The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Book

“A Sherlockiana Primer” by Christopher Roden. © 2009 Christopher Roden.
“The Horror of the Many Faces” by Tim Lebbon. © 2003 Tim Lebbon.
“The Case of the Bloodless Sock” by Anne Perry. © 2001 Anne Perry.
“The Adventure of the Other Detective” by Bradley H. Sinor. © 2003 Bradley H. Sinor.
“A Scandal in Montreal” by Edward D. Hoch. © 2008 Edward D. Hoch.
”The Adventure of the Field Theorems” by Vonda N. McIntyre. © 1995 Vonda N. McIntyre.
“The Adventure of the Death-Fetch” by Darrell Schweitzer. © 1994 Darrell Schweitzer.
“The Shocking Affair of the Dutch Steamship Friesland” by Mary Robinette Kowal. © 2005 Mary Robinette Kowal.
“The Adventure of the Mummy’s Curse” by H. Paul Jeffers. © 2006 H. Paul Jeffers.
“The Things That Shall Come Upon Them” by Barbara Roden. © 2008 Barbara Roden.
“Murder to Music” by Anthony Burgesss. © 1989 Anthony Burgess.
“The Adventure of the Inertial Adjustor” by Stephen Baxter. © 1997 Stephen Baxter.
“Mrs. Hudson’s Case” by Laurie R. King. © 1997 Laurie R. King.
“The Singular Habits of Wasps” by Geoffrey A. Landis. © 1994 Geoffrey A. Landis.
“The Affair of the 46th Birthday” by Amy Myers. © 2009 Amy Myers.
“The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey” by Peter Tremayne. © 2001 Peter Tremayne.
“The Vale of the White Horse” by Sharyn McCrumb. © 2003 Sharyn McCrumb.
“The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger” by Michael Moorcock. © 1993 Michael Moorcock.
“The Adventure of the Lost World” by Dominic Green. © 2004 Dominic Green.
“The Adventure of the Antiquarian’s Niece” by Barbara Hambly. © 2003 Barbara Hambly.
“Dynamics of a Hanging” by Tony Pi. © 2005 Tony Pi.
“Merridew of Abominable Memory” by Chris Roberson. © 2008 Monkeybrain, Inc.
“Commonplaces” by Naomi Novik. © 2008-2009 Naomi Novik.
“The Adventure of the Pirates of Devil’s Cape” by Rob Rogers. © 2009 Rob Rogers.
“The Adventure of the Green Skull” by Mark Valentine. © 2008 Mark Valentine.
“The Human Mystery” by Tanith Lee. © 1999 Tanith Lee.
“A Study in Emerald” by Neil Gaiman. © 2003 Neil Gaiman.
“You See But You Do Not Observe” by Robert J. Sawyer. © 1995 Robert J. Sawyer.

Publishers Weekly

For the most part, this volume of short Sherlock Holmes pastiches—a mix of straightforward imitations and parodies—delivers on its goal of presenting the best of such work from the last 30 years. All but one of the 28 entries is a reprint, largely from such recent anthologies as Gaslight Grimoire and Shadows Over Baker Street, and many introduce the supernatural into the rational sleuth's world. Stephen King does a solid job of giving Dr. Watson a chance to show his own detective skills in “The Good Doctor.” Barbara Roden's “The Things That Shall Come Upon Them” riffs cleverly on M.R. James's “Casting the Runes.” Perhaps the highlight is Peter Tremayne's “The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey,” which offers a plausible explanation for a classic untold tale in which a man disappears from the face of the earth after returning home to fetch an umbrella. Holmes authority Christopher Roden provides an introduction. (Oct.)