Product Description

Sherlock Holmes is back!

Sherlock Holmes, the world's first--and most famous--consulting detective, came to the world's attention more than 120 years ago through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels and stories. But Conan Doyle didn't reveal all of the Great Detective's adventures...

Here are some of the best Holmes pastiches of the last 30 years, twenty-eight tales of mystery and the imagination detailing Holmes's further exploits, as told by many of today's greatest storytellers, including Stephen King, Anne Perry, Anthony Burgess, Neil Gaiman, Naomi Novik, Stephen Baxter, Tanith Lee, Michael Moorcock, and many more.

These are the improbable adventures of Sherlock Holmes, where nothing is impossible, and nothing can be ruled out. In these cases, Holmes investigates ghosts, curses, aliens, dinosaurs, shapeshifters, and evil gods. But is it the supernatural, or is there a perfectly rational explanation?

You won't be sure, and neither will Holmes and Watson as they match wits with pirates, assassins, con artists, and criminal masterminds of all stripes, including some familiar foes, such as their old nemesis, Professor Moriarty.

In these pages you'll also find our heroes crossing paths with H. G. Wells, Lewis Carroll, and even Arthur Conan Doyle himself, and you'll be astounded to learn the truth behind cases previously alluded to by Watson but never before documented until now.

These are tales that take us from the familiar quarters at 221B Baker Street to alternate realities, from the gaslit streets of London to the far future and beyond.

Whether it's mystery, fantasy, horror, or science fiction, no puzzle is too challenging for the Great Detective. The game is afoot!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16883 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 454 pages

From 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.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
John Joseph Adams is the editor of the anthologies By Blood We Live, Federations, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Living Dead, Seeds of Change, and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. Forthcoming work includes the anthologies Brave New Worlds, The Living Dead 2, The Mad Scientist s Guide to World Domination, and The Way of the Wizard. He is also the assistant editor at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

He is a columnist for Tor.com and has written reviews for Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and Orson Scott Card s Intergalactic Medicine Show. His non-fiction has also appeared in: Amazing Stories, The Internet Review of Science Fiction, Locus Magazine, Novel & Short Story Writers Market, Science Fiction Weekly, SCI FI Wire, Shimmer, Strange Horizons, Subterranean Magazine, and Writer s Digest.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Central Florida in December 2000. He currently lives in New Jersey.

Customer Reviews

Worthy Sherlock Holmes Digest
There have been innumerable Sherlock Holmes theme compendiums out there, and most of them have been "one trick ponies" with 2 or 3 good stories in them combined with many lame and / or inept pieces padding things out. The talened anthologist Mr. Adams has cherry picked what would generally be considered the finest pieces from various themed anthologies and presented a uniformly excellent mix herein.

Three caveats: first, not all stories necessarily feature SF, fantasy, or horror elements. Some stories start out with seemingly paranormal events that are eventually explained (a la "straight up" Conan Doyle... or Scooby Doo!)and some are "merely" conventional mysteries. All are credibly written, and the variety makes things reasonably interesting. Anthologies of entirely supernatural Holmesian themes can quickly grate on the reader (e.g. "Shadows Over Baker Street") and the Adams approach is a better solution.

Second, though there is a brief "intro to Holmes" article kicking things off, if you are unfamiliar and / or hostile to Holmes and his typical literary appearances, this book will do little to enlighten you or change your mind. Adams suggests one can use this volume as an intro to Holmes, but realistically this would be a stretch. If you've never read Conan Doyle at all, start there first and then come here.

Third, as with the original stories, you can't read these in big sequential chunks. Read one or two then come back a few days later and read some more. If you read them all back to back, you will find characters and details blurring into one big mess. Follow a course of moderation and you will enjoy this anthology more. Assuming you are not taking this book to a brief desert island stay, this should not be a problem for most.

As with any anthology, you may personally loathe some stories (Valentine for me), feel others are too long (IMO the Baxter piece here) and may feel others are just right (for me Hambly, Gaiman, King). All in all, lots of great pieces here, few bombs, and admirable editorial discretion shown by Mr. Adams.

If you like Holmes and would like to see him explore some new ground, I think you will enjoy this book very much. Novices to the Baker Street world and Holmes-ophobes need not apply.

Disappointing on many levels
This book does not mention its chief flaw--too many of the stories have already been published elsewhere. I have read almost all of them in other anthologies, such as "Murder my Dear Watson.", and "The Mammoth Book of new Sherlock Holmes Stories." It also does not list all of the authors.I do not care to read any stories by authors who have previously suggested that Holmes and Watson shared, (or one of them WISHED to share)a sexual relationship. One such story appears in this anthology. Had I known that this book contained "twice-told" tales,and themes which do not fit Conan Doyle's ideas of his creations, I would not have bought it. Now, don't throw this review away just because of the Holmes/Watson theme--I also don't like books where Holmes is married or that are supposedly written by his sons or daughters! For me, the best reads stay true to Conan Doyle. That being said, I highly recommend both Stephen King's and Anne Perry's stories. I just suggest that you read them in other books.

Not Free SF Reader
The problem with pastiche of something of that is the best ever example of its kind is that it will always disappoint. In the sense that it won't live up to the original at its best. That is certainly what I have found with Sherlock Holmes pastiche in general, having read several anthologies of such.

So making a reprint anthology and drawing from the huge number overall is probably a better strategy - and also give it an angle so that there is some of more general interest than 'how good a copy is this?' In this case, a fantasy or sf slant to the tales, a lot of the time.

A 3.38 average overall, so a decent book.

Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 01 The Doctor's Case - Stephen King
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 02 The Horror of the Many Faces - Tim Lebbon
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 03 The Case of the Bloodless Sock - Anne Perry
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 04 The Adventure of the Other Detective - Bradley H. Sinor
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 05 A Scandal in Montreal - Edward Hoch
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 06 The Adventure of the Field Theorems - Vonda N. McIntyre
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 07 The Adventure of the Death-Fetch - Darrell Schweitzer
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 08 The Shocking Affair of the Dutch Steamship Friesland - Mary Robinette Kowal
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 09 The Adventure of the Mummys Curse - H. Paul Jeffers
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 10 The Things That Shall Come Upon Them - Barbara Roden
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 11 Murder to Music - Anthony Burgess
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 12 The Adventure of the Inertial Adjustor - Stephen Baxter
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 13 Mrs Hudson's Case - Laurie R. King
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 14 The Singular Habits of Wasps - Geoffrey Landis
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 15 The Affair of the Forty-Sixth Birthday - Amy Myers
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 16 The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey - Peter Tremayne
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 17 The Vale of the White Horse - Sharyn McCrumb
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 18 The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger - Michael Moorcock
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 19 The Adventure of the Lost World - Dominic Green
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 20 The Adventure of the Antiquarian's Niece - Barbara Hambly
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 21 Dynamics of a Hanging - Tony Pi
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 22 Merridew of Abominable Memory - Chris Roberson
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 23 Commonplaces - Naomi Novik
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 24 The Adventure of the Pirates of Devil's Cape - Rob Rogers
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 25 The Adventure of the Green Skull - Mark Valentine
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 26 The Human Mystery - Tanith Lee
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 27 A Study in Emerald - Neil Gaiman
Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes : 28 You See But You Do Not Observe - Robert J. Sawyer


Watson works one out ahead of the master, but they have to decide what to do with the criminals.

3.5 out of 5


Bee double Holmes.

3.5 out of 5


Moriarty Hunt.

3 out of 5


Many worlds Watson.

3 out of 5


With The Woman, kid and other woman.

3.5 out of 5


Doyle too whack for Holmes.

3.5 out of 5


Bad Idol.

3.5 out of 5


Family execution.

3 out of 5


Inheritance death.

3 out of 5


Sherlock Holmes and Flaxman Low team-up.

3.5 out of 5


Note hammering.

3 out of 5


Heavy moon dust.

3 out of 5


Just a wee little trap.

3 out of 5


Holmes, Watson, Wells and Ripper aliens.

4 out of 5


Royal assassin removal.

3 out of 5


Young Moriarty Stoker.

3.5 out of 5


Hermaphrodite heredity case.

3 out of 5


Fellini silver stabbing.

3.5 out of 5


'There do not seem to be any dinosaurs in the vicinity, Holmes.'

4 out of 5


Carnaki Yog-Sothoth.

3.5 out of 5


Dodgson dead Doyle drop.

3 out of 5


Flashback mentalist.

3 out of 5


Adler sojourn.

3.5 out of 5


Albino alligator Siamese twin double duel shootout.

4 out of 5


Match Dead.

3 out of 5


White fox heart plot.

3.5 out of 5


Old One vaudeville and some monstrous advertising.

4 out of 5


Sherlock's Schrodinger's Fermi.

3.5 out of 5




3.5 out of 5