Observations by Gaslight: Stories from the World of Sherlock Holmes

by Lyndsay Faye

Overview

One of PopSugar's Best New Mysteries and Thrillers of December 2021

A new collection of Sherlockian tales that shows the Great Detective and his partner, Watson, as their acquaintances saw them

Lyndsay Faye—international bestseller, translated into fifteen languages, and a two-time Edgar Award nominee—first appeared on the literary scene with Dust and Shadow, her now-classic novel pitting Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper, and later produced The Whole Art of Detection, her widely acclaimed collection of traditional Watsonian tales.  Now Faye is back with Observations by Gaslight, a thrilling volume of both new and previously published short stories and novellas narrated by those who knew the Great Detective.

Beloved adventuress Irene Adler teams up with her former adversary in a near-deadly inquiry into a room full of eerily stopped grandfather clocks.  Learn of the case that cemented the lasting friendship between Holmes and Inspector Lestrade, and of the tragic crime which haunted the Yarder into joining the police force. And witness Stanley Hopkins’ first meeting with the remote logician he idolizes, who will one day become his devoted mentor.  

From familiar faces like landlady Mrs. Hudson to minor characters like Lomax the sub-librarian, Observations by Gaslight—entirely epistolary, told through diaries, telegrams, and even grocery lists—paints a masterful portrait of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as you have never seen them before.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613162613
Publisher:	Penzler Publishers
Publication date:	12/21/2021
Pages:	295
Sales rank:	995,212
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Lyndsay Faye is the author of six critically acclaimed books: The Paragon Hotel; Jane Steele, which was nominated for an Edgar for Best Novel; Dust and Shadow, a Sherlock Holmes pastiche; The Gods of Gotham, also Edgar-nominated; Seven for a Secret; and The Fatal Flame. She has also published numerous short stories featuring the Holmes character, several of which were collected in 2017’s The Whole Art of Detection. She lives in Queens.

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/11/2021

In this impressive collection of six stories depicting Sherlock Holmes from perspectives other than Watson’s from Edgar finalist Faye (The Whole Art of Detection: Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes), Faye draws on not only obvious canonical supporting characters like Mrs. Hudson but also lesser-known ones, including Baker Street Irregular Henry Wiggins, Scotland Yarder Stanley Hopkins, and A. Davenport Lomax, a librarian given just the briefest mention by Conan Doyle. As with her traditional pastiches, Faye pushes the envelope judiciously, providing depth to the iconic sleuth without transforming him beyond recognition. For example, “The Adventure of the Stopped Clocks,” narrated by Irene Adler, the one woman who bested Holmes, fleshes out his admiration for her intellect, and explores the impact on the sleuth of Watson’s marriage and move out of Baker Street, all within the context of an ingenious take on an untold case centered on why all the clocks in a man’s home have stopped. And “Our Common Correspondent” gives Inspector Lestrade a moving backstory that also touches on the evolving Holmes-Watson dynamic. Nuance, wit, and clever plotting make this a superior version of George Mann’s Associates of Sherlock Holmes anthologies. Sherlockians will clamor for a sequel. Agent: Erin Malone, WME. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Faye is an expert on all things Sherlockian, she has unparalleled flair. You think you know Lomax the sub-librarian? Well, THINK AGAIN."

The Most Anticipated Books of 2021 CrimeReads

"One of the best examples of [Sherlock Holmes pastiche] that this die-hard Sherlockian has encountered . . . Faye perfectly captures the tone and spirit of the Conan Doyle originals."

Seattle Times (on The Whole Art of Detection)

"There are only a handful of authors that I trust implicitly. There are even fewer that I trust working within the world of Sherlock Holmes. Lyndsay Faye is the only writer I can think of who checks both boxes. Many have tried to “add” to the canon and I have found none so effortless as Faye’s stories [...] We can only hope Faye has more of these inventive stories to share with us. May there always be a gaslight on at 221b Baker St."

Meaghan Walsh Gerard

"Lyndsay Faye, one of the most exhilarating voices in fiction today, has come home to Baker Street in this essential new collection. Read at once if convenient — if inconvenient read all the same."

