Sherlock Holmes’s First (and last) African Adventure

Sir Leander Starr Jameson (1853 - 1917), after studying medicine at University College, London, seemed destined for a great future as a physician in Britain, but poor health and a strong sense of adventure led him in 1878 to the diamond mines in Kimberley, in southern Africa. There he met Cecil Rhodes. They became fast friends and shared a dream to extend British rule from the Cape of Good Hope to Cairo.

On Rhodes’s behalf, Jameson undertook missions to charm Lobengula, king of the Matabele, into confirming mineral concessions in present-day Zimbabwe for the British South Africa Company and opened the door for passage of the Caper to Cairo Railway.

Jameson, Rhodes and Lobengula are just three of the dozens of actual, real-life characters that inhabit the new collection of pastiches entitled: Sherlock Holmes- The Golden Years. These three make their appearance in the Kongo Nkisi Spirit Train – the fifth and last story in the collection:

On a lovely summer morning in 1913, Leander Starr Jameson was ushered into the parlour of Watson’s London flat. What brought him there was an African mystery involving the Cape to Cairo Railway project - with 5,700 miles of rail track. As Jameson put it:

“The Cape to Cairo Railway has faced, and overcome, many obstacles over the last fifteen years—swamps, impenetrable jungle, the ravages of the white ants and termites, encounters with lions, elephants and other beasts, disease and unfriendly natives, to name a few. All of these have been overcome . . . until now.”

      I (Watson) leaned forward in my chair. “What has put a stop to the progress now, Mr. Jameson?”

      “The Kongo Nkisi. A native spirit-god.”

His report takes Holmes and Watson into the heart of the Dark Continent, and a confrontation with “the spiritless people.”

Leander Starr Jameson, also call "Doctor Jim” or "Lanner," guides Holmes and Watson into the jungle and, unknowingly, into the lair of the Kongo Nkisi spirit.

This tale is a fitting end to the five-part series of stories written in the style and voice of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you’re seeking more authentic Sherlock Holmes stories – check out Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years.  You can find it ON AMAZON and all on-line and main-street bookstores.

Harry Houdini Meets Doyle & Sherlock Holmes

The man who created one of the most rational and grounded characters in the fictional world, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, believed that he and others could communicate with the spirits of the dead. Indeed, Sir Arthur, in his later life, was a staunch advocate of Spiritualism.

For nearly 30 years, Sir Arthur researched, investigated, and promoted Spiritualism in its many forms. This quest brought Houdini and Conan Doyle together in 1920. They became fast friends and even vacationed together in Atlantic City.

But, while they were personal friends, they were hardly allies with regard to Spiritualism. Both men trotted around the globe: Doyle advocating Spiritualism, and Houdini debunking spirit mediums, fortunetellers, and most anyone claiming supernatural powers.

This contrast is explored in new collection: Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years.  In The Cure that Kills, Houdini meets Holmes and Watson aboard ship as they steam to America in pursuit of the diabolical Ciarán Malastier. Later, in The Kongo Nkisi Spirit Train, Sherlock meets Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at a séance in which Holmes subtly unmasks a “mostly fraudulent” medium called Margery.

You can read these tales, and three others, in Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years – available on Amazon and most on-line and main-street bookstores.

Sherlock Holmes Abroad ???

The original adventures of Sherlock Holmes, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, are among the top ten most translated literary works in the world. Currently, Doyle’s stories have been translated into over 100 different languages. This despite the fact that Holmes and Watson ventured outside Britain in only one tale: The Final Problem, which took place in Meiringen, Switzerland. Within the Doyle canon, there are references that might lead a reader to believe that Sherlock Holmes may well have ventured abroad to Scandinavia, South America, Australia, and even America. It seems likely, though, that if Holmes did take cases outside Britain, they would likely be within one of the British colonies.

In Holmes’s time, the British empire consisted of over 13 million square miles -- 23 percent of the world’s land surface. Given this, would it be surprising if Holmes and Watson found themselves in British South Africa? I thought not - particularly if the case involved the greatest colonial project of all time -- Britain’s Cap to Cairo Railway project.

