My Sherlock Holmes: Untold Stories of the Great Detective

"My Sherlock Holmes: Untold Stories of the Great Detective" has been a Michael Kurland-special, so to say. Like his Professor Moriarty series, this book contains adventures truly and properly enshrined within the world of Sherlock Holmes, and yet are different in the sense that the protagonists are people whom we get to see only fleetingly in the `canon'. A brief description of the stories may be given as under: 1. "The Incident of the Impecunious Chevalier" by Richard Lupoff, involves Auguste Dupin, a rather disreputable Sherlock Holmes, and the Maltese Falcon (although unnamed). 2. "The Dollmaker of Marigold Walk" by Barbara Hambly is about the adventures of the 1st Mrs. Watson in Whitechapel (?!) in the year after that of the Ripper. This story also states that Mrs. Martha Hudson was the lover of Sherlock Holmes! 3. "The Adventure of the Forgotten Umbrella" by Mel Gilden presents the mentioned but never recounted (in the canon) adventure concerning James Phillimore. 4. "Call me Wiggins" by Norman Schreiber is the only case of detection attempted at (and succeded in) by the Baker Street Irregular Wiggins, involving Lewis Carroll and the Liddell family. 5. "Mycroft's Great Game" by Gary Lovisi presents both "The Final Problem" and "The Adventure of the Empty House" from Mycroft Holmes' perspective, with the additional twist that makes these stories so special. 6. "The Witch of Greenwich" by Gerard Dole recounts a rather sensational adventure shared by Billy, the page boy, with Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Gregson and a detective from across the channel, about the black death and `sorcery'. 7. "Years Ago and in a Different Place" by Michael Kurland tells us about the tragedy that led to the sharp divergence of path, between Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty, explaining Holmes' misogyny as well. 8. "Mrs. Hudson Reminiscences" by Linda Robertson presents the `could-have-happened' realistic account of the adventures of Mrs. Hudson and how Holmes played the role of the knight in shining armour in it. 9. "Cabaret Aux Assassins" by Cara Black is a melodramatized and over-romantic story depicting the events and conspiracies leading to the one-night "an affair to remember" between Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes, with the consequences. 10. "A Study in Orange" by Peter Tremayne is a rich account of the failure of Sherlock Holmes at the hands of Colonel Sebastian Moron and how it effected the course of the Irish history. 11. "The Riddle of the Young Protestor" by Michael Mallory is a `singular' story where the 2nd Mrs. Watson is the protagonist and Holmes is almost the spectator, in an adventure concerning the fabled treasure of the Duke of Monmouth. 12. "The Adventure of the Celestial Snows" by George Alec Effinger is a Wold-Newton delight in the sense that it brings together Sherlock Holmes and Fu-Manchu, through Reginald Musgrave. 13. "And the Others" by C. D. Ewing is the only light-hearted attempt in this anthology as it presents Sherlock Holmes fr

I enjoyed this book very much, although some of the stories were shakey. I was pleased to note that I have shared magazine space with one author, Michael Mallory, author of the Amelia Watson series which ran in Murderous Intent Magazine, which also published my gallows-humor poem "He Escaped". One often wonders just what others thought of Holmes when Mrs. Hudson is always described as "long-suffering" and Lestrade and Co. as "The best of a bad lot." Then there was Watson's wives, who surely must have been the world's most understanding women. And Irene "The Woman" Adler-Norton: Did she really consider Holmes "The Man" or just another "fool man"? Great stuff, guys and gals! Four Sherlock stars! And Mr. Mallory, I really must find me a copy of your book "The Adventures of the Second Mrs. Watson". I read all the ones in my subscription to Murderous Intent with relish! Quoth the Raven...

Though it would seem that every Doyle character and anyone of real fame or not the so famous from the late Victorian Era has had a shot at moving aside Watson to provide their Holmes viewpoint. This anthology proves that Dr. Watson has many more bedfellows as thirteen individuals, one to a tale, tells their side of a relationship with Holmes. Each contribution is quite good as the authors do more than just genuflect to the master by relating a thrilling adventure. Thus the Baker St. Irregulars will find MY SHERLOCK HOLMES a clever well-written anthology in which each protagonist or in some cases antagonist provides a unique first person account of an encounter with the sleuth.Harriet Klausner