Product Description

Just in time for Sherlock Holmes, the major motion picture starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law: the world’s greatest fictional detective and his famous sidekick Dr. Watson are on their first trip across the Atlantic as they solve crimes all over nineteenth-century America—from the bustling neighborhoods of New York, Boston, and D.C. to fog-shrouded San Francisco. The world’s best-loved British sleuth faces some of the most cunning criminals America has to offer and meets some of America’s most famous figures along the way.

This exciting new anthology features over a dozen original short stories by award-winning and prominent writers, each in the extraordinary tradition of Conan Doyle, and each with a unique American twist. Featuring new stories by:

• Edgar Award–winner Daniel Stashower
• Edgar Award–winner Jon L. Breen
• Shamus Award–winner Loren Estleman
• Derringer Award–winner Steve Hockensmith
• Anthony Award–winner Bill Crider
• And many more!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50213 in Books
• Published on: 2009-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781602399341
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Fans of Sherlock Holmes pastiches will welcome the 14 new stories, all set in the U.S., in this solid anthology from Greenberg, Lellenberg and Stashower (Murder, My Dear Watson). Newcomer Lyndsay Faye, author of Dust and Shadow (Reviews, Jan. 12), offers one of the volume's highlights, The Case of Colonel Warburton's Madness. In this version of one of Watson's legendary untold tales, Holmes cleverly solves the case in an armchair after the doctor describes a mystery he encountered in San Francisco. Robert Pohle makes good use of some ambiguities in A Study in Scarlet to craft a fitting sequel to Doyle's first Holmes story in The Flowers of Utah, while Gillian Linscott has the detective ascertain which violin belonged to Davy Crockett in The Case of Colonel Crockett's Violin. Other contributors include Steve Hockensmith, Loren D. Estleman and Bill Crider. (Mar.)
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From Booklist
It seems there is a never-ending supply of new material to provide Sherlock Holmes addicts with their latest fix. This one is interesting because its setting, the U.S., is a place in which (as Holmes fans know) the master detective has always had a great deal of interest. This volume, edited by veteran genre anthologist Greenberg, brings together more than a dozen stories set in such American locales as New York, St. Louis, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, and Youngblood, Arizona. Holmes takes on a variety of cases, from a missing violin to chicanery in the world of sports, meeting along the way such notables as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Harry Houdini, and Teddy Roosevelt. The stories, by such well-known writers as Loren Estleman, Matthew Pearl, Bill Crider, and Jon Breen, are uniformly very good, with occasional flashes of genius. And, best of all, they aren’t pastiches or painfully faithful re-creations of Conan Doyle’s writing style; each is told in the writer’s own voice but still captures the spirit of the Holmes stories. A thoroughly entertaining collection. --David Pitt

Review
Fans of Sherlock Holmes will welcome the fourteen new stories in this solid anthology. (Publishers Weekly )

Customer Reviews

Fine Collection
Some of these stories are spot-on with Doyle's style, although as the title shows, none happen in Merry Old England. A couple pastiches have alternative narrators, but all in all, if you like the original flavor of Holmes stories, than you will greatly enjoy this. It is refreshing that a few of the authors actually put in some deductive methods, which many modern SH authors are remiss in doing.

More American Holmes


This anthology consists of an Introduction, fourteen stories, three essays (one by A. C. D.) and notes about the editors. Each tale is preceded by a short note about the author. The Introduction calls this "a collection of new stories ... in which Holmes and Watson strike out for the United States" and that more or less describes the theme of the book.

The fourteen tales included begin with an account of "The Case of Colonel Warburton's Madness," by Lyndsay Faye, as cited in ENGR. In this tale. Watson tells Holmes of a mystery he encountered in San Francisco years before and Holmes provides an explanation. It serves as a good introduction to the book's theme in addition to being an interesting narrative. Lloyd Rose's "Ghosts and the Machine" recounts a visit, with their father, of the youthful Mycroft and Sherlock to America. They encounter Colonel Henry Olcott investigating some `Psychic' events shortly before he met Madame Blavtsky and they founded the Theosophical Society. The Holmes boys were not impressed by the events but did find Colonel Olcott admirable.

Steve Hockensmith's "Excerpts from an Unpublished Memoir..." gives us an interesting glimpse at Sherlock's career on the stage. Robert Pohle's "The Flowers of Utah" tells of a trip Holmes and Watson took to Utah financed by by an English Mormon following events in STUD, "to solve the case, once and for all." Their findings, of course, upset the Doctor's comfortable view of the resolution of that tale. Lauren Estleman's "The Adventure of the Coughing Dentist" introduces Holmes and Watson to another pair of prominent companions, Wyatt Earp and `Doc' Holliday. Then, Victoria Thompson tells us of Holmes solution to the disappearance of a prominent Minister's daughter at the request of Theodore Roosevelt, then Commissioner of the New York City Police Department in her "The Minister's Missing Daughter."

Gillian Linscott's "The Case of Colonel Crocket's Violin" treats us to the sight of Holmes being asked to identify the `real' violin of Davy Crocket from three possible competitors. Bill Crider renews Holmes' acquaintance with `Buffalo Bill' Cody, Frank Butler and Annie Oakley in "The Adventure of the White City" at the Columbian Exhibition, where Holmes shows an amazing grasp of recent events in the `Wild West.' In her "Recalled to Life," Paula Cohen tells us of a fascinating sidelight to one of the tasks Sherlock performed at Mycroft's request during `The Great Hiatus.' Daniel Stashower spins another tale of `The Great Houdini' as detective in his "The Seven Walnuts." As usual, brother `Dash' steers Harry into finding the truth, this time by asking him to write to Holmes about a disputed point.

In Matthew Pearl's "The Adventure of the Boston Dromio," Holmes and Watson investigate the murder charges against the Doctor who saved Watson's life in Afghanistan. Carolyn Wheat describes a unique method of murder in "The Case of the Rival Queens" while Holmes and Watson explore a Theosophist community. Jon L. Breen teams Holmes with a former acquaintance, Clive Armitage, in "The Adventure of the Missing Three Quarters." He also treats us to a close-up view of Amos Alonzo Stagg, an icon of College Football. In "The Song at Twilight, Michael Walsh tells us the long-awaited story of the creation of Altamont, the beginning of "His Last Bow."

In general, the tales are well done. There are few outright contradictions of the Canon and most of the `Americanisms' are appropriate. Unfortunately, none seem to stand out either. The most powerfully written tale was also the least `Sherlockian,' while few offered any new insights into either Holmes or Watson. The historical characters were either unpleasent or, for the most part, uninteresting, although Estleman's Earp and Holliday seem to be an exception to this generalization. In fact, Thompson's `minister's daughter,' who never appears in person, seems to be the most interesting character in the lot.

Quite the little wayfarer, hey?
MM Greenberg, Lellenberg and Stashower are very good in their choice of short novels in all her compilations. So it's a pleasure to read those stories even if it's hard to believe M Holmes went travelling as far as the USA.
I'm looking forward reading new stories collected by these gentlemen