Which author would be recommended for reading the "Missing Cases of Sherlock Holmes"?

[Abhay Saini]

There are around 96 cases alluded to by Watson in the Canon 56 Stories and 4 Novels, but they aren't penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php?title=Category:Untold_Stories

Can anyone recommend third party authors who have written in a style that is similar to Sir ACD, all of his missing cases?

Apart from that, which book/author is considered the best for the "Missing Years" of Holmes where he visited Lhassa, Persia, Mecca and South of France?

I have read one "The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes" yet.

Thanks,

Abhay

[besleybean]

Strongly recommend Anthony Horowitz's two Sherlockian novels:

The House of Silk is excellent

and 

Moriarty is ok.

[Abhay Saini]

Thanks besleybean.

Can you kindly add a one line summary for each book?

Also, is there one author who has written everything? Changing authors kinda disturbs the consistency

[besleybean]

Well I just gave you two books by the same author!

No, I cannot really give you summaries:

they are both written as Sherlock Holmes mysteries, I cannot give too much away on the first and the latter obviously concerns Moriarty!

[Caya]

I may be stating the obvious, but Nicholas Meyer's books are excellent imo;  for the missing years you'll want his The Canary Trainer. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

4 hours ago, besleybean said:

Strongly recommend Anthony Horowitz's two Sherlockian novels:

The House of Silk is excellent

I can't think that I've read any non-Doyle Holmes stories other than House of Silk, which I bought because of some good reviews.  I thought the author gave away the ending fairly early in the book.  I kept reading, hoping to be proved wrong -- but alas I wasn't.  (And I didn't even like the ending.)

That case was entirely Horowitz's invention, though -- it's not one of the "missing cases" mentioned in Doyle's stories, such as Ricoletti and his abominable wife, the aluminium crutch, etc.  Meyer's Seven Percent Solution, as Caya mentioned, is somewhat based on canon (in the sense that it attempts to explain some things), but it isn't a "missing case" either, not in the sense that you meant.

 

[Abhay Saini]

Well, any of these cases which you can find anywhere would be a good help ":-

The Abbas Parva Tragedy
The Abergavenny Murder
The Addleton Tragedy and the Singular Contents of the Ancient British Barrow
The Adventure of the Amateur Mendicant Society
The Adventure of the Old Russian Woman
The Adventure of the Paradol Chamber
The Adventure of the Tired Captain
The Adventures of the Grice Patersons in the Island of Uffa
The Affair of the Aluminium Crutch
The Arnsworth Castle Business
The Arrest of Huret, the Boulevard Assassin
The Arrest of Wilson, the Notorious Canary-Trainer
The Bishopgate Jewel Case
The Blackmailing of One of the Most Revered Names in England
The Bogus Laundry Affair
The Brooks Case
The Camberwell Poisoning Case
The Case for which Sherlock Holmes Refused a Knighthood
The Case of Archie Stamford, the Forger
The Case of Bert Stevens, the terrible murderer
The Case of Colonel Carruthers
The Case of Colonel Warburton's Madness
The Case of Count Von und Zu Grafenstein
The Case of Henry Staunton
The Case of Isadora Persano and the Worm Unknown to Science
The Case of Mathews
The Case of Matilda Briggs and the Giant Rat of Sumatra
The Case of Merridew of Abominable Memory
The Case of Miss Minnie Warrender
The Case of Morgan the Poisoner
The Case of Mrs Farintosh and the Opal Tiara
The Case of Mrs. Etherege's Husband
The Case of old Abrahams
The Case of Old Baron Dowson
The Case of Ricoletti of the Club-Foot and his Abominable Wife
The Case of Sir James Saunders
The Case of Supreme Inportance for the French Government
The Case of the Cutter Alicia
The Case of the Darlington Substitution Scandal
The Case of the Fashionably Dressed Young Girl
The Case of the Ferrers Documents
The Case of the Grey-Headed, Seedy Visitor, Looking Like a Jew Pedlar
The Case of the King of Scandinavia
The Case of the Netherland-Sumatra Company and of the Colossal Schemes of Baron Maupertuis
The Case of the Old White-Haired Gentleman
The Case of the Papers of Ex-President Murillo
The Case of the Peculiar Persecution of John Vincent Harden
The Case of the Politician, the Lighthouse, and the Trained Cormorant
The Case of the Railway Porter in his Velveteen Uniform
The Case of the Slip-Shod Elderly Woman
The Case of the Trepoff Murder
The Case of the Two Coptic Patriarchs
The Case of the Unfortunate Mme. Montpensier
The Case of the Venomous Lizard or Gila
The Case of the Woman at Margate with no Powder on her Nose
The Case of Vamberry the Wine Merchant
The Case of Vanderbilt and the Yeggman
The Case of Victor Lynch the Forger
The Case of Vigor the Hammersmith Wonder
The Case of Vittoria the Circus Belle
The Case of Wilson the District Messenger
The Coiner's Case
The Commission from the Sultan of Turkey
The Conk-Singleton Forgery Case
The Death of Mrs. Stewart of Lauder
The Death of Old Mrs Harold
The Disappearance of Mr. James Phillimore
The Domestic Complication of Mrs. Cecil Forrester
The Dramatic Introduction of Dr. Moore Agar
The Dreadful Business of the Abernetty Family
The Dundas Separation Case
The Famous Card Scandal of the Nonpareil Club
The Forged Cheque on the Credit Lyonnais
The François Le Villard's Case Concerning a Will
The Killing of Young Perkins
The Little Affair of the Vatican Cameos
The Little Problem of the Grosvenor Square Furniture Van
The Little Turns with John Clay
The Loss of the British Barque Sophy Anderson
The Manor House Case
The Mission for the Reigning Family of Holland
The Murder of Victor Savage
The Robbery in the train-de-luxe to the Riviera
The Shocking Affair of the Dutch Steamship Friesland
The Simple Matter of Fairdale Hobbs
The Smith-Mortimer Succession Case
The St. Pancras Case
The Story of the Red Leech and the Death of Crosby the Banker
The Sudden Death of Cardinal Tosca
The Tankerville Club Scandal
The Tarleton Murders
The Tragedy of the Atkinson Brothers
The Tragedy of Woodman's Lee
The Trifling Matter of Mortimer Maberley
The Two Successful Cases of Alec McDonald
The Woodhouse Case