One of the most remarkable engineering projects ever conceived in modern times was the Cape to Cairo Railway--stretching over 5,700 miles from Cape Town South Africa to Cairo Egypt. The project faced, and overcome, many obstacles over the last 150 years—swamps, impenetrable jungle, the ravages of the white ants and termites, encounters with lions, elephants and other beasts, disease, and regional wars, to name a few. However, one of the most terrifying obstacles was the Kongo Nkisi  spirit.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson travel deep into the forbidding jungle of central Africa to unravel the mystery of the Kongo Nkisi Spirit Train. This adventure is one of five, totally new Sherlock Holmes adventures in my collection: Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years.

By the way . . . Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years as recently translated into Italian. And, it has also been published in India.

If want to see Sherlock Holmes at his best, check out: Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years on Amazon, and at most any on-line, or main street bookstore.

Sherlock Holmes meets G. K. Chesterton

Sherlock Holmes had notoriety in his time, but even more well known, at the turn of the century, was Gilbert Keith Chesterton. Nonetheless, today, most people have heard of Sherlock, while few know of Chesterton and his literary contributions. That is one reason he was introduced in Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years by Kim H Krisco. The hope was that the reader might be tempted to look into the works of this literary giant. And, if the reader did so, they would find him as relevant today as he was a century ago.

All the issues we struggle with in the 21st century, Chesterton foresaw, and wrote about, in the early 20th century. Social injustice, the culture of death, statism, assaults on religion, and attacks on the family, and on the dignity of the human person: Chesterton saw where these trends emerging in his time.

Chesterton considered himself to be a journalist, I supposed because he spent most of his life writing for newspapers. He wrote over 4,000 newspaper essays for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of columns for the Daily News. That’s the equivalent of writing an essay a day, every day, for twelve years. He was considered absent-minded, but that was likely the result of his mind being almost continuously consumed with some new thought that was gestating and finding its way into the next day’s newspaper column or story.

Chesterton took on most of the intellectuals of his time: George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, Bertrand Russell, and Clarence Darrow.  He tackled what might be called the “big isms” of life: materialism, determinism, moral relativism, socialism, classism, and capitalism. He honored the “common man” and common sense. But what is just as amazing, he did this in a manner that made you chuckle or laugh.

Despite his monumental body of work, Chesterton is often neglected in classrooms, and his work is unknown by many who consider themselves “well educated.”  That is why he was introduced in a fictional story, “The Curse of the Black Feather,” which is one of the five tales in the collection Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years. In this tale, G. K. Chesterton brings a curious case to the great detective that sends Holmes and Watson on a series of madcap adventures that reach into the underground labyrinth beneath London, and across the Atlantic to America, as the infamous duo pursue one of the most diabolical villains Holmes has ever encountered.

Hopefully, this introduction to Gilbert Keith Chesterton opens the door to the works of this genius who deserves to be on the bookshelves of every serious reader. Such is also true of the most popular fictional character of all time – Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

Keeping the spirit of Sherlock Holmes and G. K. Chesterton alive!

Check out Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years – at AMAZON, and every good bookstore.

Women Marched Outside 221B Baker Street

There is a new movie making its debut - Suffragette, about those in Britain who lead the fight to give women the right to vote. This remarkable process played in the background of Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years by Kim Krisco.

Most Sherlock Holmes adventures do not bring in historical background to any great degree. So, this is one area where Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years adds an extra richness. Having done some research on the Suffragette movement in Britain, I have an appreciation for the courage of the women who lead the movement.

While the women’s suffrage movement in the United Kingdom began about 1872, with the formation of the National Society for Women’s Suffrage, it didn’t make the daily headlines until the early 1900’s when the movement became more militant and violent.

WWI caused a temporary halt to suffrage activity and, in 1918, the Representation of the Peoples Act granted women limited voting rights. However, it wasn’t until 1928 when all women in Britain gained full voting rights.

