity. It is also believed to be cursed and that without the stiletto the family will fall on bad times.
Since the stiletto disappeared strange events have befallen the family that seems to prove that the curse is true. Family members have fallen ill, injury has occurred and the family fortune has suffered.
The Problem of the Emperor’s Netsuke. This short sees Holmes recounting the events to Watson on an afternoon in Baker street while there is no current case for them to solve.
There is an exhibition of Japanese art on display at a museum including part of the Emperor’s own rare Netsuke collection. The Japanese envoy in charge of overseeing the safety of the collection notices that one of the Netsuke has been moved and on further inspection finds that all bar a couple have been stolen and replaced with high-quality replicas.
The Adventure of the Fallen Financier. A senior partner in a respected London bank has gone missing. He was last spotted at a local suicide spot and the police believe that it is suicide, his wife doesn’t. Her husband had no money worries, no problems, he wasn’t stealing from the firm, there is no reason that he vanished, for him to have taken his own life and she enlists the aid of Holmes to find the truth behind his death.
The Strange Case of Dr Sacker and Mr Hope. The collection takes a dark turn with this offering and sees Lovegrove merging together Holmes and Watson with the gothic story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Holmes behaviour has altered, he has been erratic, even for him and he hasn’t been himself. He has always been eccentric but, he is now rude and volatile. He is committing acts of vandalism and showing increasing levels of animosity and resentment towards Watson. It is like Holmes has been replaced, possessed and taken over by another persona. A twisted and evil version who is going around and solving Holmes’s current cases in rather more violent fashion.
The Affair of the Yithian Stone. Continuing the vein of darkness in the collection this is the Cthulu Casebooks short story. For those who don’t know, the Cthulu Casebooks trilogy (The Shadwell Shadows, The Miskatonic Monstrosities and The Sussex Sea-Devils) merges together Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic literary creations of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson with the cosmic horror of H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos. It is a delightfully weird combination that works really well and that I highly recommend.
This story takes the form of a letter from 1926 with an elderly Watson recounting events from 1887, a time before Holmes was famous or any of Watson’s work about him had been published to H. P. Lovecraft.
A renowned xenoanthropologist dies from a wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding, slowly succumbing to blood loss. The death is put down to a tragic accident and previously undiagnosed haemophilia. But the son of the anthropologist has misgivings about his father’s death.
The anthropologist had amassed a large collection of extraterrestrial artefacts from his travels. On his latest expedition to some newly excavated ruins in Mesopotamia, he had brought back an intricately carved stone adorned with glyphs and had become obsessed with the stone and finding out its true origins.
Pure Swank. This short is the first of two that are told from the perspective of a minor character from within the Holmes canon. This short is told by Clarence barker who appeared in ‘The Adventure of the Retired Colourman’ as a rival consulting detective to Sherlock Holmes. In The Adventure of the Retired Colourman Holmes is investigating a break-in that turns into something more sinister and joins forces with Barker to solve the mystery.
Pure Swank recounts that case but from the perspective of Barker where he offers the true version of events and not those that were originally chronicled by Watson.
The Adventure of the Innocent Icarus. This is a different type of Holmes story. Sherlock Holmes is still Sherlock Holmes but, the world is populated by people who possess various abilities and superpowers. Those with powers are in the majority and the minority who don’t are seen as inferior and they include Holmes. In a world where people can fly and have superhuman strength Holmes using his own superior intellect and skills of deduction investigates the death of one of Britain’s richest men who accidentally fell to his death from the second storey of his house.
The Adventure of the Challenging Professor. This short includes Professor Challenger another Sir Arthur Conan Doyle creation from The Lost World. The story takes place after Challenger’s return from exploring the mist-shrouded plateau in South America that is The Lost World. The assistant to Professor Challenger dies in Challenger’s house. His assistant was an able and competent man who shouldn’t have been negligent, who knew to fastidiously undertake the safety procedures that were required. Challenger believes that there is more going on and that what has been put down to an accident, isn’t and asks for Holmes help in finding out the truth.
The Adventure of the Noble Burglar. This is the second short story following on from Pure Swank that takes a minor character from the Holmes canon and tells a story from their perspective. This time around, in a rather bizarre turn of events (the introduction to the story explains how the, if you will pardon the wordplay tail, came about) the story is told from the perspective of Toby the dog. Toby originally appeared in and aided Holmes in The Sign of the Four.
In The Adventure of the Noble Burglar Holmes is on the trail of a thief but, so far, any proof has eluded him and so, he enlists Toby and his keen sense of smell to help solve the case and bring the criminal to justice.
The Adventure of the Botanist’s Glove. In the waning years of his role as a consulting detective, in fact, not long before he retired to the Sussex coast and bee-keeping Holmes takes on the case surrounding the death of a renowned botanist who died in his conservatory and foul play is suspected.
A Bauble in Scandinavia. This short is a Christmas story that sees Watson taking centre stage. Holmes has been in a rather down and despondent mood recently and he and Watson didn’t part on the best of terms after their previous meeting. Wishing to put things right and at the insistence of Mary, his wife Watson heads to Baker street to wish Holmes a merry Christmas only to find that Holmes isn’t there.
Holmes had left earlier in the morning with nothing but a begrudging goodbye to Mrs Hudson. With worries over his current mood and fearing that something might have happened to his friend A Bauble in Scandinavia sees Watson piecing together clues and following the trail to find out what has happened to Holmes.
The Adventure of the Deadly Seance. After visiting a medium, taking part in a séance and receiving a message from the spirits that agitated and troubled him the wealthy owner of a shipping company dies in the night of a heart attack. His personal secretary, the sole beneficiary of his will and due to inherit his fortune comes to Holmes seeking his aid as there are murmurings amongst the household staff that he poisoned the owner. He is adamant that he had nothing to do with the death and hopes that Holmes will be able to prove his innocence.
I had a lot of fun with this collection. The short stories are full of mystery, intrigue, deduction and are a bunch of marvellous and cleverly plotted little puzzles. Some of the short stories have a very classic Holmes feel whilst others offer the reader something different, straying from the traditional and into the unusual. Having that variety serves to create an eclectic, varied and impressive assortment of stories. The stories take place throughout the course of Holmes career as a consulting detective from his fledgeling years when his name was just being made through the years when he was a household name, revered and well-known to all and up to his retirement.
