TITAN BOOKS has published a couple dozen faux-Sherlock Holmes novels. In 2016, they published this anthology of themed Sherlock Holmes stories based on a clever premise: stories about minor characters in Sherlock Holmes stories. For example, Lyndsay Faye’s “River of Silence” features Stanley Hopkins, a young police inspector who first showed up in “The Adventure of Black Peter.” Faye’s story tells how Hopkins and Holmes first met. My favorite story in this book is Ian Edginton’s clever “The Case of the Previous Tenant.” Who lived in 221B Baker Street before Holmes? Edginton’s answer is a terrific tale! Jaine Fenn’s “A Dormitory Haunting” shows what happens to Violet Hunter (from “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”) when she becomes the head of a private school in Walsall. If you’re a Holmes fan, you’ll enjoy these pastiches. GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Faye, Lyndsay. River of silence. 7
Lovegrove, James. Pure swank. 43
Pratt, Tim. Heavy game of the Pacific Northwest. 67
Fenn, Jaine. Dormitory haunting. 91
Edginton, Ian. Case of the previous tenant. 121
Scott, Cavan. Nor hell a fury. 149
Lane, Andy. Case of the haphazard marksman. 181
Barnes, Jonathan. Presbury papers. 213
Meikle, William. Flash in the pan. 239
Thomas, Jeffrey. Vanishing snake. 257
Bucher-Jones, Simon. Family resemblance. 285
Dennison, Kara. Page turners. 309
Kyme, Nick. Peeler. 331