[godwulfAZ]

At least two authors have written about 'The Giant Rat of Sumatra' - Richard Boyer in '76 (one of my favorite Holmes continuation stories) and Alan Vanneman in 2002. I have Vanneman"s book, but haven't read it yet. I suspect there are others; that title is pretty irresistible. 

I've just watched a video interview with Leslie Klinger and Laurie King, editors of numerous Holmes anthologies, done last December, wherein Leslie mentions Boyer's 'The Giant Rat of Sumatra' as being generally considered to be one of the finest Holmes pastiches of all time. It's certainly one of the finest I'VE ever encountered. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hello godwulf -- welcome to Sherlock Forum!     And congratulations on jumping right in with some good information.

The last bit of your name has me curious, though -- if you don't mind telling, is that as in "A to Z" or as in Arizona or something else?

 

[HerlockSholmes]

Paul Gilbert and Bob Bishop have also wrote about The Giant Rat but I’m sure there are more. I’ll have a look through my books and see if I have any more.

Ive definitely got some of the stories in Abhay Saini’s original post. I could have a look but it would take ages and as he/she hasn’t posted since July of last year....

 

 

 

[Hikari]

I can recommend Lyndsay Faye, who has written several stories on your list.  "The Whole Art of Detection" is a great short-story collection.  Ms. Faye was inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars on the strength of it.

 

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-whole-art-of-detection-lost-mysteries-of-sherlock-holmes_lyndsay-faye/11637886/#edition=15625545&idiq=31812674

[besleybean]

I am reading this right now!

My sister bought me it.

It is brilliant and I love it.

I have one of Lindsay's stories in a compilation, too.

[HerlockSholmes]

14 hours ago, Hikari said:

I can recommend Lyndsay Faye, who has written several stories on your list.  "The Whole Art of Detection" is a great short-story collection.  Ms. Faye was inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars on the strength of it.

 

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-whole-art-of-detection-lost-mysteries-of-sherlock-holmes_lyndsay-faye/11637886/#edition=15625545&idiq=31812674

I have Dust And Shadows but not that one Hikari. Another one goes onto the list.