Before each short story, there is an introduction by Lovegrove where he explains a little about the story and its origin. These introductions are a nice touch, interesting to the reader and serve to give you additional insight into Lovegrove, his work and his love for the iconic duo. Occasionally, there is a little bit of trivia about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Holmes and Watson too.
The writing, the characterisation and the sense of place for the settings are stellar throughout. Lovegrove is a terrific storyteller with a style that is reminiscent of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle but with the addition of some modern flourishes. He both pays homage to and respects the original creations whilst breathing fresh new life into them. All of the included shorts have their own individual merit, there is enjoyment to be found in each and every one of them and as a whole, they form what is a very satisfying and highly entertaining collection.
April 4, 2020
In order to get a more complete look and sense of the book for a review, I have done a mini-review for each short story, gave it a mark out of five and then added all the ratings up and divided by twelve (the number of ratings) to get the overall score for the book as a whole. The total came to 50 out of 60 when, divided by 12 =4.1. So 4 stars it is.
The Adventure of the Marchindale Stiletto:
3 stars out of 5
Holmes, in the infancy of his career, takes on the case of a missing dagger. Said dagger vanished without a trace after being thrown into a pond as a prank. The knife is a lucky charm of sorts and, with its loss comes the misfortune of its owners. I wanted to love this but only ended up liking it. It felt too easy to keep up with Sherlock, the clues were a bit over-exposed to the audience and instead of a red herring, as is the usual formula, we were seemingly just thrown in the correct direction. The story-building was fairly good but, due to the shortness, it felt somewhat rushed. There was zero back and forth with Watson. In fact, the good doctor barely had any input at all. I kind of felt that the preamble to the story saying it was meant to look magical but was actually mundane, kind of lessened the appeal.
The Problem of the Emperor's Netsuke:
4 stars out of 5
This was a far better length for a Holmes story. It takes a break from the standard formula of Watson telling the story by, in this instance, having Holmes recount an old case of his that Watson wasn't present for. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of this style (Holmes is not the same level of storyteller that Watson is) but it was an enjoyable piece about some stolen museum pieces. My only real issue with this was the reveal of the villain. Far too chilled and relaxed. No back and forth between Holmes and the bad guy.
The Adventure of the Fallen Financier:
4 stars out of 5
This story takes place in Holmes' retirement. He is approached by a woman wishing him to help prove that her husband did not commit suicide and that he is, indeed, still alive. It has the non-straight forward, difficult to piece together clues that make for a good Holmes story. My only downside is that there never seems a great deal of urgency and that it was a tad rushed. There was also never that sense of engagement and excitement I feel when reading a Holmes tale. However, I put that part down mostly to the fact that they are both old, retired gentlemen at this point. So probably more good story telling and character work on the author's part than anything.
The Strange Case of Dr Sacker and Mr Hope:
4 stars out of 5
This manifestation of Holmes is something quite different entirely. As you can imagine from the title it gives the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde flair to our favourite crime-fighting duo. It toys with the darker side of our heroes and, for the most part, leaves the reader wondering if there is some elaborate ploy, or have our heroes turned to darker means? It's an interesting twist on the Holmes and Watson universe but, for some reason, I just expected a tad more from the end.
The Affair of the Yithian Stone:
5 stars out of 5
This tale is set in the cosmic horror/cthulhu mythos arc of the Holmes universe that Titan publish. It takes place in between book one and two, however I fancy you could read it without ever having tried Shadwell Shadows. As you can imagine when dealing with the twisted nature of cosmic horror, the genius detective work that is usually present takes somewhat of a back seat. That aside, there is still a damn good short story in here and this tale adds to the cosmic horror story aspect (indeed, it sparks Watson's interest in writing the books in the first place) and for that reason it deserves full marks.
Pure Swank:
5 stars out of 5
Although Holmes is featured in this one, he is not the primary focus. That honour falls to a Mr Barker as he tells the other side of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories 'The Adventure of the Retired Colourman'. Barker is a bitter, jealous, yet clever man and all of this bleeds through into his telling. His backstory, and how it links with Holmes is interesting. I enjoyed this far more than I expected to.
The Adventure of the Innocent Icarus:
5 stars out of 5
This tale takes place in a world where the majority of the population were born with superpowers or gifts of some sort. Holmes, sadly, was born without (a 'Typical') and thus uses his keen mind to get ahead. I fully expected to hate this. The premise alone was enough to make me groan and wish I could just dodge certain tales ... but the author took time to write this so it's only fair I repay that effort by taking the time to read it. And I'm glad I did. I couldn't have been more wrong about my preconceived dislike of this and it ended up being one of my favourites of the collection. A surprisingly good read. To my relief, the powers aren't overdone and feel, surprisingly natural.
The Adventure of the Challenging Professor:
5 stars out of 5
This was a wonderful cross over piece. The fact that Professor Challenger (from one of my all time favourite classics, The Lost World) comes asking Holmes for help made my day. I knew I would love this and it did not let me down. Challenger requests that our retired hero aids him in discovering who engineered the death of his assistant. I know I said that the previous story was one of my favourites, this one IS my favourite purely due to the deep connection it has to The Lost World. The storytelling is on point and I feel Lovegrove captured Challenger's blustery character well.
The Adventure of the Noble Burglar:
4 stars out of 5
This is another story told from the perspective of a minor character in the Holmes universe ... Toby the Dog (from the Sign of the Four). Now, my being of sound mind knew that Lovegrove couldn't strike gold twice with concepts that should not be a concept. So, unlike Icarus, I did not expect to be pleasantly surprised. But I was. Again. Damn you James Lovegrove. This was a charming, humorous tale that I found very difficult to dislike. Toby grows on your very quickly. Now to figure out how a bloody dog can pen a short story.
The Adventure of the Botanist's Glove:
5 stars out of 5
This one ticked all the boxes of a great Holmes short story. It had everything I could want and it neither felt rushed nor did it drag on. Holmes, approaching retirement, is asked by a young housemaid to prove that she was not guilty of a negligence that ended up causing the death of her beloved employer. Enjoyable read from start to finish. If I had been in charge of the running order, this one would have started off the collection without a second thought.
