Schlock Homes: The Complete Bagel Street Saga

Bagel Street #1-2

by Robert L. Fish

The inimitable Schlock Homes is back in print again! In all the large literature of the misadventures of Sherlock Holmes, wrote Anthony Boucher as early as 1965, there is nothing quite comparable to Robert L. Fish s tales of Schlock Homes... These Fish stories are the best of all the mock-Holmesian literature. No murmur of dissent has ever been heard to challenge this judgment, and during 22 years, from 1959 to 1981, Robert L. Fish wrote 32 of his small masterpieces of adroit and devious plotting. All your old Bagel Street friends are here...Schlock Homes himself, his partner and confidant Dr. Watney, his brother Criscroft Homes; Inspector Balustrade of Scotland Yard; the villainous Professor Marty, Colonel Moron, Irene Addled, and A.J. Lotteries; and of course (thanks to Dr. Watney's excellent care) the immortal Bagel Street Regulars. Now, for the first time, all the Schlock Homes tales have been brought together...every unpardonable word of every outrageous case recorded by the ever-reliable Dr. Watney. Many old favorites are available here for the first time in a decade and a half...and nine of the cases between these covers have never before appeared in book form. A brief bibliography has been appended to provide original publication dates and book appearances. In sum, Schlock Homes, the Complete Bagel Street Saga is the definitive edition of the exploits of the Great Detective of Bagel Street.

Genres: Humor

228 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Robert Lloyd Fish was an American writer of crime fiction. His first novel, The Fugitive, gained him the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award for best first novel in 1962, and his short story "Moonlight Gardener" was awarded the Edgar for best short story in 1972. His 1963 novel Mute Witness, written under the pseudonym Robert L. Pike, was filmed in 1968 as Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen.

Reviews

[Andrea Lundgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the Amelia Bedelia of crime-solving. Schlock Homes cannot get any crime solved, truly and properly, but he can accidentally solve them, and he can enable criminals left and right in the process. Hilarious and delightfully anachronistic! I really enjoyed his puzzlement over modern "mysteries," like Plastique, the "Adam" bomb, and the game of golf.

(I would have given it five stars, but sometimes the puns and horrible density of Homes was a trifle unbearable.)