Customer Reviews

Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine 2

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The very name of a magazine can, at times, become a heavy cross to bear, e.g. the "Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine". It is a decent magazine that provides authors (new & old) with a rare opportunity to show-case their talents in the short-story format. However, the very name of the magazine as well as its editor (Marvin Kaye, who has given us at least two superb Sherlockian anthologies in the past, and has thereby raised our level of expectation by several notches) conjures certain images, most prominent of them being that of a Victorian London shrouded in carboniferous fog, behind which evil lurches. Unfortunately, the works in this particular volume (II) of the said magazine do not fit into that picture at all, except in one work, and even that is ..... Let me get into the review mode, as deemed fit in this place, and describe the works to the extent possible:

1. "From Watson's Scrapbook" by John H. Watson (ahem!) & J. Adrian Fillmore(!), gives the magazine a foreword, although it may also be read as a fore-warning since it straightaway demolishes any preconceptions that the poor reader might have regarding the works being Sherlockian.
2. "Baker Street Browsings" by Kim Newman is a superb, scholarly and interesting (oxymoronic?) review of three pastiche novels ("A Slight Trick of the Mind", "The Final Solution" and "The Italian Secretary") and two short-story collections ("The Oriental Casebook of Sherlock Holmes" and "Ghosts in Baker Street"), which provokes the reader into trying to get hold of the books and develop his/her own impression.
3. "Ask Mrs. Hudson" by Mrs. Martha Hudson (well..) is interesting as a side-show, but the recipes are questionable (maybe too "British"?!).
4. "Sherlock Holmes on Review" by Carole Bugge is a nice & personal recollection as well as review of the Sherlock Holmes adventures in Radio.
5. "The Adventure of the Hanoverian Vampires" is a curious tale told by an unexpected narrator, which might come as a natural thing, the tale being that of an alternate world. It is good.
6. "You See, but You Forget" by Marc Bilgrey is an utterly inferior effort that comes out as a kid's wish-fulfillment fantasy in terms of revenge.
7. "Tough as Diamonds" by David Waxman is, in terms of structure & diction, a pretender to hard-boiled style. In reality it is junk that fills up some pages, and gives the magazine a bad name.
8. "The Mystery of the Flying Man" by Ron Goulart is an enjoyable `Harry Challenge' story, which deserves a place ONLY in pulp-style magazines.
9. "A Study in Evil" by Gary Lovisi is a good pastiche, which makes Holmes far more humane than he is ordinarily portrayed. It also gives the Holmes-Lestrade relationship (now don't start assuming things, I was describing their "professional" relationship) a fresh angle.
10. "The Ballad of the Gloria Scott" by Len Moffatt was simply superb, and among the few really good things that have happened in the Sherlockian world recently.
11. "Max's Cap" by Jean Paiva was a waste of paper & ink (from the magazine's point of view), time (from reader's point of view) and money (from Wildside Press' point of view, since they must have paid Mr. Paiva some money). It was good business on Mr. Paiva's part, which implies that next time I read his name in the author's list, I stay away).
12. "A Reputation for Murder" by M.J, Elliott was an idiosyncrasy in itself, since right from the author's description of the protagonist (female detective Ms Hilary Caine) in her own words, to the other characters and the dialogues, the whole effort was contrived, aiming to make something very clever (remember Ellary Queen when he was his obnoxious best?), but making even the mystery and its solution very-very trivial.
13. "The Musgrave Ritual" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is truly a Sherlock Holmes Classic, and it is beyond me to say anything in this regard.

Overall, good magazine in terms of value: a classic, two very good non-fiction which make the book worth reading, a poem that was superb, two good stories, and a lot of trash which could have been avoided.

Okay, you know I had to work a Sherlockian cliche in somewhere.

Sherlock Holmes isn't for everybody - but if the bug bites you, you simply can't get enough. This helps feed the need for tales from Baker Street.

I liked the first issue, the second is even better. Nice bits of fiction and Kim Newman's book reviews were well done. All packaged rather well (okay, maybe I'm not on board for the Mrs. Hudson thing, but I'll keep reading it) in a quality product.

I'm looking forward to the third issue!

Great new Magazine featuring great mystery writers!!!!!!
All mystery fans and especially Sherlock Holmes fans should be reading this
magazine!!!!!!! Great size like the EQMM magazine but with had covers to make
it more sutbstantial to hold.
Get a copy quickly and become a mystery fan today.
Maybe even a Sherlock Holmes fan!!!!!!!