A Bauble in Scandinavia:
2 stars out of 5
In this Christmas tale, Dr Watson has his chance to shine as he forced to solve a string of clues to try and discover what has caused his friend, Sherlock Holmes, to start acting in such an uncharacteristic manner. I get the point of this, I really do. It's not without its charms, it's just not what I view as an enjoyable Holmes read. It was painfully obvious (to everyone except Dr Watson) what was going on from the first clue or so. I hate to be so negative about something in a book I have loved, but it just felt like a waste of time. To be fair to the piece, it was fairly heartwarming.
The Adventure of the Deadly Seance:
4 stars out of 5
This, the final tale of the collection sees Sherlock Holmes wage war on spiritual mediums, enraged at their charlatanry after delving into a case of a man, dead by heart attack, to find these spiritualists at the root of the thing. Although an enjoyable piece, I did feel it dragged on a bit. It certainly felt longer than was needed. I did like the irony of how Conan Doyle was one of the most ardent believers of all things spiritual and in this, his most famed creation was ripping apart those beliefs at the seams.
The Adventure of the Marchindale Stiletto:
3 stars out of 5
Holmes, in the infancy of his career, takes on the case of a missing dagger. Said dagger vanished without a trace after being thrown into a pond as a prank. The knife is a lucky charm of sorts and, with its loss comes the misfortune of its owners. I wanted to love this but only ended up liking it. It felt too easy to keep up with Sherlock, the clues were a bit over-exposed to the audience and instead of a red herring, as is the usual formula, we were seemingly just thrown in the correct direction. The story-building was fairly good but, due to the shortness, it felt somewhat rushed. There was zero back and forth with Watson. In fact, the good doctor barely had any input at all. I kind of felt that the preamble to the story saying it was meant to look magical but was actually mundane, kind of lessened the appeal.
The Problem of the Emperor's Netsuke:
4 stars out of 5
This was a far better length for a Holmes story. It takes a break from the standard formula of Watson telling the story by, in this instance, having Holmes recount an old case of his that Watson wasn't present for. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of this style (Holmes is not the same level of storyteller that Watson is) but it was an enjoyable piece about some stolen museum pieces. My only real issue with this was the reveal of the villain. Far too chilled and relaxed. No back and forth between Holmes and the bad guy.
The Adventure of the Fallen Financier:
4 stars out of 5
This story takes place in Holmes' retirement. He is approached by a woman wishing him to help prove that her husband did not commit suicide and that he is, indeed, still alive. It has the non-straight forward, difficult to piece together clues that make for a good Holmes story. My only downside is that there never seems a great deal of urgency and that it was a tad rushed. There was also never that sense of engagement and excitement I feel when reading a Holmes tale. However, I put that part down mostly to the fact that they are both old, retired gentlemen at this point. So probably more good story telling and character work on the author's part than anything.
The Strange Case of Dr Sacker and Mr Hope:
4 stars out of 5
This manifestation of Holmes is something quite different entirely. As you can imagine from the title it gives the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde flair to our favourite crime-fighting duo. It toys with the darker side of our heroes and, for the most part, leaves the reader wondering if there is some elaborate ploy, or have our heroes turned to darker means? It's an interesting twist on the Holmes and Watson universe but, for some reason, I just expected a tad more from the end.
The Affair of the Yithian Stone:
5 stars out of 5
This tale is set in the cosmic horror/cthulhu mythos arc of the Holmes universe that Titan publish. It takes place in between book one and two, however I fancy you could read it without ever having tried Shadwell Shadows. As you can imagine when dealing with the twisted nature of cosmic horror, the genius detective work that is usually present takes somewhat of a back seat. That aside, there is still a damn good short story in here and this tale adds to the cosmic horror story aspect (indeed, it sparks Watson's interest in writing the books in the first place) and for that reason it deserves full marks.
Pure Swank:
5 stars out of 5
Although Holmes is featured in this one, he is not the primary focus. That honour falls to a Mr Barker as he tells the other side of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories 'The Adventure of the Retired Colourman'. Barker is a bitter, jealous, yet clever man and all of this bleeds through into his telling. His backstory, and how it links with Holmes is interesting. I enjoyed this far more than I expected to.
The Adventure of the Innocent Icarus:
5 stars out of 5
This tale takes place in a world where the majority of the population were born with superpowers or gifts of some sort. Holmes, sadly, was born without (a 'Typical') and thus uses his keen mind to get ahead. I fully expected to hate this. The premise alone was enough to make me groan and wish I could just dodge certain tales ... but the author took time to write this so it's only fair I repay that effort by taking the time to read it. And I'm glad I did. I couldn't have been more wrong about my preconceived dislike of this and it ended up being one of my favourites of the collection. A surprisingly good read. To my relief, the powers aren't overdone and feel, surprisingly natural.
The Adventure of the Challenging Professor:
5 stars out of 5
This was a wonderful cross over piece. The fact that Professor Challenger (from one of my all time favourite classics, The Lost World) comes asking Holmes for help made my day. I knew I would love this and it did not let me down. Challenger requests that our retired hero aids him in discovering who engineered the death of his assistant. I know I said that the previous story was one of my favourites, this one IS my favourite purely due to the deep connection it has to The Lost World. The storytelling is on point and I feel Lovegrove captured Challenger's blustery character well.
The Adventure of the Noble Burglar:
4 stars out of 5
This is another story told from the perspective of a minor character in the Holmes universe ... Toby the Dog (from the Sign of the Four). Now, my being of sound mind knew that Lovegrove couldn't strike gold twice with concepts that should not be a concept. So, unlike Icarus, I did not expect to be pleasantly surprised. But I was. Again. Damn you James Lovegrove. This was a charming, humorous tale that I found very difficult to dislike. Toby grows on your very quickly. Now to figure out how a bloody dog can pen a short story.
The Adventure of the Botanist's Glove:
5 stars out of 5
This one ticked all the boxes of a great Holmes short story. It had everything I could want and it neither felt rushed nor did it drag on. Holmes, approaching retirement, is asked by a young housemaid to prove that she was not guilty of a negligence that ended up causing the death of her beloved employer. Enjoyable read from start to finish. If I had been in charge of the running order, this one would have started off the collection without a second thought.
A Bauble in Scandinavia:
2 stars out of 5
In this Christmas tale, Dr Watson has his chance to shine as he forced to solve a string of clues to try and discover what has caused his friend, Sherlock Holmes, to start acting in such an uncharacteristic manner. I get the point of this, I really do. It's not without its charms, it's just not what I view as an enjoyable Holmes read. It was painfully obvious (to everyone except Dr Watson) what was going on from the first clue or so. I hate to be so negative about something in a book I have loved, but it just felt like a waste of time. To be fair to the piece, it was fairly heartwarming.
The Adventure of the Deadly Seance:
4 stars out of 5
This, the final tale of the collection sees Sherlock Holmes wage war on spiritual mediums, enraged at their charlatanry after delving into a case of a man, dead by heart attack, to find these spiritualists at the root of the thing. Although an enjoyable piece, I did feel it dragged on a bit. It certainly felt longer than was needed. I did like the irony of how Conan Doyle was one of the most ardent believers of all things spiritual and in this, his most famed creation was ripping apart those beliefs at the seams.
June 6, 2022
This 362 page short story collection of 12 stories my favorite is The Strange Case of Doctor Sacker and Mr Hope. This great collection of Holmes stories by same author with introduction and when wrote each one.
January 21, 2020
Firstly I would like to say a huge thank you to Titan Books for sending me a copy of this great book for review! I do love a short story collection from time to time and this one really hit the mark.The stories themselves are make up from those pulled from existing collections and new reads just for this release. I especially enjoyed the personal opener to each story from the author. The thing I enjoyed most about this book was how diverse the stories were, there are of course classic Holmes tales however there are plenty which have a true fantasy feel to them, which as a fantasy reader at heart, rose my enjoyment of the book exponentially.
Standouts for me were The Problem of the Emperor’s Netsuke, which was actually delightful and a testament that there doesn’t have to be high grade nefarious goings on to make a great Holmes’ story. Compare that to the total darkness of The Strange Case of Dr Sacker and Mr Hope though and you can see what I mean about diversity, that story gave me the chills and actually one that I would love to have a full length story on. I also have to give a shout out to The Adventure of the Innocent Icarus as well for bringing Holmes into the world of superheroes which is a cross over we definitely needed! There was only one story that I had read before, The Adventure of the Deadly Seance, and it was a interesting decision to include it considering it was only published last year in The Sign of Seven anthology.
This is ultimately a wonderfully rich, yet bite sized selection of some of the best Holmes short stories by one of my favourite writers of the pastiche. There is a story for every mood covering a whole wealth of genres, each one filled with great story telling and a lot of humour; some dark and some deliciously crazy “I wasn’t going to enter that room unarmed, not with a pterodactyl on the loose!” This is a great pick up and put down book and a perfect addition to both established Holmes fans collection or a gateway book for those who want to dip their proverbial toes!
Standouts for me were The Problem of the Emperor’s Netsuke, which was actually delightful and a testament that there doesn’t have to be high grade nefarious goings on to make a great Holmes’ story. Compare that to the total darkness of The Strange Case of Dr Sacker and Mr Hope though and you can see what I mean about diversity, that story gave me the chills and actually one that I would love to have a full length story on. I also have to give a shout out to The Adventure of the Innocent Icarus as well for bringing Holmes into the world of superheroes which is a cross over we definitely needed! There was only one story that I had read before, The Adventure of the Deadly Seance, and it was a interesting decision to include it considering it was only published last year in The Sign of Seven anthology.
This is ultimately a wonderfully rich, yet bite sized selection of some of the best Holmes short stories by one of my favourite writers of the pastiche. There is a story for every mood covering a whole wealth of genres, each one filled with great story telling and a lot of humour; some dark and some deliciously crazy “I wasn’t going to enter that room unarmed, not with a pterodactyl on the loose!” This is a great pick up and put down book and a perfect addition to both established Holmes fans collection or a gateway book for those who want to dip their proverbial toes!
January 21, 2020
Twelve Sherlock Holmes short stories; some previously published, some new to this collection and one even written as a drunken bet.
I had intended to dip in to James Lovegrove’s The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes over several days, but I began reading and before I knew it I had devoured the entire collection. I thoroughly enjoyed these stories as I found myself transported to an atmospheric world of crime and intrigue.
James Lovegrove has pitch perfect prose that emulates Conan Doyle utterly convincingly. Both Holmes and Watson’s voices ring out clear and true so that any fan of Doyle’s original stories will love The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes. The style works brilliantly and I think James Lovegrove goes beyond a pastiche and brings a fresh vibrancy to much loved characters. He draws on details that traditional Holmes readers will recognise in both character and plot but adds other elements that create further interest too, making for a very entertaining read.
Whilst each story is satisfying and engaging, being meticulously plotted and crafted, I particularly liked the added details from the author about the origins of each tale. There’s a dry wit and insight into James Lovegrove’s own life as well as links with, and information about, Conan Doyle – though if I were James Lovegrove’s wife I’d avoid flying insects! I loved the attention to social and historical detail so that there is also quite a Dickensian feeling to the settings of The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes and I think that fits perfectly with the more supernatural element James Lovegrove weaves in to this collection.
The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes is a collection any Sherlock Holmes lover would be delighted to own. I’m not normally especially keen on Conan Doyle or Sherlock Holmes but I thought The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes was super and really recommend it for those wanting some cracking entertainment in their reading.
I had intended to dip in to James Lovegrove’s The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes over several days, but I began reading and before I knew it I had devoured the entire collection. I thoroughly enjoyed these stories as I found myself transported to an atmospheric world of crime and intrigue.
James Lovegrove has pitch perfect prose that emulates Conan Doyle utterly convincingly. Both Holmes and Watson’s voices ring out clear and true so that any fan of Doyle’s original stories will love The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes. The style works brilliantly and I think James Lovegrove goes beyond a pastiche and brings a fresh vibrancy to much loved characters. He draws on details that traditional Holmes readers will recognise in both character and plot but adds other elements that create further interest too, making for a very entertaining read.
Whilst each story is satisfying and engaging, being meticulously plotted and crafted, I particularly liked the added details from the author about the origins of each tale. There’s a dry wit and insight into James Lovegrove’s own life as well as links with, and information about, Conan Doyle – though if I were James Lovegrove’s wife I’d avoid flying insects! I loved the attention to social and historical detail so that there is also quite a Dickensian feeling to the settings of The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes and I think that fits perfectly with the more supernatural element James Lovegrove weaves in to this collection.
The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes is a collection any Sherlock Holmes lover would be delighted to own. I’m not normally especially keen on Conan Doyle or Sherlock Holmes but I thought The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes was super and really recommend it for those wanting some cracking entertainment in their reading.
January 21, 2020
A very varied and charming collection of new Sherlock Holmes short stories from traditional mysteries to horror and even a pterodactyl crime!
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
March 21, 2020
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Lovegrove's Sherlock Holmes pastiches. Over the years, I have enjoyed a number of them. But I also have found many of them so ridiculous that I could barely finish them.
For example, after basically forcing myself to finish the first novel in his "The Cthulhu Casebook" trilogy, I ended up bailing early on in the second one. It was just too fantastical. And me quitting a book once I've started it is a rarity - I bet I can count on one hand the number of times I've done that in my life.
Therefore, it's no surprise that I thought some of the 11 short stories and 1 novella in this collection were good, while others were not. Generally, that line was determined by how much of Lovegrove's science fiction, fantasy, and horror background crept into a particular pastiche. (Although, in fairness, I did enjoy one or two of his more "out there" entries, while finding a few of his traditional pastiches merely average.)
In the end, however, I'm glad I read this collection and would recommend it to folks who enjoy Holmes pastiches. However, if you're a traditionalist when it comes to pastiches, I'd probably avoid this collection - as well as most of Lovegrove's works.
For example, after basically forcing myself to finish the first novel in his "The Cthulhu Casebook" trilogy, I ended up bailing early on in the second one. It was just too fantastical. And me quitting a book once I've started it is a rarity - I bet I can count on one hand the number of times I've done that in my life.
Therefore, it's no surprise that I thought some of the 11 short stories and 1 novella in this collection were good, while others were not. Generally, that line was determined by how much of Lovegrove's science fiction, fantasy, and horror background crept into a particular pastiche. (Although, in fairness, I did enjoy one or two of his more "out there" entries, while finding a few of his traditional pastiches merely average.)
In the end, however, I'm glad I read this collection and would recommend it to folks who enjoy Holmes pastiches. However, if you're a traditionalist when it comes to pastiches, I'd probably avoid this collection - as well as most of Lovegrove's works.
June 10, 2023
"The Adventure of the Marchindale Stiletto" - This was a fun puzzle that reminded of classic Holmes stories. Holmes, at the beginning of his career, is tasked to find an apparently supernaturally lucky stiletto dagger - and, like in many situations where he's seemingly placed in a supernatural situation, comes up with a rational explanation for the missing heirloom. 3.5/5 stars
"The Problem of the Emperor’s Netsuke" - Another well-thought-out story detailing missing netsuke that were meant to be on display at a museum, but have been replaced by fakes. This is told by Holmes, as Watson was not present for the events of the story, and have a fun little ending. 4/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Fallen Financier" - This is a story told in Holmes' old age, having retired from the detective business. He is, however, entreated by a woman to help solve the case of her missing husband, and proceeds to do just so. I must admit I thought the result was going to be different, and I probably would have preferred that to the actual solution. That said, it was still a fun and well-paced story. 3/5 stars.
"The Strange Case of Dr Sacker and Mr Hope" - This is a truly fascinating story that anyone familiar with the tale of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde will be able to get into immediately. It asks the question - what would happen if Jekyll's compound was consumed by the erstwhile detective and his companion rather than Jekyll himself - and the result is a captivating, dark tale that's eminently readable. 4.5/5 stars
"The Affair of the Yithian Stone" - This is set in the author's Cuthulu Casebooks universe, but it's an easy read even if you haven't (like me) read those books. This story is recalled by an eldery Watson in 1926 writing a letter containing the story HP Lovecraft, and recalls the case of a xenoathropologist who died of a cut that wouldn't stop bleeding, which had been attributed to undiagnosed haemophilia. Holmes investigates the case at the behest of Watson, who is worried about the man's son, who in turn believes the case to be one of murder. 5/5 stars
"Pure Swank" - This story takes one of the classic Holmes stories ("The Adventure of the Retired Colourman") and turns it on his head, telling it from the perspective of Clarence Barker, who was referred to by Holmes in that story as his rival. Barker serves as a bitter foil to Holmes, and yet tells a tale that is both familiar and not. It's an interesting look at a classic Holmesian tale. 4/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Innocent Icarus" - This story is set in an alternate universe where a large portion of the world have superpowers, and are categorised accordingly. The Icarus in the story's title is a man capable of flight. Holmes may not be superpowered like these individuals (including Watson with his invincible skin), but he retains his remarkable sense of deduction nonetheless, and is entreated to solve a seemingly accidental death that may have other causes than the one(s) immediately obvious to Watson and the reader. 5/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Challenging Professor" - This was a fascinating tale, using the character of Professor George Challenger, another one of Conan Doyle's creations, as the client. The method of murder? A pterodactyl. This is undoubtedly one of the most creative of the stories in this collection, and uncovering the motive of the killer is a fun little task set out for a retired Holmes and Watson. 5/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Noble Burglar" - This was a fun little yarn about a man who is seemingly in two places at once, told from the perspective of Toby the dog, a character created by Conan Doyle and who has been hired once again to help Holmes with his case. While the perspective was unique and fun, the story itself wasn't the most creative, and Toby the dog is clearly the star. 3.5/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Botanist’s Glove" - Told about a Holmes who has just started to consider retirement, this story revolves around the murder of a world-famous (and wealthy) botanist - a murder that is, on the face of it, nothing more than an unfortunate allergic reaction. Holmes, tiring of his detective ways, takes on the case pro bono, and finds not only the culprit, but possible an answer to his own ennui as well. 4/5 stars
"A Bauble in Scandinavia" - The one story in the collection where Dr. Watson is allowed to take center stage. Holmes seems to have lost his marbles on Christmas 1890, and it is left to Dr. Watson to find his missing companion. The solution is imminently solvable at the start of the story, but the writing is still gripping, and the length of the story means you don't mind that you've likely solved the case before Watson has. 3/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Deadly Seance" - This was a fun little read about a wealthy industrialist who seemingly died from a heart attack. However, his heir, who rumors blame for his death, attributes the heart attack to evil spirits encountered during a seance gone wrong - and here Holmes, utterly uninterested and unimpressed by spiritualism, enters the picture. Entreated to find an answer to this mystery, he enters the spiritualist world he so derides - with Holmesian results, of course. This is the longest story of the lot, but it's entertaining just the same. 4.5/5 stars
Overall, this is a great collection, and I certainly enjoyed it more than I expected at the outset. Lovegrove writes Holmes and Watson very well, and his writing is eminently gripping - his sense of character and style are on point, as are the mysteries he creates. Writing characters as well known as these can be daunting and result in missteps, and Lovegrove sidesteps them very ably.