Sherlock Holmes’s made a good attempt at going into retirement in Sussex Downs around 1905. He traded his lodgings at 221B Baker Street for a traditional thatched-roof stone cottage, and took up bee keeping. Indeed, he wrote a book on apiculture entitled: A Practical Handbook of Bee Culture with Some Observations Upon Segregation of the Queen. Most appropriate, as Holmes was an expert at keeping himself personally “segregated” from women – as it were. However, in his trips to the city, he could not help but confront some formidable ladies in the streets, as the suffrage movement was in full swing by 1905.

One of the key figures in the suffrage movement was Emmeline Pankhurst, who is one of several infamous historical characters that can be found in the new collection of Sherlock Holmes adventures. In the Curse of the Black Feather, Holmes and Watson meet Emmeline Pankhurst at a party where Watson has the dubious honour of escorting her to dinner.  Holmes, however, had a much more fascinating dinner partner that evening – Irene Adler, “the woman” who mysteriously reappears his life and haunts him in all five of the stories in this historically accurate 345-page collection.

In Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years the reader gets all the mystery and magic of Holmes at his best, interesting real-life historical characters, and a rich and highly accurate historical background, all of which adds great depth to the stories.

In Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years the reader gets all the mystery and magic of Holmes at his best, interesting real-life historical characters, and a rich and highly accurate historical background, all of which adds great depth to the stories.

You can buy Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years, as a book or E-book, at Amazon and other good bookstores.

Spiritualism: Holmes vs. Doyle

The book Sherlock Holmes — The Golden Years may get pigeon-holed as a British Mystery because it is a collection of five new Sherlock Holmes detective mysteries. However, an even richer reader experience awaits the reader because of the subtle way in which these stories explore other subjects such as eugenics, colonialism, and Spiritualism.

You may, or may not, know that Doyle spent the latter part of his life strongly advocating for Spiritualism — the belief that it is possible to commune with the spirits of people who have died.

For nearly 30 years, Sir Arthur researched, investigated, and promoted Spiritualism in its many forms. Sir Arthur’s legacy includes a three-volume collection of poetry. It also includes The New Revelation and The Vital Message, and Doyle’s most substantive book on Spiritualism The History of Spiritualism. Today, a plaque inside the door of the Rochester Square Spiritualist Temple in London reveals that Doyle was a major contributor the construction of the temple in the decade before his death in 1930.

There is a rare phonograph recording of Sir Arthur delivering a speech on Spiritualism on May 14, 1930, just two months before his death. He opened his talk by saying:

People ask, what do you get from spiritualism? The first thing you get is that it absolutely removes all fear of death. Secondly, it bridges death for those dear ones whom we may lose. We need have no fear that we are calling them back, for all that we do is to make such conditions as experience has taught us, will enable them to come if they wish. And the initiative lies always with them.

Sherlock Holmes — The Golden Years explores the curious juxtaposition of logic and rationality, represented by Sherlock Holmes, and the supernatural, represented by the man who created this beloved detective. In The Kongo Nkisi Spirit Train Holmes confronts Doyle after he attends a séance at Jean and Arthur’s home. Holmes remarks:

“Like Diogenes, I am, above all, a seeker of truth. And, if it be possible to discover the truth that lies beyond the grave, I myself might expect to find it in deep reflection and lucid prayer, and not around a ill-lit table.”

Whether or not you believe in ghosts and other supernatural phenomena, you are destined to enjoy the true spirit of Sherlock Holmes as he is portrayed in Sherlock Holmes — The Golden Years.

Available on Amazon, and all good bookstores.

From Baker Street to the backstreet: The irregulars

Sherlock Holmes, form time to time, employed a gang of street Arabs he referred to as the irregulars. They aided Holmes in his investigations by gathering information, find missing people, track individuals, deliver communications, etc.

This urban army appears in the first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study In Scarlet. They also have their own chapter in a subsequent novel, The Sign of the Four. They reappear some years later in The Adventure of the Crooked Man.