[HerlockSholmes]

I’ve found 2 more.

There’s a collection called The Resurrected Holmes by Marvin Kaye. The premise is that the stories were written under ‘assumed’ names by a very famous author. The Giant Rat is written by Paula Volsky (who is a fantasy writer) but it’s ‘ascribed’ to HP Lovecraft. Another one is written by ‘CS Forester.’

The other collection is The Secret Chronicles Of Sherlock Holmes by June Thomson. (Thomson has written a few collections which are very good plus at least one Holmes novel) The story is called The Case Of The Sumatran Rat.

To be honest I thought that I had more versions of the story but I’m certain that more exist.

 

[HerlockSholmes]

15 hours ago, Hikari said:

I can recommend Lyndsay Faye, who has written several stories on your list.  "The Whole Art of Detection" is a great short-story collection.  Ms. Faye was inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars on the strength of it.

 

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-whole-art-of-detection-lost-mysteries-of-sherlock-holmes_lyndsay-faye/11637886/#edition=15625545&idiq=31812674

Hi Hikari,

Im surprised that David Marcum hasn’t produced some kind of bibliography of Holmes pastiches? 

[HerlockSholmes]

On the subject of pastiches, this is an excellent short Holmes story written by Stephen Fry.

http://www.fanfromfla.net/images/fry_jarvey.pdf

[besleybean]

Fantastic, thank you for posting this.

[HerlockSholmes]

4 hours ago, besleybean said:

Fantastic, thank you for posting this.

No problem. I didn’t even know that it existed until yesterday. I think it’s good. He should write more but I tend to doubt that he will.

[Hikari]

On 3/14/2021 at 7:39 AM, HerlockSholmes said:

Hi Hikari,

Im surprised that David Marcum hasn’t produced some kind of bibliography of Holmes pastiches? 

Hi, Herl,

David M. has made it his life's work (when he isn't civil engineering) to assemble all the threads of what he calls The Great Holmes Tapestry, in which every 'new'/extra-canonical adventure of Holmes & Watson, and the related characters is integrated into the chronological timeline of Holmes's life (1854 - 1957).  He does not entertain any stories that have Sherlock Holmes battling aliens from Mars or time-traveling, etc. but tries to, insofar as one can with a fictional character, keep it real, and in the spirit of Conan Doyle.  He is on record as preferring Basil Rathbone's Holmes to all others, and so many of Rathbone's Holmes movies are set during the WWII years and other alternative settings.  According to Mr. W.S. Baring Gould, Holmes was alive during the Second War years, albeit in greatly advanced years.  One of my very favorite Holmes pastiches ever is John Lescroart's Dunkirk (found In the Company of Sherlock Holmes), in which a mysterious, superannuated yet very vigorous gentleman, name of Sigerson, pitches in with the evacuation efforts of Operation Dynamo on the Sussex coast in May 1940.   Young Sherlock Holmes presented a thorny obstacle, having Holmes & Watson meet as schoolboys in the 1870s.  The jarring anomaly threatened the time-space continuum and led to several sleepless nights of dorm-pacing in his residence hall before David decided that young Watson, played by Alan Cox, son of Scots acting great Brian, 14 years old here, was actually Holmes's younger cousin, Verner, who would one day purchase Dr. Watson's medical practice in Kensington.  The integrity of the tapestry must be preserved.  For myself, I could enjoy YSH as an alternative scenario depicting what might have happened, had our famous duo met 10 years earlier than commonly accepted, not that they *did*, necessarily.

He told me that he is in fact working on his bibliography of the Tapestry, possibly for a future book; however this is a lifelong labor that will never be finished, and it will be outdated as soon as it's published because of all the hundreds of Sherlock stories and novels and film treatments that come out annually.  He gets contacted all the time by fellow enthusiasts who beg him to release what he's got, but he always demurs.  If he can ever get away from the civil service with the Tennessee Department of Transportation or whatever, he is poised to be the Baring-Gould of our generation.  He has, as you know, vehemently rejected Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series as fraudulent and having no place in the Tapestry, apart from the first book, which he liked . . even though King's insistence on getting her dates wrong angers him.  She took a decade away from Holmes's age to make him slightly less implausible as husband material for a 21 year old, but when the two meet, Holmes is in fact 64 years old to Russell's 15.  So that makes him nearly 70 at 'the wedding'.  King says SH was 50 at the first meeting and seems to be frozen in time to no more than 60 subsequently, while Russell keeps having birthdays.

