The Papers of Sherlock Holmes

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My review of David Marcum's The Papers of Sherlock Holmes. http://storiesfromlymelight.blogspot....

[Philip]

I reviewed this book last November. I gave it four stars and I am including my review:

This is the first collection of Sherlockian tales from this author. It includes eight novellas and two short stories as well as an explanation of the source of the stories.

“The Adventure of the Least Winning Woman,” is not to be confused with “…the most winning woman…” cited in The Sign of Four. It describes an interesting case of blackmail and appropriation of a business for criminal purposes. In “The Adventure of the Treacherous Tea,” Holmes is engaged by a man arrested for murder who escaped from the police simply to flee to Holmes to plead with him to look into his arrest. “The Singular Affair at Sissinghurst Castle” brings Holmes and Watson face-to-face with another local legend of historic evil. This one seems to have been used by a sharp business practitioner.

“The Adventure of the Second Chance” is a short story that describes Holmes’ dealings with the family of a man in Professor Moriarty’s employ. It begins during ”Silver Blaze” and concludes in 1901 with an execution. “The Affair of the Brother’s Request” is another tale that covers decades in time. It cites a separate tale of Holmes’ adventures in the post-Civil-War Southern USA and concludes with a trip to the area by Holmes and Watson after WW-I. “The Adventure of the Madman’s Ceremony” occurs during the same trip by Holmes and Watson after WW-I and involves some chance-met acquaintances. “The Haunting of Sutton House” tells two tales. One is yet another use of legends for profit that Holmes wrecks and the other is a tale of family wrangling that arises from insanity.

“The Adventure of the Missing Missing Link” tells of Holmes and Watson’s involvement in the Piltdown discovery. It also tells of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s involvement and of some of the principals as well. “The Adventure of the Other Brother” goes into some depth in describing the other members of the Holmes family as well as their relations and pseudonyms over the years. Two well-known detective duos are identified and related to each other in roundabout fashion. The final item is titled “Postscript: Two Letters.” It provides some continuity and explanation for the sources of these tales.

This collection is difficult to describe. This is clearly a different Holmes and Watson than the characters we see in the Canon. This Watson is sensible, curious and sensitive while this Holmes is human and caring. The explanation, we are told, is that these are not tales prepared by Watson for publication, but rather are tales prepared by the editor from notes taken by Watson, either as the events occurred or shortly thereafter. These are darker and more realistic tales than we see in the Canon. Here criminals are filled with fear and hatred and pride. Victims are afraid and confused and distracted and events often occur at random, not as part of a plan. The stories are interesting and the Holmes and Watson we meet are also interesting, if not the same as their Canonical counterparts.

Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, November, 2012