In the early stories, the irregulars are led by an older boy called Wiggins, whom Holmes paid a shilling per day plus expenses, with a guinea prize (worth one pound and one shilling) for a vital clue. Of course, the irregulars are often included in various movies, television programs, and Sherlock Holmes pastiches. Indeed, they play a prominent role in several of the stories in my new collection: Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years. As these tales take place nearly twenty years after their last appearance, the irregulars in my stories are led by a sixteen-year old boy named Archie, who has a tag-along little brother Benjie.

I reprise Benjie and Archie in a story called Blood Brothers within a new three-volume anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories recently published by MX Publishing in London. As a researched the wrote Blood Brothers I was immediately aware that the irregulars were a fascinating collection of characters and offered a rich background the poorer side of London upon which Doyle seldom touched. My revelation is not surprising if we consider that one of the greatest novelists of all time, Charles Dickens, found the underprivileged in London provided some of the most memorable characters of all time: Oliver Twist, the Artful Dodger and, of course, Fagan. And so, while I would not pretend I am following in the footsteps of “The Inimitable,” as Dickens playfully called himself, my next writing project will center on the irregulars of London wherein Sherlock Holmes will play a significant, but supporting, role.

If you haven’t already done so, check our Sherlock Holmes the Golden Years – available ON AMAZON and most every on-line and main street bookstore.

Sherlock Holmes: The musician

The iconic image of Sherlock Holmes is one in which he is playing the violin. References to his musicianship are limited, but they are abundant enough to give us a picture of a cultured, atypical player who, of course, played a Stradivarius. You might recall that he purchased his Strad at a pawn shop for 45 shillings. At that time, it would have been worth 500 guineas.

As for Holmes’s repertoire, there are no direct references to Holmes playing from a score. However, he does play some of Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words for Watson’s listening pleasure in A Study in Scarlet. In his review, Watson says: “His powers upon the violin… were very remarkable but as eccentric as all his other accomplishments.”

The only story where Holmes’s violin plays a part in the plot is in The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone. Here Holmes fools his foes by telling them he will play the Barcarolle from Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann in an adjoining room. However, he puts on a record of the same piece. The scoundrels fail to notice that the music is a recording, rather than a live performance. This allows the master detective to listen in on their clandestine conversation and unravel the mystery.

Is Holmes a good musician? Here opinions are wide-ranging. While Watson is occasionally annoyed by Holmes’s playing, in The Red-Headed League, Watson is rather complimentary. He says that Holmes is . . . “an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a very capable performer, but a composer of no ordinary merit.” Regardless, Holmes was obviously a music lover . . . especially fond of opera and German music. This is evidenced in the story The Adventure of the Red Circle wherein Holmes and Watson enjoy a Wagner night at Covent Garden.

However, we may be missing the mark if we focus solely on Holmes’s musical ability. It seems clear that Holmes uses his violin playing as a “distancing method.” As many scientists, and creative individuals, will tell you, when they encounter a problem whose solution is not immediately apparent, it’s best to focus on something else in order to let your subconscious mind come into play. This would seem to born out by that fact that, shortly after Holmes plays his violin, we find him, once again, on his way to solving the mystery at hand.

While I did not ask Holmes to play for us in any of the five tales I wrote for Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years, I used his interest in music and the violin to draw him out of a deep depression. In The Maestro of Mysteries, a violin virtuoso, Fritz Kreisler, is brought to Watson’s apartment, where Holmes is staying. Fritz Kreisler was a real person—a contemporary of Holmes and Watson. And, as I attempt to make all my stories historically accurate, Fritz Kreisler had recently played at Wilton’s Music Hall in London near the time my story is dated. In my story, Kreisler plays Dvorak’s Humoreske,  which (not coincidently) he played as an encore at his performance at Wilton’s Music Hall.

In The Maestro of Mysteries, Fritz tries to coax Holmes into joining him in Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins. But, Holmes laughs and replies. “In the shadow of such genius it [my violin] would not dare leave its dusty bin.” Kreisler replies: “Genius comes in many forms, Mr. Holmes. It is incumbent upon us to exercise those gifts that we each possess. You, my dear sir, are the maestro of mysteries.”

