Baker Street Irregulars: Thirteen Authors With New Takes on Sherlock Holmes

by Mike Strauss, Michael A. Ventrella (Editor), Jonathan Maberry (Editor), Keith R. A. DeCandido, Jody Lynn Nye

Overview

Thirteen authors, including Gail Z. Martin, David Gerrold, and Jonathan Maberry, come together to pen short stories innovating Sherlock Holmes, adapting and revolutionizing the iconic character.





Sherlock Holmes is one of the most iconic and lasting figures in literature. His feats of detection are legendary, and he continues to capture audiences today in stories, movies, and on TV. In this new anthology, Baker Street Irregulars, authors present the celebrated detective in more than a dozen wildly entertaining new ways. In Ryk Spoor’s thrilling "The Adventures of a Reluctant Detective,” Sherlock is a re-creation in a holodeck. In Hildy Silverman’s mesmerizing "A Scandal in the Bloodline,” Sherlock is a vampire. Heidi McLaughlin sends Sherlock back to college, while Beth Patterson, in the charming "Code Cracker,” turns him into a parrot. The settings range from Russia in the near-future to a reality show, from a dystopian world to an orchestra. Without losing the very qualities that make Sherlock so illustrious a character, these authors spin new webs of mystery around their own singular riff on one of fiction’s truly singular characters.





Stories In This Volume:


"’Locked!" by Mike Strauss


"Identity (An Adventure of Shirley Holmes and Jack Watson)" by Keith R. A. DeCandido


"The Scent of Truth" by Jody Lynn Nye


"The Adventure of the Reluctant Detective" by Ryk Spoor


"A Scandal in the Bloodline" by Hildy Silverman


"The Fabulous Marble" by David Gerrold


"The Scarlet Study" by Jim Avelli


"Delta Phi" by Heidi McLaughlin


"Beethoven’s Baton" by Austin Farmer


"The Adventure of the Melted Saint" by Gail Z. Martin


"Automatic Sherlock" by Martin Rose


"The Hammer of God" by Jonathan Maberry


"Code Cracker" by Beth W. Patterson

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626818408
Publisher:	Diversion Books
Publication date:	03/21/2017
Series:	Baker Street Irregulars
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	703,411
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction 5

"Locked" Mike Strauss 7

Sherlock is the host of a reality show

"Identity" Keith R. A. DeCandido 21

Sherlock is a young girl in modern New York City

"The Scent of Truth" Jody Lynn Nye 42

Sherlock is a doglike alien

"The Adventure of the Reluctant Detective" Ryk Spoor 57

Sherlock is not what he thinks he is

"A Scandal in the Bloodline" Hildy Silverman 93

Sherlock is a vampire

"The Fabulous Marble" David Gerrold 117

Sherlock is a bio-synthed, augmented, 7 percent human, upgraded, unmortal, consulting extrapoloid

"The Scarlet Study" Jim Avelli 132

Sherlock is a worker in a dystopian world

"Delta Phi" Heidi McLaughlin 156

Sherlock is an eighteen-year-old female college student

"Beethoven's Baton" Austin Farmer 182

Sherlock is a musician in Beethoven's orchestra

"The Adventure of the Melted Saint" Gail Z. Martin 200

Sherlock is a transgender detective in Charleston

"Automatic Sherlock" Martin Rose 228

Sherlock is an automaton in a near-future Russia

"The Hammer of God" Jonathan Maberry 246

Sherlock is a nun who works as a field investigator for the Office of Miracles

"Code Cracker" Beth W. Patterson 281

Sherlock is a parrot

About the Authors 299

Editorial Reviews

01/02/2017
When an author writes a story featuring Sherlock Holmes as a “bio-synthed, augmented, 7 percent human, upgraded, unmortal, consulting extrapoloid,” as David Gerrold does in “The Fabulous Marble,” he sets the bar pretty high. Unfortunately, Gerrold fails to clear that bar. But, then again, none of the 12 other contributors to this anthology do any better. As Ventrella says in the introduction, the editors “invited some great writers to give us their interpretations with the only limitation being that we needed a mystery solved by a personality that was clearly Sherlock’s.” Readers get Sherlock as the host of a reality show, as a transgender detective in Charleston, and as a parrot. The results only demonstrate that putting Sherlock’s personality in such unusual forms isn’t as easy as it sounds. Even one of the more clever conceits—Austin Farmer making the sleuth a violinist in Beethoven’s Vienna orchestra in “Beethoven’s Baton”—is undermined by anachronistic language and an over-the-top denouement. Holmes purists should look elsewhere. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly