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Sherlock Holmes Mysteries
Murder, My Dear Watson: New Tales of Sherlock Holmes
Eccentric, coldly rational, brilliant, doughty, exacting, lazy—in full bohemian color the world's most famous literary detective and his loyal companion Dr. John Watson investigate a series of previously unrecorded cases in this new collection of original tales. In the Scottish Highlands and Afghanistan, in the cases of a dying doctor and a mooning sentry, of a black basalt bird and white chalk horse, popular contemporary mystery writers—among them Sharyn McCrumb, Carolyn Wheat, Anne Perry and Malachi Saxon, Jon L. Breen, Bill Crider, Colin Bruce—craftily celebrate the mind, methods, and manners of the peerless Sherlock Holmes. In addition, with one foot in the Victorian age and the other in the computer age, Christopher Redmond illuminates the vast possibilities that new technology offers Sherlockians in "Sherlock Holmes on the Internet," while in "A Sherlockian Library" editors Jon Lellenberg and Daniel Stashower provide a new list of fifty essential titles on Arthur Conan Doyle and the Holmes canon. Finally, an essay by mystery novelist Philip A. Shreffler explores one of English literature's most famous friendships in "Holmes and Watson, the Head and the Heart."
(front flap)
(front flap)
228 pages, Hardcover
First published October 15, 2002
72 people are currently reading
299 people want to read
About the author
Martin H. Greenberg
911 books163 followersMartin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 5, 2010
A treasure chest of short stories and interesting knowledge about Sherlock Holmes. Each perfectly packaged story is a thought evoking treat. This is a must read for those who can't get enough of Holmes and Watson.
August 18, 2022
Excellent pastiche. Most of the stories are very similar to original writing from Dr Watson's point of view. Enjoyable and believable.
August 6, 2025
Collection of Sherlock Holmes stories written by other authors and fans. Some good, some tongue in cheek, some parody. Finishes with additional resources/links for Sherlock fans.
February 13, 2024
3 essays on SH plus 10 pastiche short stories, all in all a good read. All the essays were interesting, the first 5 stories were very good with the following 5 being much of a muchness. The worst one was "The Case of the Highland Hoax" as not only was it an obvious ploy to have Holmes and Watson meet Queen Vic, but their geography was well off the mark as was the train journey as Ballater and Dunkeld are not near each other !
May 13, 2025
Sherlock lovers write stories
A group of mysteries using Sherlock Holmes as a character. I enjoyed the different interpretations of our famous man. It was fun to see him through different eyes.
A group of mysteries using Sherlock Holmes as a character. I enjoyed the different interpretations of our famous man. It was fun to see him through different eyes.
May 23, 2025
An enjoyable collection of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
I really enjoyed reading "Murder My Dear Watson" which brought me back to the world of Sherlock Holmes which I first was introduced to many years ago. This book is for the Sherlock Holmes fan young and old.
I really enjoyed reading "Murder My Dear Watson" which brought me back to the world of Sherlock Holmes which I first was introduced to many years ago. This book is for the Sherlock Holmes fan young and old.
May 23, 2025
Sherlock For Reader Enjoyment
This was a terrific group of short stories with the famous consulting detective at his best. The whip cream topping was the three pieces at the end directing the reader towards all types of resources about Holmes.
This was a terrific group of short stories with the famous consulting detective at his best. The whip cream topping was the three pieces at the end directing the reader towards all types of resources about Holmes.
November 13, 2025
A really great collection of short stories that follow the canon . A collection by different writers and the last few entries are very interesting takes on Holmes through history.
Worth the read.
Worth the read.
July 20, 2021
Dandy!
July 29, 2024
Not a stinker of a story in the bunch. Some are not as good as others, but all are pretty good. The essays, not so much. Best to skip them—especially the last one.
October 13, 2024
A great collection of pastiche from the world of Holmes. A must read for any fans Sherlock Holmes & Dr Watson
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2025
Some New Sherlock
A You are looking for more history of Sherlock Holmes, the last few chapters of this book delve into it in detail. Enjoyed the short stories
A You are looking for more history of Sherlock Holmes, the last few chapters of this book delve into it in detail. Enjoyed the short stories
June 12, 2019
If the previous Holmes anthology by these same editors was horrible, then happily they learned: this collection is much more satisfying.
Interestingly enough, the book starts off with a foreword that recounts Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's words: "You may marry [Holmes:] or murder him or do what you want with him." Between this and the previous, barely-mediocre collection, I was afraid of more bad stories. Luckily, the majority were good.