If you want to read The Maestro of Mysteries, and the other four stories in the Sherlock Holmes- The Golden Years collection, go TO AMAZON or other good on-line and on-street bookstores.

The Grand Sherlock Holmes Anthology Has Arrived!

It’s here!  The largest and newest collection of Sherlock Holmes Stories has finally arrived and you can get it at your favorite bookseller.

 60 authors contributed to the 1200 page anthology bound in three hardback volumes. My donated story is titled Blood Brothers and will be found in Volume III:

“Blood Brothers” takes place in 1913, after Holmes is supposedly retired. Of course, we know this is not possible, as was made clear in Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years, with its five new “post-retirement” stories.

All royalties will go towards renovating Undershaw, the former home of Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle which will also serve as a school for children with learning disabilities. The new owners of the building Stepping Stones are restoring it back to its former glory, including the restoration of Conan Doyle’s study. One of the pledges from Stepping Stones to their Sherlockian supporters is that outside term time they will be making the house accessible to fans as much as possible; allowing them to visit the study and look out the very windows Conan Doyle did when he wrote stories such as The Hound of The Baskervilles.

Undershaw is where Conan Doyle wrote many of the original Sherlock Holmes stories. The building fell into disrepair over the years. Then, in 2009, developers tried to carve up the house for apartments or condos, a determined group of Sherlock Holmes fans fought the plan all the way to the high court. The group won an injunction in the high court. The developer appealed but that was finally quashed.

The anthology project is the brainchild of author David Marcum, who has written several collections of Holmes stories himself including The Papers of Sherlock Holmes. He has enlisted authors from all over the world.

"The response has been incredible," says publisher Steve Emecz. “David insisted all the stories should be new, but traditional in format so they are all set sometime between 1881 and 1929 and feature Holmes and Watson in their original Victorian setting. I don’t think we will ever see a collection on a scale like this again. The authors are so passionate about Undershaw and its new role as a special school, which is why so many have taken part".

The three volumes are available -- separately or together -- at most booksellers. They will look great on your bookshelf.

Sherlock and Watson Meet the British Big Foot

 The British Isle is rich with mythology and legends from King Arthur to the Loch Ness Monster. However, there is one legend that lives on today. In the misty splendor of Ben MacDhui Mountain, in Scotland, the people still talk of the Grey Man of Ben MacDhui - a malign ape-like creature known locally as 'Fear Liath Mor'.

Over the centuries dozens of sightings on Ben MacDhui Mountain have amalgamated into an image of a humanoid about ten feet tall, covered in hair, and having long arms. In 1891 a climber reported finding large footprints measuring over 14 inches and stride over 5 feet long.

The Grey Man mythology, which persists to this day, has become a true mystery. There were many sightings, often from reputable individuals, which keeps the legend alive. Aviemore, Scotland sits at the based of Ben MacDhui Mountain and was one of the stops I made during a research tour of Scotland for my book Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years. Nothing beats first-hand research so Sara and I trekked to Aviemore, the gateway to the Cairngrom Plateau to more fully capture the surroundings and local colour for a book of mysteries he was writing at the time. Not surprisingly, the Grey Man of Ben MacDhui made it way into my book.

In the first of the five new Sherlock Holmes adventures, A Bonnie Bag of Bones, Holmes and Watson climb Ben MacDhui Mountain to discover the mystery behind human bones that were recently discovered on Ben MacDhui Mountain. In the process, they encounter the Grey Man.

Each of the five “post-retirement stories” is meticulously researched and rich in local color and historically accurate detail. In Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years, the infamous duo reunite in a wonderful new series of post-retirement adventures that take them from peaks of Ben MacDhui to Undertown, far below the streets of London, and finally to darkest Africa.

You can get Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years at Amazon, the BookDepository.com,  Barnes and Noble, and any good bookstore.

Sherlock Holmes in The Dark Continent

Most of the tails in the original Sherlock Holmes canon, understandably, took place in the United Kingdom. His travels, over the sixty original stories took Watson and Holmes to America (The Valley of Fear) and Switzerland (The Final Problem), and through other countries in Europe. However, it is only in a recent addition to the Sherlock Holmes collection that he finds himself in Africa.

