Holiday Holmes

I hope everyone is getting into (or out of) the holiday season.  Read the Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle to get you into the Christmas mood.  A great Christmas present would be a copy of The Murder in the Library by me and No Police Like Holmes and Baker Street Beat by that amazing writer and Sherlock wiz Dan Andriacco.  Enjoy the end of the year!

No Police Like Holmes by Dan Andriacco

Sam Spade meets Sherlock Holmes.  Philip Marlowe meets Dr. Watson.  How much murder and mayhem can one expect at a sedate (ahem) conference of Sherlock aficionados at a college symposium?  A lot.

No Police Like Holmes is Dan Andriacco’s second book for MX Publishing.  His first was a small but pithy compilation of writing and scripts on all things Sherlockian, Baker Street Beat. This novel takes place at a Midwestern university.  A collection of Holmes manuscripts are being donated and some valuable pieces go missing.   And a body is discovered.  All good fun.

The hero, Jeff Cody, is part Woody Allen, part Humphrey Bogart.  He drinks Diet Coke but is not adverse to lusting after his ex-flame Lynda Teal (rhymes with Emma….. another great sexy heroine).  Other colorful characters are a gorgeous vamp married to an old rich man who collects Sherlockiana artifacts and books.  And Cody’s brother-in-law, a Nero Wolfe style armchair sleuth, is the catalyst that keeps the sleuthing and the plot going strong.

Will Jeff discover who stole the priceless manuscripts?  Will Jeff and Lynda find the murderer before the blighter gets them? Will the conference of the assembled Holmes fans continue without further disaster?

And most importantly, will Jeff get Lynda back into the sack?

No Police like Holmes is a fun, literary read.  In the hands of Andriacco, the above statement in not an oxymoron.   Get this book, dive into a comfy chair, pour yourself a couple of fingers of scotch and enjoy this, sweetheart.

Barefoot on Baker Street (spoiler alert!)

Barefoot on Baker Street (spoiler alert) and the Autumn Leaves

The Murder in the Library- available from MX and Amazon!

BF on Baker St is a very energetic, ambitious novel by Charlotte Anne Walters. (spoiler alert)  If you have ever wondered if Holmes, Watson and Moriarty had sex lives, then this is the book for you! 

‘nuff said.  Walters depicts a very real, brutal and frightening look at the underworld of Victorian London.  Her heroine, “Red,” is a fighter, a lover and a woman who is abused so many times and triumphs that I wonder where Walters gets her information and inspiration.  It seems very real and made me squirm.

A moment of silence for all the brave men and women who died on September 11, 2001 in the U.S. 

Autumn is coming, it’s the best time to savor a book about Holmes.  The air has a crisp bite,  the leaves turn bright gold and amber and you can almost hear the carriage wheels rattling over cobbled stone streets.  When you least expect it, Holmes is there!

Review of Baker Street Beat and the Beatles

I saw Paul McCartney last week.  My favorite Beatle and one of the greatest entertainers of all time.  The longer he played, the younger he looked!  That, my friends is the secret of youth.  That's why Sherlock Holmes is perpetually 39, he's happy and he's endured.

Ok, now onto Baker Street Beat "an eclectic collection of Sherlockian Scribblings" by Dan Andriacco who also has a very eclectic and amazing personal background.  This book includes essays, short stories, radio dramas and a fab (Beatles again!) annotated bibliography.  His early recollections of how he became a Holmes fan are touching, thanks for letting us into your private space, Dan.  If you don't read any other Holmes pastiche this year, please, please read the short story The Peculiar Persecution of John Vincent Harden which has to be the closest in tone and content to a Holmes work that I have read in a long time.  Good job, fellow paisano Andriacco.  I would like to see him attempt a full length Holmes novel and perhaps there is one in the future?

I am going to speak at the Oak Brook book club next week about Murder in the Library, Sherlock, Agatha Christie and the writing process.  These ladies are no slouches when it comes to fiction, so wish me luck!

Enjoy the day.

The Case of the Grave Accusation

How nice it would be if all our favorite literary characters could be summoned into the present day by a letter, telegram or email.  Such is the premise in The Case of the Grave Accusation, a Sherlock Holmes adventure by Dicky Neely.  Watson is summoned by Holmes by letter to arrive at 221b Baker St.  They seek out to investigate the allegations that the Hound of the Baskervilles was not written by Doyle but stolen from Robinson.  A nefarious gentleman by the name of Roger la Pelure d'Ail wants Robinson's body exhumed, after hurling the most atrocious accusations against Doyle.  Cool story, watch Holmes grapple with a computer and be happy about it! Nice chronology of the ACD/BFR story/intrigue at the end of the book.

Thanks to all for your continued praise of my Sherlock inspired story "The Murder in the Library."  I just received some nice words from Laura Levine, author of 8 Jaine Austen mysteries and a past writer for LaVerne and Shirley. Enjoy this hot summer and keep reading!

Brian Pugh's Chronology and Murder in the Biblioteca

Hello to all and thanks for your very positive comments about Murder in the Library.  Exciting news is that it is being picked up for an Italian translation by Gargoyle Books and will be published in Italian in the spring of 2012.  Being half Italian my famiglia is molto felice!!

After reading the AMAZING  A Chronolgy of the Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by Brian W. Pugh I have to take off my hat to this writer for presenting a complete, comprehensive chronology of the life and works of ACD.  This volume presents everything you wanted to know about Doyle and when and where he accomplished it.  Excellent index, great photographs.  This would make an excellent supplementary textbook for a class on Sherlock and/or the works of Doyle.  I forgot about The Lost World and now I'm itching to reread it!

I hope you are enjoying summer.  I'm looking forward to my next reads, The Case of the Grave Accusation and the Baker Street Beat.

Ciao!

Watson, Mrs. Watson, Librarians and Jack the Ripper

Happy Memorial Day holiday to all.  I was talking to my dad yesterday about World War II (he's 93) and his memories were very strong and indelible.  I can't imagine him flying a propeller plane all over the world.  I get sick in an elevator these days.  Modern life is not conducive to bravery.

On that note, there are some very brave fictional characters  that I have enjoyed reading about this week.  Molly Carr's A Study in Crimson, continues the adventures of Mrs. Watson and Mrs. St. Clair as they search for the Holy Grail.  I love the way Carr works in Rossetti, Raffles, Moriarty and the Mafia through her narrative.

Watson's Afghan Adventure by Kieran McMullen gives us a look at Watson's life pre-Holmes.  Watson's war experiences in the far east not only give us an excellent look at the past conflict in this area but give us an insight into the character of the man that we know and love as Holmes' right hand man and companion.

Can I review a non-MX book about Holmes?  Hope so, so here goes.  Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye.  A great book about Holmes and Jack the Ripper.  Faye's descriptions of Victorian London are superb.  And the plot is original and that's no small deed as so many authors have attempted Jack the Ripper interpretations.

Thanks to all for the continued praise of my book The Murder in the Library.  I look forward to speaking at book clubs this summer.  To the gentleman from Evanston who said he and his wife read my book while traveling in London and visiting the Sherlock Holmes Society, and enjoyed it very much,  I say thanks!