John Hall has now published seven Holmes-Watson pastiches, counting this one, and all have been entirely enjoyable, with the possible exception of the very first, THE TRAVELS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, about which I "ha' me doots." He has also been "guilty of several monographs" of Holmesian scholarship, again seven. And he has written mysteries set in modern times.

He gets Watson's style and personality down quite well, and is enough of a Holmes scholar to have some real fun with byways of the Canon. In this novel it is 1903, Holmes and Watson don't see much of one another, and there are nasty doings at the little-known but ultra-prestigious Abbey School, where the most powerful men of the British Empire send their sons. A wealthy student has been expelled for a petty theft he obviously did not commit, and his expulsion is immediately followed by the mysterious death of a schoolmaster who has been previously overheard, by students, muttering about a "shocking situation." When Holmes is asked to take the case, the faculty stonewall him totally, so he is forced to send Watson in disguise to fill in temporarily for the dead teacher of english, and to cast about for clues and information.

There are some deliberate echoes of "The Priory School," a case said to have taken place just a few years earlier. The goals of the three revealed villains sound plausible to me, as deduced by Holmes, but they conveniently come to nasty ends before any confession, leaving certain plot points unresolved.

As usual in Breese books, misprints are very few. In fact, I noticed only one. On p. 19 the character named Watson Minor is called Watson Major. [There is a Major, but he is not in that scene.]

Here are 160 pages of Holmes and Watson that won't insult your intelligence, your literary standards, or your love of the characters. [Take particular note of the new career Watson is contemplating on pages 25!] Recommended.

Holmesians are well aware that the ending of "A Scandal in Bohemia" is highly unsatisfactory for both Holmes and the King of Bohemia, whom Irene Adler, his former lover, is in an excellent position to blackmail. In his latest Holmes pastiche, John Hall takes this situation up again about a year after the events of "Scandal." Irene Norton says she needs to consult Holmes, but vanishes on the way to 221B Baker Street. Apparently kidnapped and left to die, Norton is rescued by Holmes and Watson... but her account of the new situation that threatens the King and herself is highly unsatisfactory and probably pretty close to an outright lie. Instead of refusing to take the case, as Conan Doyle's consulting detective always did when faced with a client who refused to explain the real situation, Holmes and Watson wind up in Bohemia in what is pretty certain to be a wild-goose chase, and both Holmes and Watson bumble in some pretty inexplicable ways, with Watson coming perilously close to being a comical sidekick more than once. The quest to recover the famous letters and photo supposedly stolen from Irene Norton succeeds with ridiculous ease, considering the planless, gormless, painfully unintelligent approaches adopted by Holmes. And then the fact that Mrs. Norton lied suddenly assumes deadly importance.

With the situation treated rather lightly by the author throughout, it was a jarring and unwelcome twist for this elderly and jaded reader when the adventure ended with the very abrupt deaths of five characters (two offstage), over only two pages, with one of the deceased certainly an innocent bystander!

Not one of Hall's better efforts, this goes on the bottom of the stack with TRAVELS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. It gets three stars only because of the fine period writing style in which the improbable adventure is recounted.

Following an outrageous crime in Paris, where a criminal claiming to be Sherlock Holmes plays an pivotal role, the real Great Detective and his trusty biographer head off to the continent where things are far more complex than they first appear...

John Hall writes a reasonable Holmes book, relying upon the known plans of Professor Moriarty and featuring the French thief, Arsene Jupin, in a strong supporting role.

His writing plays to a desirable strength: Holmes and Watson are truly portrayed as detectives, accumulating clues and investigating leads, as they try to uncover exactly who is behind the plot and where to find him. In this quest they utilise both the services of the French Surete and the contacts they develop in the underworld. However, the relative ease with which they move through the organisation of the French master criminal makes him seem a little less formidable than would be desirable.

There is nothing wrong with the portrayal of Holmes and Watson, but be the same token they are not very exciting or notable.

Arsene Jupin (as Arsene Lupin is called here) is a bit bland. Lupin, as originally portrayed, had a bit of a hard edge that reduced as his stories went along. The portrayal here is Lupin at his most boring.

A reasonable read for Holmes fans, not so interesting for those who want to read Lupin.

It's been so long since I read the previous Holmes pastiches by John Hall that about all I can remember is that they were a notch above the usual. Here we backslide a bit, firmly into the middle rank.

The eccentric Lord Hammerford has left a strange will which basically requires his two prospective heirs to engage in a kind of scavenger hunt, the end goal being a hidden box containing Lord Hammerford's wealth, converted into gems. But Hammerford dies about 15 years prematurely for the actions required by the will to favor both heirs equally, and Holmes is called in on behalf of the one of the heirs Hammerford's early death severely handicaps. Meanwhile at least two(?) gangs of criminals are after the hidden gems as well.

Various pastiche authors handle stretching Holmes out to novel length by having the criminals act in incredibly stupid fashion, and others handle the stretch by having Holmes himself behave in incredibly stupid fashion. The present work tends to the latter, rather than the former, solution. Even Watson out-thinks Holmes here, more than a couple of times.

In any case, the plot calls for action more than ratiocination, with several wild carriage chases through crowded London byways, and a royal battle with a gang of kidnappers, in which even Billy the pageboy gets to take a hand. You may or may not enjoy it all. I have mixed feelings about it myself. But at 137 pages, you are not going to waste a lot of your time, whatever your final judgement.