One of the most remarkable engineering projects ever conceived in modern times was the Cape to Cairo Railway--stretching over 5,700 miles from Cape Town South Africa to Cairo Egypt. The project faced, and overcome, many obstacles over the last 150 years—swamps, impenetrable jungle, the ravages of the white ants and termites, encounters with lions, elephants and other beasts, disease, and regional wars, to name a few. However, one of the most terrifying obstacles  was  the  Kongo  Nkisi  spirit.

It took Sherlock Holmes to travel deep into the forbidding jungle of central Africa to unravel the mystery of the Kongo Nkisi Spirit Train. This adventure is one of five, totally new Sherlock Holmes adventures in the collection: Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years by Kim H. Krisco.

The other stories include: The Bonnie Bag of Bones that lead the legendary duo on a not-so-merry chase into the mythical mountains of Scotland, and ultimately to the “the woman” who is tangled within a mystery that has haunted Holmes for a quarter century.

The Curse of the Black Feather continues the adventure, in which Holmes teams up with the irregulars, and a gypsy matriarch, to expose a diabolical “baby-farming” enterprise. Their quest arouses a vicious adversary, Ciarán Malastier, who has Holmes struggling for his very life.

Maestro of Mysteries begins with a summons to Mycroft’s office and ends with a deadly chase in Undertown, far beneath the streets of London.

And, The Cure that Kills sees Holmes and Watson in hot pursuit of the diabolical Ciarán Malastier, racing across America, and pitting them against the largest detective organization in the world.

Over 150 years after construction began on the Cape to Cairo Railway has left it currently incomplete – and so are the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.  Fortunately, it’s easy for you to continue your travels with Sherlock Holmes.  You have but to buy the best-selling book: Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years.

You can buy it at AMAZON, and most any bookstore.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Friend Houdini

Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were great friends despite that fact that their belief systems were almost one hundred and eighty degrees. Sir Arthur became a staunch advocate of Spiritualism, while Houdini devoted his efforts to unmasking unscrupulous mediums and spirit guides. Houndini and his wife, on more than one occasion, visited with Doyle and his second wife Jean at their country home Windlesham.

Both of these larger than life historical characters are found in a new addition to the Doyle canon: Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years.  In the story, The Cure that Kills, Houdini meets Holmes and Watson aboard ship as they steam to America in pursuit of the diabolical Ciarán Malastier. Later, in The Kongo Nkisi Spirit Train, Sherlock meets Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at a séance in which Holmes subtly unmasks a “mostly fraudulent” medium called Margery.

You can read these tales, and three others, in Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years – available on Amazon and most other on-line and on-street bookstores.

Sherlock Holmes and “the woman”

While Irene Adler, aka Mrs. Godfrey Norton, was a main character in one of Doyle’s first stories - A Scandal in Bohemia -- she is mentioned in four other stories. However, she has captured the imagination of every author who has ever written a Holmes story, television program or movie . . . including this author.

Sherlock Holmes was an unwitting witness at the wedding of Irene Adler to Godfrey Norton at St Monica’s church in Doyle’s A Scandal in Bohemia. Irene gave him a gold sovereign for his help that he put on his watch chain.  You may recall that he also received a portrait of the lady at the conclusion of the story, as the only payment he would accept from the Duke.

 “The Woman” returns in the newest collection of Sherlock Holmes stories – Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years. And, while she only appeared once, and lurked in the background of other stories, she has come out of the shadows and into all five of the stories in this new collection.

Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years explores the vague and foggy relationship between the world’s greatest detective and the one woman who captured his imagination . . . and maybe his heart.

Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years is available on AMAZON, including Kindle, and THEBOOKDEPOSITORY.COM where you get a 10% discount and FREE SHIPPING anywhere in the world!

The Mega Sherlock Holmes Collection coming October 1

Here’s another update on the three-volume collection of NEW Sherlock Holmes tales coming your way in October.

