Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is a perennial favourite amongst those who love to watch a great detective at work. And with a recent movie franchise (Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes) and two current television series (the U.K.'s Sherlock and Elementary on CBS/Global TV), the character is as popular as ever.
This continued interest is also reflected in the world of books. Doyle's classic stories continue to be well-read and the characters are frequently revisited by other writers. Over the years, many authors have crafted new adventures for Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in a wide variety of locales, situations and genres - in stories that range from the traditional to the fantastic and all points in between.
The short story anthology A Study in Sherlock: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon gives some of today's most recognized authors the opportunity to pay homage to Doyle's most famous character. Edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger, this collection includes stories by Neil Gaiman and Lee Child.
Fans of science fiction and horror will appreciate the Gaslight series edited by J.R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec. The decidedly supernatural circumstances in these stories make for some great tension between Holmes' scientific mind and the otherworldly phenomena he encounters. There are three collections in this series: Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes; Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes; and Gaslight Arcanum: Uncanny Tales of Sherlock Holmes.
In the popular Mary Russell series, Laurie R. King explores the partnership between the title character and a retired Holmes. Sherlock becomes Russell's mentor, training her in detection and deductive reasoning. As the stories progress, the two become peers and partners. To date, there are 12 books in this long-running series.
In The Baker Street Letters, Michael Robertson offers a mystery series that explores the popularity and cultural legacy of Holmes as a fictional character. When brothers Reggie and Nigel Heath lease the offices at 221B Baker St. in London, they start receiving the fan mail intended for Sherlock Holmes. Soon, the two are drawn into solving the mysterious cases sent to the famous address. There are currently four books in this series.
There are also some alternative Holmes titles for younger readers.
In The Enola Holmes Mysteries, Nancy Springer presents the 14-year-old younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, who struggles to prove herself as a capable investigator and an independent young woman.
The Boy Sherlock Holmes series introduces Sherlock as a young teen who is in the early stages of becoming the master sleuth of Doyle's stories. As this series progresses, Shane Peacock takes Sherlock through his adolescent years as he grows into a young adult and an increasingly skilled detective.
If you're interested in illustrated adaptations of some of the classic Holmes mysteries, try the graphic novel series by Ian Edginton and illustrated by I.N.J. Culbard. These books are faithful to the original stories but are adapted to fit the graphic novel format. There are currently four titles in this series: The Hound of the Baskervilles, A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four and The Valley of Fear.
These are just a few of the available titles that provide alternative adventures for Sherlock Holmes and his various colleagues and adversaries. And for those more interested in the classic tales, try The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Doyle, which contains the original novels and short stories. Visit the library for these titles or to ask for more suggestions in the continuing adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published every Wednesday. Tammie Mercado works at Port Moody Public Library.