Daniel Stashower

★ 12/01/2021

In the tradition of other Sherlock Holmes anthologies, "editor" Faye (The King of Infinite Space) reports the discovery of a cache of letters and papers found in a long-abandoned safety deposit box. She claims to have put them in order as they seemed fitting, in a time frame that extends from 1878 to 1903. Six acquaintances of Holmes and Watson relate stories that reveal more about the personalities of the detecting pair. One letter is from Henry Wiggins, now a young solicitor in London. Wiggins led the group of street urchins who made up the Baker Street Irregulars; he writes of his first meeting with a disguised Sherlock Holmes, and their search for Henry's missing best friend. Irene Adler tells of one more adventure with Holmes, whom she now considers a friend. Chief Inspector Geoffrey Lestrade formed a reluctant friendship with the independent consulting detective, after revealing the reason he joined the police force. Even Mrs. Hudson, the landlady at 221B Baker Street, has a chance to reveal her fondness for "the boys." VERDICT Told in epistolary style, through letters and diary entries, this engaging anthology offers a sympathetic view of Sherlock Holmes. Faye's voice and knowledge of the original stories will appeal to fans.—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Library Journal

2021-09-15
Veteran Sherlock-ian Faye returns to Victorian London with six tales whose principal novelty is their variety of narrators.

The indispensable narrator, of course, is opera singer Irene Adler, who gets the most memorable story. The journal and scrapbook entries collected in “The Adventure of the Stopped Clocks” show her rising concern over a dubious stock trade involving her husband Godfrey’s two brothers, whose entanglement with “Baron” Dickie Maupertuis leads her to consult her adversary-turned-ally Holmes. Henry Wiggins, the leader of the Baker Street Irregulars, recalls his first encounter with Holmes concerning his fears about Dr. Vincent Manvers, the self-proclaimed Lullaby Doctor whose designs on the neighborhood children in “The Song of a Want” are genuinely creepy. Inspector Geoffrey Lestrade, troubled by the abuse his sister suffered at the hands of her husband, forms a reluctant partnership with Holmes to solve the mystery of “Our Common Correspondent,” and Holmes takes the more fresh-minted and eager Inspector Stanley Hopkins under his wing to reveal the disappointingly anticlimactic source of the dismembered arm washed up in a teak box in “The River of Silence.” Holmes and Watson’s landlady, Martha Hudson, adds surprising revelations about the pair’s economic arrangements when Watson’s ailing cousin Edward upends their household in the not very mysterious “A Life Well Lived.” The most obscure narrator is A. Davenport Lomax, the sublibrarian Watson consulted in “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client” without ever allowing him to speak, who brings to Holmes’ attention a truly poisonous text in “The Gospel of Sheba.” Faye’s straight-faced editorial apparatus—a brief “Note From the Editor,” an Introduction by Henry Wiggins, now a London solicitor, and extensive “About the Contributors”—rounds the collection off in high style.

Meat and drink for fans of the Canon of the Sacred Writings.

Kirkus Reviews

"Sherlock Holmes scholarship has evolved [...] Tasty speculation for Sherlockians."

Booklist

"The stories all constitute engrossing, well-paced mysteries, and Faye gives unique, sometimes comic, often knowingly critical voices to her cast of supporting characters turned lead. Especially captivating is Faye's Irene Adler, a consummately professional actress whose thespian fervor drives her to dress up in the streets and understand Holmes's own compulsive need to perform roles."

Reviewing the Evidence

"An excellent collection filled with wonderful variations on Sherlock Holmes stories. The fact all of these variations come from Lyndsay Faye helps to prove she is a true treasure, someone whose work we will be appreciating for decades to come. Easily recommended to fans of the author, or fans of Sherlock Holmes."

A Green Man Review

"Unlike any Holmes collection I have ever read [...] OBSERVATIONS BY GASLIGHT is so authentic and real that readers will practically be able to see the dark smoke billowing from the chimney tops and smell the lamplighter’s oil as he lights each gaslight in London. Faye is brilliant and makes me wish I had thought of this idea first!"

Bookreporter