One of the stories took a non-Watson view of the story, which I enjoyed: The Vale of the White Horse, which has no character acting as narrator (third-person view), was a nice change of pace and a good story besides.
Maybe the most unique story was The Adventure of the Agitated Actress which follows not Holmes, but real-life Holmes actor William Gillette in a [fictional:] mystery, told from the view of the man playing Watson.
Hidden in the latter part of the book are the slower pieces. I rarely give up reading anything (as shown in my ability to dogged slog through the previous mess of an anthology by these selfsame editors), but I had to give up on Before the Adventures, a story in the form of a letter by the "real" Watson to a publishing editor. A good attempt, but it was so verbose and dull that I had to give up.
The rest of the stories were mainly good, something to read when in need of some Holmes.
Interestingly enough, the book starts off with a foreword that recounts Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's words: "You may marry [Holmes:] or murder him or do what you want with him." Between this and the previous, barely-mediocre collection, I was afraid of more bad stories. Luckily, the majority were good.
One of the stories took a non-Watson view of the story, which I enjoyed: The Vale of the White Horse, which has no character acting as narrator (third-person view), was a nice change of pace and a good story besides.
Maybe the most unique story was The Adventure of the Agitated Actress which follows not Holmes, but real-life Holmes actor William Gillette in a [fictional:] mystery, told from the view of the man playing Watson.
Hidden in the latter part of the book are the slower pieces. I rarely give up reading anything (as shown in my ability to dogged slog through the previous mess of an anthology by these selfsame editors), but I had to give up on Before the Adventures, a story in the form of a letter by the "real" Watson to a publishing editor. A good attempt, but it was so verbose and dull that I had to give up.
The rest of the stories were mainly good, something to read when in need of some Holmes.
October 6, 2012
I am often disappointed by collections of Sherlock Holmes short stories. They often contain a number of stories that I do not consider worth of publication or not yet ready for publication. Many collections, including this one, are padded with Sherlockian essays. I like to ready essays as well but I don't like to mix them.
I have started looking at anthologies in a different manner. I now consider whether there is at least one story making the purchase of the book worth while. In this one there are 3: The Adventure of the Rara Avis (based on the Maltese Falcon), The Adventure of the Agitated Actress in which actor William Gillette must solve a mystery (with the constant chorus of "I am not Sherlock Holmes") and The Case of the Highland Hoax which is what Caleb Carr's Italian Secretary should have been like. Others have some good features and some poor features but those three alone justify the cost of the book.
I was disappointed by The Adventure of the Curious Canary. Why did Holmes and Watson stand by as the victim died? Why did Dr.Watson make no attempt to revive him? Elementary CPR was known in those days and for goodness sake Watson is a doctor!
I have started looking at anthologies in a different manner. I now consider whether there is at least one story making the purchase of the book worth while. In this one there are 3: The Adventure of the Rara Avis (based on the Maltese Falcon), The Adventure of the Agitated Actress in which actor William Gillette must solve a mystery (with the constant chorus of "I am not Sherlock Holmes") and The Case of the Highland Hoax which is what Caleb Carr's Italian Secretary should have been like. Others have some good features and some poor features but those three alone justify the cost of the book.
I was disappointed by The Adventure of the Curious Canary. Why did Holmes and Watson stand by as the victim died? Why did Dr.Watson make no attempt to revive him? Elementary CPR was known in those days and for goodness sake Watson is a doctor!
June 14, 2015
A team of great collection editors and writers put this stash together. Not recommending this for those just learning of Holmes. But, for those well versed in the Canon and it study, this assortment of short stories and essays is a great find. The tales are for the most part unique (one even features the original Sherlockian actor, the great William Gillette) and well written, featuring such authors as L.D. Estleman, Colin Bruce, and Daniel Stashower. OF special interest are the essays, touching on some important issues in the study of Doyle, Holmes, and their world.
March 8, 2016
Originally published in 2003, which makes the essay on "Sherlock Holmes on the Internet" both amusing and sad. How far we have come since the days of the "listserv"!
The stories on the whole are pretty good, but not especially memorable -- although it was a curious coincidence that I had read The Maltese Falcon shortly before encountering "The Adventure of the Rara Avis".
The stories on the whole are pretty good, but not especially memorable -- although it was a curious coincidence that I had read The Maltese Falcon shortly before encountering "The Adventure of the Rara Avis".
July 31, 2009
I'm a Holmesianphile so I enjoy anything Sherlock-y.
June 19, 2011
Same hash, same kind of stories, enjoyable at first read, and then you forget them completely.
August 4, 2015
Honestly, only one story and one of the essays were worth reading. Not terrible, but there's much better anthologies out there.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews