Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes

Associates of Sherlock Holmes #2

by George Mann (Editor)

A brand-new collection of Sherlock Holmes stories from a variety of exciting voices in modern horror and steampunk, edited by respected anthologist George Mann. Stories are told from the point of view of famous associates of the great detective, including Lestrade, Mrs Hudson, Sherlock himself, Irene Adler, Langdale Pike, and of course, Professor Moriarty...

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Historical Fiction, Anthologies, Detective, Crime, Short Story Collection

397 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2017

About the author

George Mann is an author and editor, primarily in genre fiction. He was born in Darlington, County Durham in 1978.
A former editor of Outland, Mann is the author of The Human Abstract, and more recently The Affinity Bridge and The Osiris Ritual in his Newbury and Hobbes detective series, set in an alternate Britain, and Ghosts of Manhattan, set in the same universe some decades later.
He wrote the Time Hunter novella "The Severed Man", and co-wrote the series finale, Child of Time.
He has also written numerous short stories, plus Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes audiobooks for Big Finish Productions. He has edited a number of anthologies including The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy and a retrospective collection of Sexton Blake stories, Sexton Blake, Detective, with an introduction by Michael Moorcock.

Reviews

[Karl]

Contents:

007 - "The Last Visitor" by Stephen Henry
029 - "The Docklands Murder" by Dan Watters
053 - "Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of Bodmin" by Jonathan Green
079 - "The Case of the Blind Man's Spectacles" by Marcia Wilson
103 - "The Unfortunate Guest" by Ian McLaughlin
125 - "The Unexpected Death of the Martian Ambassador" by Andrew Lane
149 - "No Good Deed" by David Marcum
179 - "The Curious Case of Vanished Youth" by Mark A. Latham
219 - "The Curse of the Blue Diamond" by Sam Stone
247 - "The Pilot Fish" by Stuart Douglas
277 - "The Case of the Scented Lady" by Nik Vincent
297 - "Harlingdon's Heir" by Michelle Ruda
331 - "The Noble Burglar" by James Lovegrove
353 - "The Second Mask" by Philip Parser-Hallard

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sherlockian pastiches are too many to count. So are the anthologies featuring such stories. But this collection was different. Here we find fourteen stories where Holmes exists in all his glory, but the stories are told, even enacted by another Canonical figure.
How was the collection?
Let me go story-by-story.
1. Stephen Henry's 'The Last Visitor': A chilling cat and mouse story, with hints of a lot more blood and darkness to come.
2. Dan Watters' 'The Docklands Murder': Smart and compact, but rather improbably outre.
3. Jonathan Green's 'Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of Bodmin': A grim and dark story reminiscent of the greatest of Canonical tales.
4. Marcia Wilson's 'The Case of the Blind Man's Spectacles': A vitriolic story wiith smart narrative but rushed plot.
5. Ian McLaughlin's 'The Unfortunate Guest': Crime, suspicion, melodrama and a bitter realisation make this story memorable.
6. Andrew Lane's 'The Unexpected Death of the Martian Ambassador': Absolutely brilliant!
7. David Marcum's 'No Good Deed': Predictable and flat.
8. Mark A. Latham's 'The Curious Case of Vanished Youth': Dark and witty, charming and remorseless, this exceptional story encapsulated Victorian London neatly.
9. Sam Stone's 'The Curse of the Blue Diamond': Very Bad story, written with rubbish research and lots of totally unnecessary stuff.
10. Stuart Douglas' 'The Pilot Fish': Good. Could have been great, but the author became lazy.
11. Nik Vincent's 'The Case of the Scented Lady': Nah! Rather pointless story, I should say.
12. Michelle Ruda's 'Harlingdon's Heir': Very-very good.
13. James Lovegrove's 'The Noble Burglar': After ages I got to read a charming and humour-laced work from the author. Very good story.
14. Philip Parser-Hallard's 'The Second Mask': Another exceptional story to end.
Overall, despite one dud and some inferior pieces, I would rate this book rather highly. Hence, five stars.
Highly Recommended.

[Fred Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great anthology of minor characters in the Sherlock Holmes canon that actually have adventures with the great consulting detective.

All around a great read with a great group of writers.

Recommended

[booksofallkinds · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I have certainly read Sherlock Holmes I am by no means an expert, so when I got the opportunity to read this collection of short stories with some of the lesser known characters from the Holmes legacy, I was very excited. And I must say this anthology does not disappoint.

With fourteen excellent stories, there is a brief explanation before each story letting you know about the main character, some of whom I remembered and some I did not, which makes this book easily accessible to all mystery fans and not just die-hard Sherlock Holmes addicts, although it will certainly appeal to them too. With plenty of intrigue, suspense, confusion, and subterfuge, each story in this book brings something unique and special to the table, while still encompassing the heart and soul of Holmes at the centre of it all.

