The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories - Part XII: Some Untold Cases

MX New Sherlock Holmes Stories #12

by David Marcum (editor)

Part XII: 1894-1902 features contributions from C.H. Dye, David Marcum, Thomas Fortenberry, Daniel D. Victor, Nik Morton, Craig Janacek, S. Subramanian, Jim French, Robert Stapleton, Nick Cardillo, Paul D. Gilbert, Mike Hogan, Derrick Belanger, John Linwood Grant, Mark Mower, Jane Rubino, and Arthur Hall, and a poem by "Anon."

34 new traditional Holmes adventures in two simultaneously published volumes

"Somewhere in the vaults of the bank of Cox and Co., at Charing Cross, there is a travel-worn and battered tin dispatch box with my name, John H. Watson, M.D., Late Indian Army, painted upon the lid. It is crammed with papers, nearly all of which are records of cases to illustrate the curious problems which Mr. Sherlock Holmes had at various times to examine..." - Dr. John H. Watson

So wrote Dr. Watson in "The Problem of Thor Bridge" - and ever since, Sherlockians have been bringing us new adventures from this legendary tin dispatch box. While his original Literary Agent only edited the pitifully few sixty stories that make up the original Canon, there have since been literally thousands of traditional adventures about the true Sherlock Holmes - and there will never be enough!

Throughout the original Holmes Canon, there were hints and teases of other intriguing cases - The Giant Rat of Sumatra... The Abernetty Tragedy... The Manor House Case. Watson mentions well over one-hundred of these, which have collectively come to be known as The Untold Cases. Now, the latest MX anthologies present thirty-four of those adventures in two simultaneously published volumes, with all royalties going to support the Stepping Stones School at Undershaw, one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s former homes.

Join us as we return to Baker Street and discover more authentic adventures of Sherlock Holmes, described by the estimable Dr. Watson as "the best and wisest... whom I have ever known."

Each volume contains forwards by Lyndsay Faye, Roger Johnson, Melissa Grigsby, Steve Emecz, and David Marcum.

454 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2018

Reviews

[Dale Bechtel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good series of tales

Enjoyed the book, the mx series make reading fun, no story is too long to bore you, great bedtime book

[Jennie Rosenblum · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the first story in this collection, you are submerged in Holmes as it starts with Dr. Watson kidnapped and held aboard a ship with the eventual rescue by Holmes. The stories continue, all incredibly done in the original manner but with highlights such as the The Abernetty Transactions a script that was originally performed as a radio drama. Also The Giant Rat of Sumatra. “Life is infinitely stranger than anything the mind of man could invent.” Sherlock. And even the last story The Adventure of the Exalted Victim involving a man that is a twin for the Prime Minister.
I have read a few of these collections and they never fail to entertain and fulfill that need for more Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. This collection can be read intermittingly or in one sitting.

[Thomas Turley · Rating 5 out of 5]

After an introductory poem, the twelfth volume of MX Publishing’s anthology offers sixteen stories and a play, each chronicling a case from the Canon that was not told in full. C.H. Dye shanghais our heroes aboard the Dutch steamship Friesland, which nearly cost them both their lives. David Marcum’s “The Trusted Advisor” pits the detective against “The Sherlock Holmes of the Business World.” Thomas Fortenberry’s tale of shameful death runs the gamut from archeology to murder before a lurid ending. In “The Smith-Mortimer Succession,” Daniel D. Victor returns Holmes and Watson to the Reichenbach Falls. Nik Morton’s story, featuring a horrifying method of political assassination, lives up to its title. Craig Janacek’s fine country house mystery explains how a certain Canonical colonel got himself locked up. S. Subramanian reveals (in an end note) Lord Bellinger’s true historical identity; that statesman nearly reappears in Arthur Hall’s “Adventure of the Exalted Victim.” In one of Jim French’s best radio plays, jealousy leads to murder in the Abernathy family. Robert Stapleton recounts Holmes’s meeting with Dr. Moore Agar (mentioned in “The Devil’s Foot”) as they search for a lost dinosaur. Nick Cardillo borrows The Sign of Four’s Toby to stalk “The Giant Rat of Sumatra.” Paul Gilbert reveals that “the notorious canary-trainer’s” bird emporium was a façade for a more despicable career. Mike Hogan combines circus performers, village prejudice, and Boer War spies into an entertainment Gilbert and Sullivan might envy. Derrick Belanger has Holmes, as a centenarian, writing to 1950s correspondents about the long-past disappearance of James Phillimore. John Linwood Grant weaves Egyptian history and archeology into “The Curious Case of the Two Coptic Patriarchs.” Mark Mower turns “The Conk-Singleton Forgery Case” into a story of justifiable revenge. My own favorite in this volume is Jane Rubino’s wonderfully plotted callback of an early villain from the Canon, in whose chosen victim, this time, he finds more than his match. Once again, editor Marcum has produced an outstanding collection in this unrivaled series of traditional Sherlock Holmes pastiches.

[MoMo Book Diary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review will be published as part of the #BitsaboutBooksBlogTour on 22nd November 2018

[Gus Scholtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know how Marcum can keep pumping out these great collections. Again and again writers submit these fascinating stories.
Doyle would be proud.