The Singular Adventures of MR Sherlock Holmes [Paperback]

Alan Stockwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

Dr Watson delves into his battered dispatch-box in the vaults of Cox & Co and draws out fifteen more cases from the career of his friend the eminent consulting detective Sherlock Holmes. Why does a man wear a yellow top hat to feed the pigeons in Trafalgar Square? Why should a dead tree affect a son's inheritance? How can a cyclist disappear in the snow without leaving any traces? The answers to these and many other enigmas are revealed by the master sleuth in this collection of new stories written in the authentic manner.

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Upso (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843750104
• ISBN-13: 978-1843750109
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,082,303 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good going, my dear Stockwell!, November 19, 2003

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Darkendale "Raven" (VA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Singular Adventures of MR Sherlock Holmes (Paperback)

This book captures the heart and soul of Sherlock Holmes quite well except for the last story. There is no way that Holmes would deliberately expose Watson to such danger. Holmes often did not take Watson into his full confidence, simply because Watson was an astutely honest face that was poor at any form of deception. But as Sherlockians may recall in The Adventure of the Three Garridebs when the villian wounds Watson, Holmes coldly informs him that if Watson had been killed the villian would never have left the room alive. So having Holmes expose Watson to deadly danger and then be caviler about it is unthinkable. But the rest of the book is a solid four Sherlock stars! Good work! Write some more and pay more careful attention to detail. Quoth the Raven...

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great mysteries but..., February 18, 2007

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Starfire (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Singular Adventures of Mr Sherlock Holmes (Paperback)

I confess I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, Mr. Stockwell does an outstanding job on the hardest part of any Sherlock Holmes story; thinking up mysteries clever enough for the Great Detective to solve. With only a couple of exceptions these are some very adroit stories and the author never cheats by bringing in a late character at the end to conveniently be the criminial. The reason I did not rate this book any higher though involved the always gray area of characterizations for both Holmes and Watson. Holmes is mostly on his bad behavior here, with little of the quirky charm or humor to relieve it. He is extremely rude to several of his clients. Yes, they are stupid and/or greedy but I can imagine Holmes informing them of their faults and then waving a hand, saying 'begone.' I can't see him taking the time to lecture and insult these people the way he does in this book, time and again. Watson, too, is a bit 'off'. His job seems to be primarily standing around saying, 'well done, Holmes' and marveling at his friend's bad manners. Only the final story has a big emotional kick and it is a bit of a shocker.
Everyone has their own mental pictures of Holmes and Watson and Mr. Stockwell's versions may be more to your taste than mine. If you are keen on brain teaser stories though, this is a definitive keeper.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but not the best, January 30, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Singular Adventures of MR Sherlock Holmes (Paperback)

PRO: The author avoids the trap of overloading his stories with gratuitous references to Holmes trivia (the opium syringe, the persian slipper, the coal scuttle, "the game's afoot!" etc.). Thanks to this, the stories read like genuine new Holmes stories and not cookie-cutter pastiches.

CON: However, to me the tone is not authentic. It sounds almost 20th Century American in places, although I understand the author is British. Holmes at times behaves in so un-Holmes-like a way as to suggest that an imposter has taken his place. He tends to be more uncooperative and disagreeable than the Holmes of the canon, and shows some curious intellectual and logical lapses in solving, or failing to solve, the mysteries. He occasionally does things, as in the last story, that Holmes simply wouldn't do.

The stories themselves present true problems (as opposed to being simply action stories featuring a character named Sherlock Holmes). However, the solutions tend to be a bit obvious in some of them.

I will happily read almost any pastiche, and I enjoyed these, but I'd place them no higher than the middle of the pack overall because of the inauthentic tone and sometimes unimaginative plots. (Of course Doyle sets a high standard.)