The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
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3.3 • 8 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Presenting Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler's latest anthology, The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories, the largest collection of Sherlockian tales ever assembled—now in a deluxe hardcover edition, perfect for the collector and gift markets.
Arguably no other character in history has been so enduringly popular as Sherlock Holmes. Ever since his first appearance, in Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1887 novella A Study in Scarlet, readers have loved reading about him almost as much as writers have loved writing about him.
Here, Otto Penzler collects eighty-three wonderful stories about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, published over a span of more than a hundred years. Featuring pitch-perfect cases by acclaimed modern-day Sherlockians Leslie S. Klinger, Laurie R. King, Lyndsay Faye and Daniel Stashower; pastiches by literary luminaries both classic (P. G. Wodehouse, Dorothy B. Hughes, Kingsley Amis) and current (Anne Perry, Stephen King, Colin Dexter); and parodies by Conan Doyle’s contemporaries A. A. Milne, James M. Barrie, and O. Henry, not to mention genre-bending cases by science-fiction greats Poul Anderson and Michael Moorcock.
No matter if your favorite Holmes is Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, Robert Downey, Jr., or Benedict Cumberbatch, whether you are a lifelong fan or only recently acquainted with the Great Detective, readers of all ages are sure to enjoyThe Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories.
Including
- Over a century’s worth of cases, from Conan Doyle’s 1890s parodies of his own creation to Neil Gaiman’s “The Case of Death and Honey” (2011)
- Appearances by those other great detectives Hercule Poirot and C. Auguste Dupin
- 15 Edgar Award–winning authors and 5 Mystery Writers of America Grand Masters
- Stories by Laurie R. King, Colin Dexter, Anthony Burgess, Anne Perry, Stephen King, P.G. Wodehouse, Kingsley Amis, and many, many more.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The breadth of this anthology, which spans over a century and includes everything from straight pastiches and parodies to fully developed whodunits, is but one of its virtues. Among the 83 selections, Penzler (The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries) offers works by authors better known for other fiction, such as O. Henry, A.A. Milne, and P.G. Wodehouse, as well as tales from Holmes scholars such as Christopher Morley and Leslie Klinger. Settings range from Baker Street to unfamiliar terrain, not necessarily on Earth. The variety of approaches is an eloquent testament to Conan Doyle's genius in creating such an iconic character. One gem, which may be new even to Sherlockians, is "The Adventure of the Murdered Art Editor," penned by none other than the classic American illustrator of the Holmes canon, Frederic Dorr Steele. Perhaps Penzler's most significant contribution is rescuing from undeserved obscurity talented writers who have captured the Watsonian narrative voice and combined it with brilliant deductions and mesmerizing plots, such as Rick Boyer ("The Adventure of Zolnay, the Aerialist"), August Derleth ("The Adventure of the Remarkable Worm"), and James Iraldi ("The Problem of the Purple Maculas"). This volume is a must for all fans of the great detective.
Customer Reviews
Disappointing
I'm about a third of the way through this monster and the stories told are goofy pastiches, Picklock Holes (yes, really) and at least one so far that only mentions Holmes but never appears. Solar Pons is ably written but I suppose I'm a purist. The titles says it's the big book of Sherlock Holmes, not characters that act like or sound like Sherlock Holmes.
This book misses the mark. I'll plow through the rest but reviews of the MX series are pretty good. Pass on this one.
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