So if you are looking for a mystery collection as a treat for yourself or the perfect present for that special someone in your life, then look no further than FURTHER ASSOCIATES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES as it is a truly enjoyable collection that you can enjoy at your own pace and is sure to take pride of place on your bookshelf. Happy reading!

*I voluntarily reviewed this book from the Publisher

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories with a twist.

The twist is, Holmes isn't the detective. There are stories with Inspector Gregson, Mrs Hudson, and even Toby the dog solving crimes.

For the real Sherlock Holmes enthusiast only.

[Elite Group · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherlock Holmes from those who knew him!!

This is a collection of short stories about Sherlock Holmes but written from the point of view of an individual in his life. There are stories written from the obvious well-known characters like Dr Watson, Mrs Hudson and Moriarty to name a few but also from characters from previous Holmes novels.

I have never read any of the original stories so some of the characters were totally unknown to me but this didn’t matter as every story was interesting in its own right and I enjoyed every one.

I have watched the TV series of Sherlock, which I absolutely loved, so had a good idea of how Sherlock Holmes, the person, goes about his business and the way his mind works but these stories gave me a greater insight into his life and character and I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them. The writing by 14 different authors was consistently good throughout and it is impossible to single out any one of them as being the best but my favourite was probably ‘The Noble Burglar’ as it was written by Toby the Dog!!

I understand that there are other collections like these and I would like to read some more if I ever get the chance.

Dexter

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

[HB · Rating 3 out of 5]

0.5 star for writing style
Hard to give a fair rating here since it's a collection of short stories by multiple authors. My lasting impression was that the writing was serviceable but lackluster; none of the individual tales made me want to read more by that author.

0.5 star for storytelling ability
Ditto here for writing style as above.

1 star for character development
The stated purpose of this collection was for each author to write a short story about or concerning Sherlock Holmes, from the viewpoint of a character in the canon oeuvre; though there was one tale each from Dr Watson, Professor Moriarty, and Mrs Hudson, the far more interesting ones were told from POV of an Irregular, one-time clients, so on. Each of these felt well-enough fleshed out, at least inasmuch as the author truly liked that character, didn't just pick them in order to complete the writing assignment.

1 star for influence
I'm not adding any other of Mann's anthologies to my reading list, but this one did encourage me to explore the source material more thoroughly, so sure, full star.

0 stars for really stellar books
Not quite there.

[Stuart Hargreaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a past reader of most of the sherlock books, I found this intriguing indeed. It's full of short stories by good authors using Sherlocks friends and acquaintences as the central subject. I particular enjoyed the noble Burgarlor by JAMES LOVEGROVE . With so many short stories it's an easy read, read one or 2 a day whatever suits you best . give it a try

[Rohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book and it's as good as the first!
Best collection of Sherlock Holmes pastiches. Since we're approaching the mystery from a different side character's POV everytime it doesn't get repetitive, also it is much easier when everyone is not trying to ape Watson's a.k.a. Conan Doyle's writing styles. It's nice and refreshing.

[Ronn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading Holmes and Holmes-related books and stories for over 50 years. This includes many short story collections based on different themes. Most of the tend to be mixed bags in regards to over all quality, especially when they are all from different authors.
Not this one. Every singly offering in this book is spot on excellent. This was a delight!

[Bridgett Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I really enjoyed this book. It's full of short stories by good authors using Sherlocks friends and Acquaintances as the characters. I recommend this book to anyone who loves Sherlock and the different characters we've meet along the way.

[Ravindu Gamage · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed diving back into the world of Sherlock Holmes. But this time, with short stories, told from fresh perspectives. A great anthology book with fourteen excellent short stories that will keep the casual mystery fan and the die-hard SH enthusiast equally entertained.

[aem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and enjoyable collection of short stories with minor characters from Sherlock Holmes stories as main characters. Well done.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun mixture of different tales, some were great, some were good, but nice to dip in and out of that realm.

[Gary Meades · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid collection of Holmes stories, told by those around him (including Toby the dog!).

[Beth M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC for an honest review.

There’s a remarkable fallacy that seems to be subverting the mystery genre these days. Maybe it’s just because I myself read so little of it anymore. Perhaps it’s a trait I’ve overlooked until recently. Yet I feel it needs to be brought to light. It’s simply this: when an author presents the reader with a mystery, it doesn’t seem right to call said story a mystery if they’re going to withhold facts from their audience. Part of the fun, at least so I always believed, was trying to solve the riddle yourself. If the author withholds evidence or facts from the reader, that treat is stolen and you’re left simply going along for the ride. This can be fun if the story is written well enough, but doesn’t the real pleasure live in finding out if one is right? For more, read here: https://www.heypoorplayer.com/2017/09...

[Amy Roebuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are quite a lot of fun, and I'd recommend them to anyone who is quite familiar with the Conan Doyle Holmes canon.

[Lee J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

very enjoyable read, This is a Sherlock Holmes Anthology with more information about some of the minor characters from the Doyle volumes.