Sherlock Homes: The Sign of Seven includes seven longish pastiches. My favorite story is Stuart Douglas’s “Death of a Mudlark.” Holmes and Watson investigate the death of a man who scavenges muddy and stinky tunnels. Holmes, of course, finds some intriguing clues the leads the investigation into some surprising twists and turns.
In the other stories Holmes attends a deadly séance that may prove a man’s guilt; visits a dark carnival with an unusual menu; solves the murder of an Egyptologist’s butler; uncovers the shocking secret of a tobacco dealer; sets sail for America to investigate the death of a cult leader and settles an old score for his famous associate Inspector Lestrade! If you enjoy Holmes pastiches, this anthology will delight you. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction — Martin Rosenstock — 1
Death of a Mudlark — Stuart Douglas — 5
The Adventure of the Deadly Seance — James Lovegrove — 99
The Adventure of the Heroic Tobacconist — Derrick Belanger — 167
The Dark Carnival — Andrew Lane — 229
The Moncton House Mystery — David Stuart Davies — 295
The Adventure of the Koreshan Unity — Amy Thomas — 365
Our Common Correspondent — Lyndsay Faye — 429
About the Editor — 507
About the Contributors — 509
I think with a 99 page story and over 500 pages, I’m gonna pass.
Jeff, I found these Sherlock Holmes pastiches quick reads.
I read most of the original Doyle stories back in the nineties and I’m a sucker for even the most middling Holmes movie. The only pastiche I’ve read was the Wellman’s “Sherlock Holmes’s War of the Worlds” which I read as a teenager in the seventies. It features Holmes and Watson teaming up with Professor Challenger to do battle wirh H.G. Wells’s martians and was a surprisingly good read. I keep meaning to read some of the supernatural pastiches every Halloween but always get sidetracked.
Byron, Sherlock Holmes pastiches, both novels and short stories, seem to be published each month. There are plenty of anthologies to choose from.
The tragedy of the Manly Wade Wellman and Wade Wellman relation, sadly, is more compelling than that story, which I found readable at the time, but while clever enough not up to the typical MWW work.
Then again, George, you’d find the Congressional Budget quick reading! Evelyn Woods calls you Speedy! I’ve enjoyed some Holmes pastiches, like Solar Pons, Dave “Evan” Lewis’ stories, and I think one by Bill Crider, but I’m not motivated to read this!
Bob, Sherlock Holmes pastiches are my Valium.