There are some stories that were not as successful as much of the collection, but that's to be expected in a collection that's as varied as this, with stories taking place across Holmes's career, and even in different worlds that the one Conan Doyle originally dreamed up. Nonetheless, if you're a fan of mystery, this is a fun read that you won't regret picking up.
4/5 stars
"The Problem of the Emperor’s Netsuke" - Another well-thought-out story detailing missing netsuke that were meant to be on display at a museum, but have been replaced by fakes. This is told by Holmes, as Watson was not present for the events of the story, and have a fun little ending. 4/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Fallen Financier" - This is a story told in Holmes' old age, having retired from the detective business. He is, however, entreated by a woman to help solve the case of her missing husband, and proceeds to do just so. I must admit I thought the result was going to be different, and I probably would have preferred that to the actual solution. That said, it was still a fun and well-paced story. 3/5 stars.
"The Strange Case of Dr Sacker and Mr Hope" - This is a truly fascinating story that anyone familiar with the tale of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde will be able to get into immediately. It asks the question - what would happen if Jekyll's compound was consumed by the erstwhile detective and his companion rather than Jekyll himself - and the result is a captivating, dark tale that's eminently readable. 4.5/5 stars
"The Affair of the Yithian Stone" - This is set in the author's Cuthulu Casebooks universe, but it's an easy read even if you haven't (like me) read those books. This story is recalled by an eldery Watson in 1926 writing a letter containing the story HP Lovecraft, and recalls the case of a xenoathropologist who died of a cut that wouldn't stop bleeding, which had been attributed to undiagnosed haemophilia. Holmes investigates the case at the behest of Watson, who is worried about the man's son, who in turn believes the case to be one of murder. 5/5 stars
"Pure Swank" - This story takes one of the classic Holmes stories ("The Adventure of the Retired Colourman") and turns it on his head, telling it from the perspective of Clarence Barker, who was referred to by Holmes in that story as his rival. Barker serves as a bitter foil to Holmes, and yet tells a tale that is both familiar and not. It's an interesting look at a classic Holmesian tale. 4/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Innocent Icarus" - This story is set in an alternate universe where a large portion of the world have superpowers, and are categorised accordingly. The Icarus in the story's title is a man capable of flight. Holmes may not be superpowered like these individuals (including Watson with his invincible skin), but he retains his remarkable sense of deduction nonetheless, and is entreated to solve a seemingly accidental death that may have other causes than the one(s) immediately obvious to Watson and the reader. 5/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Challenging Professor" - This was a fascinating tale, using the character of Professor George Challenger, another one of Conan Doyle's creations, as the client. The method of murder? A pterodactyl. This is undoubtedly one of the most creative of the stories in this collection, and uncovering the motive of the killer is a fun little task set out for a retired Holmes and Watson. 5/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Noble Burglar" - This was a fun little yarn about a man who is seemingly in two places at once, told from the perspective of Toby the dog, a character created by Conan Doyle and who has been hired once again to help Holmes with his case. While the perspective was unique and fun, the story itself wasn't the most creative, and Toby the dog is clearly the star. 3.5/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Botanist’s Glove" - Told about a Holmes who has just started to consider retirement, this story revolves around the murder of a world-famous (and wealthy) botanist - a murder that is, on the face of it, nothing more than an unfortunate allergic reaction. Holmes, tiring of his detective ways, takes on the case pro bono, and finds not only the culprit, but possible an answer to his own ennui as well. 4/5 stars
"A Bauble in Scandinavia" - The one story in the collection where Dr. Watson is allowed to take center stage. Holmes seems to have lost his marbles on Christmas 1890, and it is left to Dr. Watson to find his missing companion. The solution is imminently solvable at the start of the story, but the writing is still gripping, and the length of the story means you don't mind that you've likely solved the case before Watson has. 3/5 stars
"The Adventure of the Deadly Seance" - This was a fun little read about a wealthy industrialist who seemingly died from a heart attack. However, his heir, who rumors blame for his death, attributes the heart attack to evil spirits encountered during a seance gone wrong - and here Holmes, utterly uninterested and unimpressed by spiritualism, enters the picture. Entreated to find an answer to this mystery, he enters the spiritualist world he so derides - with Holmesian results, of course. This is the longest story of the lot, but it's entertaining just the same. 4.5/5 stars
Overall, this is a great collection, and I certainly enjoyed it more than I expected at the outset. Lovegrove writes Holmes and Watson very well, and his writing is eminently gripping - his sense of character and style are on point, as are the mysteries he creates. Writing characters as well known as these can be daunting and result in missteps, and Lovegrove sidesteps them very ably.
There are some stories that were not as successful as much of the collection, but that's to be expected in a collection that's as varied as this, with stories taking place across Holmes's career, and even in different worlds that the one Conan Doyle originally dreamed up. Nonetheless, if you're a fan of mystery, this is a fun read that you won't regret picking up.
4/5 stars
April 19, 2021
A GREAT BUNCH OF SHORTY SHORTS IT IS
Hello, this is a great bunch of short stories. Very well written and entertaining to read. Most could have been full length novels. Good stuff. Thanks.
Hello, this is a great bunch of short stories. Very well written and entertaining to read. Most could have been full length novels. Good stuff. Thanks.