We can all agree that where SH is concerned, age is immaterial, but having Russell be Sherlock's wife was always an inherently flawed premise.  

[HerlockSholmes]

2 hours ago, Hikari said:

Hi, Herl,

David M. has made it his life's work (when he isn't civil engineering) to assemble all the threads of what he calls The Great Holmes Tapestry, in which every 'new'/extra-canonical adventure of Holmes & Watson, and the related characters is integrated into the chronological timeline of Holmes's life (1854 - 1957).  He does not entertain any stories that have Sherlock Holmes battling aliens from Mars or time-traveling, etc. but tries to, insofar as one can with a fictional character, keep it real, and in the spirit of Conan Doyle.  He is on record as preferring Basil Rathbone's Holmes to all others, and so many of Rathbone's Holmes movies are set during the WWII years and other alternative settings.  According to Mr. W.S. Baring Gould, Holmes was alive during the Second War years, albeit in greatly advanced years.  One of my very favorite Holmes pastiches ever is John Lescroart's Dunkirk (found In the Company of Sherlock Holmes), in which a mysterious, superannuated yet very vigorous gentleman, name of Sigerson, pitches in with the evacuation efforts of Operation Dynamo on the Sussex coast in May 1940.   Young Sherlock Holmes presented a thorny obstacle, having Holmes & Watson meet as schoolboys in the 1870s.  The jarring anomaly threatened the time-space continuum and led to several sleepless nights of dorm-pacing in his residence hall before David decided that young Watson, played by Alan Cox, son of Scots acting great Brian, 14 years old here, was actually Holmes's younger cousin, Verner, who would one day purchase Dr. Watson's medical practice in Kensington.  The integrity of the tapestry must be preserved.  For myself, I could enjoy YSH as an alternative scenario depicting what might have happened, had our famous duo met 10 years earlier than commonly accepted, not that they *did*, necessarily.

He told me that he is in fact working on his bibliography of the Tapestry, possibly for a future book; however this is a lifelong labor that will never be finished, and it will be outdated as soon as it's published because of all the hundreds of Sherlock stories and novels and film treatments that come out annually.  He gets contacted all the time by fellow enthusiasts who beg him to release what he's got, but he always demurs.  If he can ever get away from the civil service with the Tennessee Department of Transportation or whatever, he is poised to be the Baring-Gould of our generation.  He has, as you know, vehemently rejected Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series as fraudulent and having no place in the Tapestry, apart from the first book, which he liked . . even though King's insistence on getting her dates wrong angers him.  She took a decade away from Holmes's age to make him slightly less implausible as husband material for a 21 year old, but when the two meet, Holmes is in fact 64 years old to Russell's 15.  So that makes him nearly 70 at 'the wedding'.  King says SH was 50 at the first meeting and seems to be frozen in time to no more than 60 subsequently, while Russell keeps having birthdays.

We can all agree that where SH is concerned, age is immaterial, but having Russell be Sherlock's wife was always an inherently flawed premise.  

Dunkirk is a great Holmes story, I can see why it’s a favourite of yours. It’s one of those that I keep meaning to re-read.

I can see what you mean about David Marcum. He’d have to agree to a ‘cut-off’ point if he was going to put anything into print with updates to follow. It would be well worth it as far as I’m concerned but that doesn’t mean that he’ll ever decide to do it of course. I’m looking forward to getting volume seven and getting back to reading a bit of Holmes then onto volume 9. I think that he’s also done another Solar Pons anthology that I don’t have. As you say, it’s a wonder the man has time to eat or sleep. MX have just bought out volumes of all of the Dr Thorndyke stories which are great but a bit expensive. I bought the entire canon on Kindle for less that £5. I’d prefer the books but there are limits.