This collection, published by MX Publishing in London, is scheduled to be released October 1, but you may see it previewed before then. Indeed, folks who make a donation to the Undershaw Foundation Trust can get their copy earlier. There is a “Kickstarter campaign underway to raise $10,000 British pounds to cover the production cost and it has already reached its goal.

This collection is the brainchild of Holmesean author, David Marcum, who edited this anthology. His desire to support the Undershaw Preservation Trust’s efforts to save the Doyle home lead David sought to create a collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories with ALL the proceeds going to this cause. Undershaw was the home from which Doyle wrote most of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

When Marcum began this effort, almost a year ago, he was overwhelmed with the generosity of noteworthy Sherlockian authors. Writers from the U.S., Canada, U.K., New Zealand, India jumped at the opportunity to support this cause. As of this date, there are 60+ stories in this master collection. David is quick to point out that this anthology only includes pastiches written in a manner consistent with the original canon and must be totally new -- never before published.

I was honored when David Marcum asked me to contribute to the anthology, as Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years was my first offering of Sherlock Holmes fiction. It is both exciting and terrifying that my new story, “Blood Brothers” will soon be held up to the works of some the best Holmesean authors of our time. FYI - “Blood Brothers,” will be contained in the third volume.

Obviously, David Marcum’s outreach was wildly successful. -- 62 authors in all, each donating their royalties to the Undershaw Preservation Trust. The Sherlockian community of writers, I have come to learn, is one of the most generous group of people I have ever encountered.

Each of the three volumes will be 400+ pages each. Initially there will be a 6” x 9” hardcover edition with dust jackets, and probably a soft-cover edition later on as well. They won’t be designated Vol. I, II or II, but organized chronologically by the dates of the stories. The draft cover designs are very colorful as you can see, and will look good on any bookshelf.

If you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, or have one in your life, all I can say is -- Wow!  The PERFECT Christmas present!

Hats off to David Marcum and Steve Emecz of MX Publishing for taking on this daunting project. Well done guys!

Largest ever collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories will save Conan Doyle's house

60 authors will contribute to the anthology and all royalties will go towards renovating Undershaw, the former home of Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle. The royalties from the project are to go towards the restoration of Undershaw, which will become a school for children with learning disabilities.

Undershaw is where Conan Doyle wrote many of the original Sherlock Holmes stories. The building fell into disrepair in 2009 when developers tried to carve up the house but were blocked by a determined group of Sherlock Holmes fans who fought the planning all the way to the high court. The group won an injunction in the high court. The developer appealed but that was quashed in 2012.

The new anthology will span three hardback volumes and cover 1200 pages, will go towards the new owners of the building Stepping Stones – a small specialist education provision – who are restoring it back to its former glory, including the restoration of Conan Doyle’s study. One of the pledges from Stepping Stones to their Sherlockian supporters is that outside term time they will be making the house accessible to fans as much as possible; allowing them to visit the study and look out the very windows Conan Doyle did when he wrote stories such as The Hound of The Baskervilles.

My new donated story is titled Blood Brothers and will be found in Volume III. “Blood Brothers” takes place in 1913, after Holmes is supposedly retired. Of course, we know this is not possible, as was made clear in Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years, with its five new “post-retirement” stories.

Published by MX Publishing, the project is the brainchild of author David Marcum, who has written several collections of Holmes stories himself including The Papers of Sherlock Holmes. He has enlisted authors from all over the world, including Lyndsay Faye, Hugh Ashton and Amy Thomas. The initial target was to beat the previous record of thirty, but it grew to over fifty.

"The response has been incredible," says publisher Steve Emecz. “David insisted all the stories should be new, but traditional in format so they are all set sometime between 1881 and 1929 and feature Holmes and Watson in their original Victorian setting. I don’t think we will ever see a collection on a scale like this again. The authors are so passionate about Undershaw and its new role as a special school, which is why so many have taken part".

MX Publishing has also set up a Kickstarter to help cover the costs of the project. The goal is £2000 and you can pledge here.

The books will be available to buy from October 1st, and Kickstarter pledgers, however, will get them in September.

Worthy Adversaries All . . . for Sherlock Holmes

Professor James Moriarty's first and last appearance occurs in Doyle's story “The Final Problem,” where Holmes is focused on incarcerating Moriarty and his entire criminal syndicate. The Professor is determined to put an end to Holmes, and forces him to flee to the Continent to escape retribution. The criminal brain follows, and the pursuit ends atop the Reichenbach Falls where Moriarty falls to his death while fighting with Holmes.

It is interesting to note that, while Moriarty actually appears in only one story, he looms large as Sherlock Holmes’s infamous arch-enemy. Most every writer of Holmes pastiches is therefore confronted with the challenge of creating a rival as diabolical as James Moriarty. From the reviews of my recent book, it appears I may have achieved that goal.

In three of the five novellas that comprise Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years, Ciarán Malastier sets himself against Holmes and deals a blow that has the detective “down-for-the-count.” Holmes’s pursuit takes him “across the pond” and into the very heartland of America. When the two adversaries confront one another, Sherlock is forced to struggle with a darker side only hinted at in the original Canon.

In the last novella, “The Kongo Nikisi Spirit Train,” yet another “promising” adversary surfaces that harkens back to Moriarty himself.

Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years requires the aging Holmes to be at the top of his game, and he rises to this challenge (as we know he will), as long as he draws a breath.

Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years is available on AMAZON, and OTHER BOOKSTORES.

A Sherlock Holmes Lover’s Dream Come True

Heads up Holmes aficionados! Something good is coming your way -- the world’s largest collection of NEW Sherlock Holmes tales.

This project is currently in development by MX Publishing in London, so some of the details below may change before it goes to press this fall. Noted Holmesean author, David Marcum, is the editor. Inspired to support the Undershaw Preservation Trust’s efforts to save the Doyle home (http://www.saveundershaw.com/), David sought to create a collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories with ALL the proceeds going to this cause. You might recall that Undershaw was the home from which Doyle wrote most of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

When Marcum began this effort, almost a year ago, he could not have anticipated that his idea would grow into a “master collection.” He began to contact known authors of Sherlock Holmes pastiches -- those that write in a manner consistent with the original canon. I was asked to contribute, and felt honored because my story will be among some of the preeminent Sherlock Holmes stories in recent time.

David Marcum’s outreach was wildly successful. Authors from the U.S., Canada, U.K., New Zealand, India and beyond agreed -- 60 authors in all. Each author will donate their royalties to the Undershaw Preservation Trust.

The anthology will be two volumes, each around 400+ pages. These editions will be 6” x 9” hardcovers with dust jackets. They won’t be designated Vol. I or II, but rather organized chronologically by the dates of the stories. The draft cover design (shown here) may change a bit. I will keep you informed as this wonderful project unfolds in the months ahead.

It is interesting to note Arthur Conan Doyle original collection of Sherlock Holmes stories totals 60 stories. So, this new anthology is “Sherlock Holmes Redux.”

Hot off the presses in India!

While the Sherlock Holmes canon does not have Holmes spending time in India, there is reason to believe he was there during his “missing years” -- after Reichenbach Falls. This might account for the huge number of fans the legendary detective in this land of unity and diversity. Fortunately, these fans can get the newest collection of Sherlock Holmes stories from a local publisher -- Jaico publishing. Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years is for sale art about 259.00 rupee.

This collection of five new post-retirement adventures includes:

The Bonnie Bag of Bones that lead the infamous duo on a not-so-merry chase through London.

In the Curse of the Black Feather Holmes teams up with a gipsie matriarch, to expose a diabolical baby-farming enterprise.

Maestro of Mysteries begins with a summons to Mycroft’s office and ends with a deadly chase beneath the streets of London.

The Cure that Kills sees Holmes is in hot pursuit of Ciaran Malastier,  pitting himself against the Pinkerton Agency.

In The Kongo Nkis Spirit Train, Holmes and Watson travel to the Dark Continent to derail a “spirit train” that ensnares people’s spirit, and enslaves their bodies.

Check it out!