April 6, 2024
1. Marchindale Stillato: Good buildup, predictable outcome, disappointing conclusion
2. Emperor’s Netsuke: I liked this one, although narration is more or less straight forward, not much mysterious
3. Fallen Financier: Another drab, boring story in which mystery is not built and maintained well.
4. Dr Sacker and Mr Hope: Absolutely hated, this is not Sherlock Holmes story, I couldn't wait for the story to end.
5. Yithian Stone: Got bored within first four minutes, stopped reading in 10.
6. Pure Swank: Is good, told from the POV of a minor character from Doyle's story.
7. Innocent Icarus: Sherlock Holmes in the world of people with super power. Good one too.
8. Challenging Professor: Story with Professor Challenger. Good story
9. Noble Burglar: This one is first story told from a PoV of a Dog. Interesting concept, and fine story
10. Botanist’s Glove: This is first story with narrative of typical Doyle story. So far all the stories are built in more or less straight predictable plotline. This one is where you do not know what's going in Sherlock's mind, and yet story is building, mounting twists and possible culprit, and then SH makes his move. Good one. Another thing I like about this story is the way Watson stands up for himself in front of Holmes whenever he talks him down.
11. A Bauble in Scandinavia: This one is by far my favourite story. This is one in which Watson shows his detective skills, and although it could be argued that they are not par with (original) Sherlock's, they are definitely at par with Sherlock in any of these stories. I realised what was happening when Watson meets Mycroft.
12.Deadly Seance: This is the best story, (although I felt that the ending left me with a feeling of missing a little bit). They left it for the last. Seance and Sherlock! Some concept, well handled, and keeps you guessing till the end.
None of these stories, except maybe last three, are even at par with Doyle's Sherlock stories. The plot revelation is straight, predictable, and although smart, Sherlock does not feel like the super smart person as he does in Doyle's stories. Nevertheless, except for the initial few stories, the book is enjoyable.
2. Emperor’s Netsuke: I liked this one, although narration is more or less straight forward, not much mysterious
3. Fallen Financier: Another drab, boring story in which mystery is not built and maintained well.
4. Dr Sacker and Mr Hope: Absolutely hated, this is not Sherlock Holmes story, I couldn't wait for the story to end.
5. Yithian Stone: Got bored within first four minutes, stopped reading in 10.
6. Pure Swank: Is good, told from the POV of a minor character from Doyle's story.
7. Innocent Icarus: Sherlock Holmes in the world of people with super power. Good one too.
8. Challenging Professor: Story with Professor Challenger. Good story
9. Noble Burglar: This one is first story told from a PoV of a Dog. Interesting concept, and fine story
10. Botanist’s Glove: This is first story with narrative of typical Doyle story. So far all the stories are built in more or less straight predictable plotline. This one is where you do not know what's going in Sherlock's mind, and yet story is building, mounting twists and possible culprit, and then SH makes his move. Good one. Another thing I like about this story is the way Watson stands up for himself in front of Holmes whenever he talks him down.
11. A Bauble in Scandinavia: This one is by far my favourite story. This is one in which Watson shows his detective skills, and although it could be argued that they are not par with (original) Sherlock's, they are definitely at par with Sherlock in any of these stories. I realised what was happening when Watson meets Mycroft.
12.Deadly Seance: This is the best story, (although I felt that the ending left me with a feeling of missing a little bit). They left it for the last. Seance and Sherlock! Some concept, well handled, and keeps you guessing till the end.
None of these stories, except maybe last three, are even at par with Doyle's Sherlock stories. The plot revelation is straight, predictable, and although smart, Sherlock does not feel like the super smart person as he does in Doyle's stories. Nevertheless, except for the initial few stories, the book is enjoyable.
January 7, 2022
"Through these twelve tales I’m hoping to reveal different manifestations of Sherlock Holmes – other facets of his character, new approaches to a Holmes story – in order to show just how brilliant and versatile a fictional construct he is; as well as, of course, to entertain...
...'The Deadly Séance' [one of the stories] is a story Conan Doyle would never have written, but that, as far as I was concerned, was all the more reason to give it a go."
- From The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes
This is an excellent short story anthology of Sherlock Holmes fanworks! A lot of them are classic Holmesian fiction (ie: not scifi or fantasy), but most of them feature new approaches of deviations that highlight the character in different ways. I particularly liked The Adventure of the Noble Burglar, a short story written from the point-of-view of Toby the dog. I also really liked The Deadly Séance (which tackles fraud perpetrated via mediumship) and The Adventure of the Innocent Icarus (which deals with someone being framed for murder in an SFF setting). All in all, The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes is an excellent book! I borrowed it from my library, but I do plan on keeping an eye out for a copy that I can add to my personal collection.
...'The Deadly Séance' [one of the stories] is a story Conan Doyle would never have written, but that, as far as I was concerned, was all the more reason to give it a go."
- From The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes
This is an excellent short story anthology of Sherlock Holmes fanworks! A lot of them are classic Holmesian fiction (ie: not scifi or fantasy), but most of them feature new approaches of deviations that highlight the character in different ways. I particularly liked The Adventure of the Noble Burglar, a short story written from the point-of-view of Toby the dog. I also really liked The Deadly Séance (which tackles fraud perpetrated via mediumship) and The Adventure of the Innocent Icarus (which deals with someone being framed for murder in an SFF setting). All in all, The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes is an excellent book! I borrowed it from my library, but I do plan on keeping an eye out for a copy that I can add to my personal collection.
October 24, 2021
This is a collection of the author's short stories, most of which have been printed in various anthologies.
I like collections like this, because I get a chance to read stories I may well have missed upon their original publication.
With any anthology there are going to be stories that you don't like, but also ones that really stand out for you. In "The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes" the stand out stories for me were:
The Adventure of the Marchindale Stiletto
The Strange Case of Dr Sacker and Mr Hope (originally published in one of my favourite anthologies "Gaslight Gothic))
Pure Swank
A Bauble in Scandinavia.
The last mentioned story being one that gives Watson a mystery of his own. It's complex, sweet, and delightful.
One thing I did really love about the anthology was the fact that each story had a separate introduction with interesting facts behind it. Including original publication, and in some cases, the genesis of the idea.
A must read book for all Sherlock Holmes fans.
I like collections like this, because I get a chance to read stories I may well have missed upon their original publication.
With any anthology there are going to be stories that you don't like, but also ones that really stand out for you. In "The Manifestations of Sherlock Holmes" the stand out stories for me were:
The Adventure of the Marchindale Stiletto
The Strange Case of Dr Sacker and Mr Hope (originally published in one of my favourite anthologies "Gaslight Gothic))
Pure Swank
A Bauble in Scandinavia.
The last mentioned story being one that gives Watson a mystery of his own. It's complex, sweet, and delightful.
