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Like
many mystery aficionados, I love Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's
Sherlock Holmes. I also fell in love with Laurie R. King's
follow up novels featuring Sherlock and Mary Russell, who
eventually becomes his wife in King's popular series. While,
sadly, none of Laurie King's work appears in this collection
of sixteen short stories all related to or featuring Holmes,
each story in this collection is a variation on Sherlock Holmes
and includes some rather unique settings and whimsical means
of portrayals. All are charming and highly entertaining and,
of course, I have my favorites.
There's Michael Connelly's "The Crooked Man," featuring
Art Doyle, a 70 year-old Medical Examiner who has a rather
uncanny sense of predicting the true cause of death. Sara
Paretsky has written a delicious mystery entitled, "The
Curious Affair of the Italian Art Dealer." Michael Sims'
"The Memoirs of Silver Blaze" retells a familiar
story from the horse's point of view, and then there's my
favorite, "Dunkirk" by John Lescroart, which features
an elderly Sherlock incognito on a boat, involved in the rescue
of British at Dunkirk during World War II.
The other authors have all contributed variations on the Sherlock
Holmes theme. Each one was an entertaining view on the detective,
his associates or his nemesis. While I can't name all the
authors here, there are sure to be several whose stories you'll
love.
The most intriguing - and indeed factual tale - is found in
the Introduction by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger regarding
the journey they took to get this book published. From one
reader's point of view, it was well worth the effort. These
short stories will entice you from the first "the game's
afoot" and leave you wanting more.
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