Exploits of Sherlock Holmes [Hardcover]

Adrian Conan Doyle (Author), John Dickson Carr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 1999

From the son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and one of America's greatest mystery writers, John Dickson Carr, comes twelve riveting tales based on incidents or elements of the unsolved cases of Sherlock Holmes. The plots are all new, with painstaking attention to the mood, tone, and detail of the original stories. Here is a fascinating volume of mysteries for new Sherlock fans, as well as for those who have read all the classics and crave more!

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

From the son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and one of America's greatest mystery writers, John Dickson Carr, comes twelve riveting tales based on incidents or elements of the unsolved cases of Sherlock Holmes. The plots are all new, with painstaking attention to the mood, tone, and detail of the original stories. Here is a fascinating volume of mysteries for new Sherlock fans, as well as for those who have read all the classics and crave more!

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Gramercy (May 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517203383
• ISBN-13: 978-0517203385
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Sherlock Holmes

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed quality-- But some excellent stories can be found., September 5, 1999

By 

Patrick J. Callahan (La Crosse, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Exploits of Sherlock Holmes (Hardcover)

I purchased this book in part on the strength of three 5-star reviews on this site. This is a very handsome hardcover volume at a surprisingly reasonable price.

There are three classifications of stories in the book. First, stories primarily written by Adrian Conan Doyle, with some input from JD Carr. Second, two stories written almost entirely by Mr. Carr, possibly with some slight input from Doyle. Third, six stories written solely by Mr. Adrian Doyle.

Since I have read a number of mysteries by Carr, and expected much, I was most disappointed to find his two stories the weakest in the book. In one instance, after reading the first page I was able to anticipate the entire plot. In the other case, I simply found the story flat, uninteresting, and narrowly derivative of similar stories in the original Holmes canon.

To the contrary, some of the stories by Mr. Doyle cannot be praised enough. One that's typical, "The Adventure of Foulkes Rath," seems up to the work of Arthur Conan Doyle himself. All in all, Adrian Doyle admirably captures the style and brooding Gothic tone that so typifies many of the best stories in the original Holmes canon. Moreover, Adrian Doyle's stories have a kind of life and warmth that brings the Edwardian world alive for the reader.

I would give the book five stars were it not for a few tales that seem off the pace, and decidedly inferior to the others. Alas-- and surprisingly-- these are from JD Carr's pen. Perhaps Carr tried too diligently to write an impeccably logical mystery, where nothing in the denoument was not well provided for in the early story. The effect, unfortunately, was to create a mechanical kind of plot, which made it all to easy for the reader to anticipate too accurately the entire unfolding of the story.

So in this interesting and generally worthwhile book of tales, we might have the amateur outwriting the old master.

All in all, a worthwhile purchase -- and handsome book with great bedtime reading at a very reasonable price.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best post-ACD collection of Holmes short stories., August 3, 2000

By 

John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Exploits of Sherlock Holmes (Hardcover)

Patrick Callahan's excellent review is right on the money, but I'm giving this little book four stars anyway just because, when it's good, it's _very_ good. Some of the stories contained herein -- based on Watson's occasional references to unrecorded (not "unsolved", as the current edition's subtitle incorrectly has it) cases -- surpass some of the elder Doyle's later works. Highly recommended, especially as an antidote to the surfeit of "pastiches" that can't seem to get any of the details right.

Adrian Conan Doyle (with or without John Dickson Carr) tells a straight no-frills tale very much in the spirit of the Sherlockian canon; Holmes doesn't wind up getting married, Watson doesn't turn out to be the real Holmes, et cetera, et cetera. And there are no attempts to link Holmes to fabulous ripped-from-the-headlines figures like Dracula or Jack the Ripper -- these are perfectly ordinary cases of the kind in which Holmes himself was known to delight for their own sake owing to their touch of the _outre_ and the singular features they presented to the reasoner. Solid stuff despite the weaknesses of a few of the tales.

If you want a couple of novel-length pastiches to go with it, I recommend Nicholas Meyer's first two: _The Seven Per Cent Solution_ and _The West End Horror_.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Stories Captures Spirit of Original Holmes Tales!, May 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Exploits of Sherlock Holmes (Hardcover)

This collection of stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyles youngest son, Adrian Conan Doyle, in collaboration with American mystery writer John Dickson Carr, are a wonderful treat for anyone who loves the originals! The twelve stories here refer to cases that Doyle made teasing reference to in the original series but never made available to the reading public. The stories are filled with black hearted villians, damsels in distress, atmosphere, and above all, the friendship between Holmes and Watson that have made them the most famous characters in the history of literature. Several stories like "The Adventure of the Deptford Horror" and "The Adventure of the Red Widow" are dark tales of murder; while others such as "The Aventure of the Wax Gamblers" and "The Aventure of the Highgate Miracle" will make you smile. What I enjoyed the most is that the authors have tried to stay true to the characters and didn't try to change them as other writers have done. The stories seem to have been written with one goal in mind, to fill the reader with delight! Originaly written in the early 1950s and out of print for many years, I am happy that Random House has released this once again, and in a Hardbound edition. Come dear reader,"the games afoot!"