20.3 - Best Review - TrishhartUK's Task: Elementary, My Dear Watson

[SRC Moderator, Moderator]

20.3 - Best Review - TrishhartUK: Elementary, My Dear Watson

Detective hero, Sherlock Holmes, still seems to fascinate people, more than 130 years since he first appeared. Indeed, stories about Holmes and Watson seem to be some of the most expanded, extended, rewritten or reimagined series in the detective genre, and possibly across literature as a whole. Choose one of the following options and read a book of at least 150 pages, to match that option.

REQUIRED: State which option you chose when you post.

Option 1. The first published Sherlock Holmes story was A Study in Scarlet, which appeared in the 1887 Beeton Christmas Annual, followed by publication as a stand-alone novel in 1888. Read a book with a title of at least three words, where the initial letter of each word can be found in A STUDY IN SCARLET.

Option 2. Some years ago, the UK’s Daily Telegraph produced a list of 50 crime writers to read before you die. Unsurprisingly, it includes Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle.

Read any book by one of the authors on the list, which also has the MPG Crime or Mystery (stand-alone or embedded). Note, for this option, the book must be by the original author, rather than someone else writing their characters.

The authors are also listed in post 2 of the help thread.

Option 3. Sherlock Holmes has seen a screen revival in the last few years, with the two Robert Downey Jr movies, the US series Elementary, and the BBC’s Sherlock. Read a book by a single author who shares a name with one of the modern Holmes or Watsons: Robert Downey, Jude Law, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Jonny Lee Miller or Lucy Liu. The name must match exactly, but can be in any position. E.G. Laurie Lee for Jonny Lee Miller.

Option 4. The Sherlock Holmes pastiche market remains strong. Read a novel or collection of short stories, that was not written by Conan-Doyle, but which includes one or more of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John Watson, Mycroft Holmes, Professor James Moriarty, or Irene Adler (either traditional portrayals or reimagined), as a major character. The character(s) must be mentioned in the GR description.

Examples: Fred Saberhagen’s The Holmes-Dracula File; any of Laurie R King’s Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series or Carole Nelson Douglas’ Irene Adler series or a collection of non-Conan Doyle Holmes stories, like Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets: An Anthology of Holmesian Tales Across Time and Space.

[SRC Moderator, Moderator]

Authors for option 2:

GK Chesterton
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Edgar Allan Poe
Ed McBain
Kyril Bonfiglioli
James Ellroy
Janwillem van de Wetering
Carl Hiaasen
Dashiell Hammett
Dan Kavanagh
Margery Allingham
Charles Dickens
Georges Simenon
Agatha Christie
Wilkie Collins
Jonathan Latimer
Ruth Rendell
Ngaio Marsh
Benjamin Black
John Dickson Carr
Michael Innes
Raymond Chandler
Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Michael Gilbert
Donald Westlake
Colin Bateman
Frances Fyfield
Reginald Hill
Andrea Camilleri
Henning Mankell
Patricia Highsmith
James Lee Burke
Jim Thompson
Walter Mosley
Stieg Larsson
Ronald Knox
EC Bentley
Lawrence Block
Edmund Crispin
William McIlvanney
George V Higgins
Dorothy L Sayers
Anthony Boucher
Mickey Spillane
James Grady
George Pelecanos
Robert Crais
John Lawton
Elmore Leonard
And the bonus 51st: Robert B Parker

[Trish]

Approved

Option 2: 50 crimewriters
The Black Dahlia, James Ellroy - Mystery: 779 users

To clarify, the Steig Larsson listed is a typo - it is the author of "Dragon Tattoo".

Option 4: Pastiches
The Bartered Brides, Mercedes Lackey
Lock & Mori, Heather W Petty

[Trish]

Not approved

[SRC Moderator, Moderator]

This thread is now open.

[Julia]

Does it sound like The Bartered Brides has enough of John Watson to fit in Option 4? I haven't read it yet.

[Sandy, Moderator Emeritus]

Julia wrote: "Does it sound like The Bartered Brides has enough of John Watson to fit in Option 4? I haven't read it yet."

I'm actually reading it now - Watson is a central character.

[Trish]

I'm guessing if you've got to #13 you have more idea how much the named characters play a part in the book as a whole. However, based purely on the description, it looks like it should work.

[Julia]

Thank you Sandy and Trish. Nan and Sarah have been main characters throughout the series but Holmes and Watson didn't come in until book #11. If I use it for this task I'll note that it was approved in the help thread.

[Trish]

Sandy wrote: "Julia wrote: "Does it sound like The Bartered Brides has enough of John Watson to fit in Option 4? I haven't read it yet."

I'm actually reading it now - Watson is a central character."

Cool. Thanks for the clarification, Sandy (I think Goodreads must have thrown a wobbly, or I'd have seen your comment before I answered) .

I have to say, it sounds like an interesting series, although I can't tell from the series order which is actually the first book chronologically.

[Julia]

The series list in GR has some books that I would have called stand-alone rather than series. Sarah and Nan were originally in short stories (Grey and Grey's Ghost) which are online at https://www.baen.com/Chapters/0671578... and then incorporated into The Wizard of London.

Sorry to take this thread off-topic.

[Trish]

No worries.

[Rina]

For option 2 there is Steig Larsson in the list. Is this Stieg Larsson, the author of the Millennium series?

[Trish]

It is - looks like a typo in the original list. The book listed in the article is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'll put a clarification in message 3.

Don't forget, though, you can only read one of the books he wrote - not the David Lagercrantz ones.

[Rina]

Trish wrote: "It is - looks like a typo in the original list. The book listed in the article is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'll put a clarification in message 3.

Don't forget, though, you c..."

Thank you :-)

[JennRenee, Moderator]

will Lock & Mori work for option 4

[Trish]

JennRenee wrote: "will Lock & Mori work for option 4"

I'd say it counts as a non-traditional portrayal! So yes.