One thing I did really love about the anthology was the fact that each story had a separate introduction with interesting facts behind it. Including original publication, and in some cases, the genesis of the idea.
A must read book for all Sherlock Holmes fans.
July 17, 2023
My first foray into Sherlock Holmes stories dealing with alternate realities or genuine sci-fi/fantasy elements. I don’t think I care for them honestly. At best such elements only seem to serve as window dressing for stories that still must adhere to Holmes’ rational mind. At worst they can chip away at the foundations of what makes the character interesting to me. If magic or super advanced alien technology etc make the impossible a reality, where is the concrete basis in fact that any good Holmes solution relies upon?
That being said the more traditional stories were good to great all around. The crossover with The Lost World’s Professor Challenger was fun, The Botanist’s Glove was probably the most Doyle-like in this collection, and A Bauble in Scandinavia was particularly enjoyable. Something only a fan could write and it worked beautifully.
That being said the more traditional stories were good to great all around. The crossover with The Lost World’s Professor Challenger was fun, The Botanist’s Glove was probably the most Doyle-like in this collection, and A Bauble in Scandinavia was particularly enjoyable. Something only a fan could write and it worked beautifully.
October 26, 2024
Another great book by Lovegrove who I very dearly miss as a pastiche author (he currently does not work on another Sherlockian tale and might not for the foreseeable future) since his works have been my favourites.
This collection has a short story for every taste, weather you like the down to earth Sherlock or prefer the more supernatural in his Cthulhu Casebooks. One of my favs was an entirely new take on Sherlock - him being a powerless person in a city full of magically gifted people (the gifts named after Greek entities, like Poseidon and Icarus = being able to control water and flying).
Some of them have been published in the MX Sherlock Chronicles before but there were new ones as well, like the last one in which he takes on a bunch of spirit mediums who he sees as charlatans, unlike his creator Doyle.
This collection has a short story for every taste, weather you like the down to earth Sherlock or prefer the more supernatural in his Cthulhu Casebooks. One of my favs was an entirely new take on Sherlock - him being a powerless person in a city full of magically gifted people (the gifts named after Greek entities, like Poseidon and Icarus = being able to control water and flying).
Some of them have been published in the MX Sherlock Chronicles before but there were new ones as well, like the last one in which he takes on a bunch of spirit mediums who he sees as charlatans, unlike his creator Doyle.
Read
January 22, 2023This was a great anthology. Lovegrove's stuff hits me just right. I love that Yithian Stone is technically Cthulhu Chronicles 1.5. A story for Toby is excellent. It really makes me happy. A Bauble in Scandinavia was... I cried, I laughed, and it was so much more than enough.
But it was some of the dialogue in Pure Swank that really got to me. I'm not saying Holmes was kind to Clarence Barker, but he said some things he had no right to. So if Holmes has to stress his feelings:
'I already have a partner, Barker. You may have heard of him. Name of John Watson.' Or 'Watson is all I need or could ask for in a cohort, Barker. I do not require any other.' Then let him. Always, always believe it.
But it was some of the dialogue in Pure Swank that really got to me. I'm not saying Holmes was kind to Clarence Barker, but he said some things he had no right to. So if Holmes has to stress his feelings:
'I already have a partner, Barker. You may have heard of him. Name of John Watson.' Or 'Watson is all I need or could ask for in a cohort, Barker. I do not require any other.' Then let him. Always, always believe it.
March 19, 2023
I have read a few of the author’s Holmes stories before and have enjoyed them all. What I had not done before is to read his more outré tales concerning the supernatural. In this collection, we see stories written in Doyle’s classic fashion as well as stories that take Holmes and Watson to places never imagined which play fast with the Canon. All of these stories were well written, but admittedly, I did not enjoy them all.
January 7, 2024
Short story collections can sometimes be a mixed bag, but I think a good point is made here about how Sherlock Holmes generally works better in short stories. The dog one is probably my favorite of the bunch here. And it was obvious that the crossover would end up being Jekyll and Hyde, but still enjoyable.
February 2, 2020
uneven
While there are several good stories here, many stories are just plain silly. I've no interest in hearing the "thoughts" of a dog, for example. The first half of the collection is a good read.
While there are several good stories here, many stories are just plain silly. I've no interest in hearing the "thoughts" of a dog, for example. The first half of the collection is a good read.
October 21, 2020
Nice collection of shorter tales from the author of a number of Sherlock Holmes novels. These (as the author himself mentioned) seemed more in keeping with the Holmesian milieu and were quite enjoyable.
October 20, 2022
If you're a fan of the Master, you'll love this collection of stories by James Lovegrove. From a story written in Toby the Lurcher's point of view, to a tale of a Lovecraftian stone, Lovegrove does not disappoint.
April 25, 2023
A great read for Sherlock Holmes fans. My only complaint was that I wasn't a fan of the Lovecraft-ian, Jekyll & Hyde and superhero themed short stories. But the rest of the stories were terrific. I guess I'm more of classic Sherlock Holmes fan.
3.5 stars because of the non classic stories.
3.5 stars because of the non classic stories.
June 8, 2024
Some really great stories in here including Sacker/Hope, Bauble in Scandinavia, Deadly Seance, and Pure Swank. Really the only one that didn't hit for me was Innocent Icarus as it didn't feel like it did much with its premise.
March 15, 2025
my fault for the really low rating- i don't like short stories AND i was already not enjoying this series anymore
random short stories and ideas that don't connect and don't have any connection- random AUs and alternate realities
random short stories and ideas that don't connect and don't have any connection- random AUs and alternate realities
May 23, 2020
This was fun. A wide variety of stories, traditional and not-so, but all good.
May 30, 2020
the usual but fun
February 6, 2022
Lovegrove does a good job of writing Holmes and Watson, and there is pretty much a little of EVERY possible twist on the theme here, including dark Holmes.
May 13, 2023
A collection of 12 short stories written over the years by the author. A very enjoyable read and not a bad one among them. Lovegrove must rank as one of the best modern Holmes writers. Reccomended.
September 5, 2023
I'm not a lover of short stories, but this book made me think again. I loved them.
December 10, 2023
3.5 (because I had read some of them printed in other places) but rounded up.
May 5, 2024
Short stories, so some better than others, but all in all, an enjoyable read.
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