There are so many versions of the Holmes stories now that’s it’s starting to feel a bit like overkill to me. I’m unsure if I’ll ever bother with The Irregulars or Enola or any others. I thought that the Mary Russell  books were going to be filmed too? I’m still surprised that the Michael Kurland books have been ignored though. So for me there’s not much to look forward too. The next Downey Jnr movie I suppose. I just wish that the next ‘twist’ on the stories would be to not have a ‘twist.’ I just wish that someone would have a crack at a Holmes series but I’m guessing that the spectre of Brett looms too large perhaps. Someone would play him of course even though they would be pretty assured of hearing “he was good, but he was no Jeremy Brett.” Just as I can’t see anyone bettering David Suchet  Poirot. 
 

House is the nearest I’ve been getting recently. I love it. I’m just about to begin series 7 with 8 to follow.

i read something by Benedict Cumberbatch the other day. He’s in no hurry to play Sherlock again “we’re all soooo busy.” He even hinted that they might do a one off movie rather than a series. Who knows? I’m not seeing a new series any time soon to be honest. I wouldn’t say never but you never know. For the first time ever I’m considering the possibility that there might not be anymore.

[Carol the Dabbler]

4 hours ago, Hikari said:

We can all agree that where SH is concerned, age is immaterial, but having Russell be Sherlock's wife was always an inherently flawed premise.

I agree with the former, but reserve the right to disagree with the latter.  If subsequent books had stayed more in line with Beekeeper's Apprentice and Monstrous Regiment, I might still be reading the series.

Yes, I'm well aware that Watson declared Irene Adler to be "The Woman" as far as Holmes was concerned.  But he presumably wrote Scandal while Holmes was still living in Baker Street, and even then Adler was deceased.  Things change.

2 hours ago, HerlockSholmes said:

I just wish that the next ‘twist’ on the stories would be to not have a ‘twist.’ I just wish that someone would have a crack at a Holmes series but I’m guessing that the spectre of Brett looms too large perhaps.

Let's see, Brett's series was filmed in the 80's and 90's, right?  So it's around 30 years old at this point -- meaning that it's already prehistoric to a large percentage of the population.  My parents' generation knew Basil Rathbone as the "real" Holmes, but they're mostly gone, so you and I are now the old fogies.  As you say, the current trend is that everything must have a twist, but once that craze wears itself out -- well, who knows?

 

 

[HerlockSholmes]

1 hour ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

I agree with the former, but reserve the right to disagree with the latter.  If subsequent books had stayed more in line with Beekeeper's Apprentice and Monstrous Regiment, I might still be reading the series.

Yes, I'm well aware that Watson declared Irene Adler to be "The Woman" as far as Holmes was concerned.  But he presumably wrote Scandal while Holmes was still living in Baker Street, and even then Adler was deceased.  Things change.

Let's see, Brett's series was filmed in the 80's and 90's, right?  So it's around 30 years old at this point -- meaning that it's already prehistoric to a large percentage of the population.  My parents' generation knew Basil Rathbone as the "real" Holmes, but they're mostly gone, so you and I are now the old fogies.  As you say, the current trend is that everything must have a twist, but once that craze wears itself out -- well, who knows?

 

 

That’s true Carol. They ended in 1994. I’ve no problem with the different versions and spin-offs really it’s just that I lose interest when Holmes becomes a bit part player in the book or the movie. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

9 hours ago, HerlockSholmes said:

I lose interest when Holmes becomes a bit part player in the book or the movie. 

You needn't bother with the Mary Russell books, then!     Though The Beekeeper's Apprentice is really good.

You might enjoy the Enola Holmes books -- the brothers appear only now and then, but they're significant characters nonetheless (whereas in the later Russell books, Sherlock becomes kind of incidental).

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

  

On 3/14/2021 at 6:25 PM, HerlockSholmes said:

On the subject of pastiches, this is an excellent short Holmes story written by Stephen Fry.

http://www.fanfromfla.net/images/fry_jarvey.pdf

Judging by its preamble, the story was written no later than 1987.  I've just started reading it, and came across this bit of dialog, following one of Holmes' deductions:
 

'Bravo, Mr. Holmes,' cried our guest, applauding with great energy.  'Miraculous!'

'Meretricious.'

And a happy new year, my dear sir.  Meretricious and a happy new year!'

I have a deduction of my own:  Messrs. Moffat and/or Gatiss are familiar with this story!

 

[besleybean]

I think Mark and Stephen are quite good friends...

just as well this is being typed and not spoken-

so folk can immediately see I am not referring to Moffat!