This tale of Sherlock Holmes investigating the disappearance of some bonds, prior to their issue, in the vaults of the Bank of England and in high society is an odd mixture.

On the one hand, the mystery is well constructed and its investigation, including the slow piecing together of disparate pieces of information to create a sensible whole is excellent.

On the other, the story is related in such a clinical and passionless fashion that it fails to excite the interest of the reader, if appealing to the intellect.

Probably on par with some of the lower-average Holmes stories from the pen of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

This edition by Penguin contains the full-length Sherlock Holmes novel THE VALLEY OF FEAR along with selected short stories from THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES and HIS LAST BOW. THE VALLEY OF FEAR was written after Conan Doyle killed off Holmes in 1892, but is set before Holmes' disappearance at the Reichenbach Falls. THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES opens with a story that shows that Holmes didn't die in his struggle with Professor Moriarty after all.

These stories show a decline in Conan Doyle's writing. As Iain Pears wrote in the introduction to another Penguin edition of Holmes stories, in the latter half of his life Conan Doyle turned to mysticism and spiritualism and was increasingly unable to portray the cold rationalism of Sherlock Holmes. Many of the stories lack motivation. The story HIS LAST BOW, which is final story in the canon according to Holmesian time, is a poorly-plotted bit of propaganda for England in World War I.

There are footnotes to each story, compiled by Ed Glinert. An expert on literature set in London, Glinert explains the geographical settings of the Holmes stories, and defines anachronistic terms that are no longer use. He also points out the mistakes Arthur Conan Doyle frequently made in his stories, which are often quite amusing (contradicting timelines, Conan Doyles' incomplete understanding of obscure sciencs, etc).

Because of the illuminating introduction and the helpful footnotes, I'd recommend over any others this edition of THE VALLEY OF FEAR AND SELECTED CASES

Meyer continues his version of Sherlock Holmes with a tale of Holmes' lost years after the "Moriarty Problem." Holmes becomes a violinist for the Paris Opera and through the intervention of Irene Adler, becomes involved in the strange case of the "opera ghost." There are many problems with this novel. Watson's presence is sorely missed and efforts to replace his role with characters from the opera are unsuccessful. Irene Adler's inclusion is an uneccessary distraction and is used soley to comment on Holmes' sexual repression. The case itself is so familiar to the reader that only the inclusion of Holmes changes the basic story, thus there are no surprises.(who doesn't know the basics of Laroux's Phantom?) This was a very disappointing sequel to Meyer's other Holmes' novels and wasn't owrth the wait.

I liked this book because it combined my two favourite characters: the phantom of the opera (Erik) and Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock stayed the remarkable genius that he is(even though he blundered miserbly sometimes-but,hey,YOU try to do better). But I was really disappointed with the treatment of Erik. Meyer calls him 'the creature' and makes him more insane than even in the original book! Personally, I the most appealling thing about Erik is that he IS a sympathetic character hopelessly in love with Christine Daae. This is why I 'liked' the Canary Trainer, not 'loved' it. (P.S.-Having Gaston Leroux as the music instucter was a creative touch)

But it's not as bad as all that. Nevertheless if you want to read Meyer's Holmes pastiches I'd recommend starting with the other two (_The Seven Per Cent Solution_ and _The West End Horror_). Meyer at his best is splendid.

If you do so, then be sure to ignore the misinformation in the Kirkus Reviews excerpt above. _The West End Horror_ has nothing to do with Jack the Ripper; it concerns a pair of grisly murders that take place in London's theater district. I assume the reviewer is thinking of Edward Hanna's _The Whitechapel Horrors_.

Frankly I wonder why I even bother reading Sherlock Holmes pastiche's anymore. They are usually so dreadful.

Well, this attempt is pretty dreadful too. And dull. Very dull. And the plot is somewhat unbelievable. Did I mention tedious and dull?

A laughable attempt to take advantage of the Holmesian's desire for new adventures. Giant Rat indeed...must be a reference to the author. Please..Please...Please..don't waste your money. Fortunately I borrowed a copy from the Library. After two chapters I started skimming and finally threw the book aside in disgust.

This one didn't live up to expectations, but to be fair, expectations for a fan of Conan Doyle's series are fairly high, and the elusive nature of this case demands equally stunning writing. While this isn't bad, it's not good either; the "mystery" is thin, and rather than finishing up with a satisfactory bang of enlightenment, it crawls across the finish line, adding another full "chapter" after the "Epilogue" notice. The science-fiction elements had real promise, however much they borrowed from Dr. Moreau, but instead of expanding them, Vanneman tries to focus on poorly-constructed minor characters that seem thrown in for the sake of a larger cast. Watson's sexual exploits are equally pointless, and Holmes' romantic attatchment to the Widow Han seems a desperate attempt to recreate Irene Adler. Too many unanswered questions and shoddy plotting make this one to skip. Instead, try some of Nicholas Meyers' Holmes stories - The Seven Percent Solution and The West End Horror are most excellent.

This was one of the first non-Doyle Holmes stories that I picked up to read, and I was quite disappointed. The plot is thin, and Andrews tries to capture the spark of the Watson-Holmes relationship without much success. Frankly, I think the book is somewhat boring. Since this book I have found numerous other non-Doyle stories that are very good.