The Perils of Sherlock Holmes

by Loren D. Estleman (Editor)

Authorized and licensed by Estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!

Award winning author Loren D. Estleman's Sherlock Holmes stories and essays collected in one volume, including "The Serpent's Egg," the opening chapter of a planned pastiche to be a "round-robin" novel by multiple authors including Issac Asimov, Ruth Rendell, and others.

This entertaining book also includes three previously published essays, "Channeling Holmes," "On the Significance of Boswells," and "Was Sherlock Holmes The Shadow?" that delve deeper into the daring world of Sherlock Holmes and the imaginative mind of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Collection Includes:

"The Serpent's Egg" published here for the first time!
"Channeling Holmes" from The Ghosts in Baker Street.
"The Adventure of the Arabian Knight" from Murder in Baker Street.
"The Adventure of the Three Ghosts" from Holmes for Holidays.
"The Riddle of the Golden Monkeys" from Murder, My Dear Watson.
"Dr. and Mrs. Watson at Home: A Comedy in One Unnatural Act" from The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
"The Adventure of the Coughing Dentist" from Sherlock Holmes in America.
"The Adventure of the Greatest Gift" from More Holmes for the Holidays.
"The Devil and Sherlock Holmes" from The Ghosts in Baker Street.
"On the Significance of Boswell's" from Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories.
"Was Sherlock Holmes the Shadow" from The Baker Street Journal.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Anthologies, British Literature, Classics

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 2012

About the author

Loren D. Estleman is an American writer of detective and Western fiction. He writes with a manual typewriter.

Estleman is most famous for his novels about P.I. Amos Walker. Other series characters include Old West marshal Page Murdock and hitman Peter Macklin. He has also written a series of novels about the history of crime in Detroit (also the setting of his Walker books.) His non-series works include Bloody Season, a fictional recreation of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and several novels and stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.

Series:
* Amos Walker Mystery
* Valentino Mystery
* Detroit Crime Mystery
* Peter Macklin Mystery
* Page Murdock Mystery

Reviews

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a long time fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories, read the originals and a great many pastiches. Loren D. Estleman wrote two Holmes novels years back that I grabbed up as soon as I found them: Sherlock Holmes VS Dracula and Dr. Jekyll and Mr Holmes. THE PERILS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES collects short stories by the author previously published in various Holmes multi-author anthologies over the years, with the exception of one seeing print for the first time. There's also a couple of essays on aspects of Holmes. A couple I'd read, the others were from collections I'd missed. Eight stories and two essays. In his introduction, the author speaks of his love for the originals and how he came to write them. Most have had a pruning from the original publication and an updating of one essay to include new material since it first appeared.

Some of my favorites:

THE ADVENTURE OF THE THREE GHOSTS: set during the Christmas season and from the title, it wasn't hard to figure the direction of the tale. Still, the author has a few surprises.

THE RIDDLE OF THE GOLDEN MONKEYS: Watson is visiting a retired Holmes among his bees and meets a young author named Sax Rohmer with a life threatening problem.

While traveling into the American southwest aboard a train, Holmes and Watson meet an American lawman needing help to get his friend out a murder frame. The title, THE ADVENTURE OF THE COUGHING DENTIST, gives one the identity of those two men.

THE DEVIL AND SHERLOCK HOLMES finds Watson as Holmes' client. Working a bit in an asylum to help out an alienist friend, there's a patient claiming to be the Prince of Lies and he's convinced a number of patients, not to mention a doctor and a couple of nurses, he's the real deal.

One of the essays I found amusing. WAS SHERLOCK HOLMES THE SHADOW?(A TRIFLE) posits that very thing, showing comparisons in the stories about the pair that such could be.

A nicely put together package, a hardcover, with each title page having a background of a map of London backing the edges.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loren D. Estleman does a marvelous job totally capturing the voices of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Quite a few of the stories featured here are pretty great too - the most pleasant surprise was The Adventure of the Three Ghosts which is a cool mash up of Holmes with A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens minus the paranormal elements. It was also refreshing to read the short essay called On the Significance of Boswells which discusses the character of John Watson and how he often gets the short end of the stick in adaptations. My personal favorite adaptations of both characters are Jeremy Brett and David Burke in The Adventures of Sherlock Homes, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in Sherlock, and Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes. I'm going to have to read more of Estleman's Sherlock Holmes stories in the future.

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some stories in this collection were good, some only so-so and unfortunately there were more so-so than good ones. While the writer captured Holmes and Watson's mannerisms, the magic was missing and there was no chemistry between the characters.

I can't believe that the Arthur Conan Doyle estate authorized this pastiche. There are so many other better renditions, The House of Silk and The Italian Secretary, to name a few.

So, if the Holmes and Watson names were omitted, these would just be detective stories any sleuth could feature in. Not what I look for when reading a story with these two characters I love.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long enjoyed Estleman's work, particularly his frontier fiction, but as his first published novel was a Holmes Pastiche (The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count), this has always been one of his great loves.

This book is a set of short stories written by Estleman in the style of and regarding the famous characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Estleman has a gift with language and carries the feel and tone of the Holmes stories far better than any other non-Doyle author I've read.

Each of the seven complete stories save one (a short, very humorous play) is a standard Holmes short story. Estleman doesn't have quite the gift of the clever short mystery as Doyle did, but he more than makes up for it with characterization and the use of interesting persons such as Wyatt Earp, Sir Richard Burton, and others.

The mysteries are satisfying and all are well worth reading, particularly if you are a Holmes fan as much as I.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely volume of Sherlock Holmes stories written by one author.

Mr Estleman manages to incorporate real and fictional characters from Tiny Tim to Sax Rohmer.

Stories are pretty much true to the spirit of the original canon.

Highly recommended for all Sherlockians.

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Table of Contents:

"The Serpent's Egg" published here for the first time.
"Channeling Holmes" from The Ghosts in Baker Street.
"The Adventure of the Arabian Knight" from Murder in Baker Street.
"The Adventure of the Three Ghosts" from Holmes for Holidays.
"The Riddle of the Golden Monkeys" from Murder, My Dear Watson.
"Dr. and Mrs. Watson at Home: A Comedy in One Unnatural Act" from The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
"The Adventure of the Coughing Dentist" from Sherlock Holmes in America.
"The Adventure of the Greatest Gift" from More Holmes for the Holidays.
"The Devil and Sherlock Holmes" from The Ghosts in Baker Street.
"On the Significance of Boswell's" from Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories.
"Was Sherlock Holmes the Shadow" from The Baker Street Journal.

The stories are inconsistent and some appear to be hastily written. I usually like Estleman a lot, sadly this was not one of his best efforts.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loren Estleman writes THE BEST Holmes pastiches - I have read and enjoyed Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula and Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Holmes many times so I was thrilled to see this collection of Holmes short stories on the shelf at the librar. While The Canon is always a delight, reading Estleman's Holmes gives nearly the same amount of pleasure. If you are a Sherlockian, you cannot miss with these books.

[M. Langlinais · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much by way of "Perils" involved here and the stories are somewhat simplistic. It takes no great genius to work out the mysteries involved, much less do the stories require the talents of Sherlock Holmes! Instead the tales are predicated largely on bringing Holmes and Watson together with characters like Tiny Tim (of Dickens' "Carol") and Wyatt Earp among others. Still and all, Estleman does a fair to middling job of capturing Doyle's style. "The Serpent's Egg" is the most promising of the group and yet is unfinished. Too bad.

[Rozonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

In these days of Sherlockian pastiches by the dozen, which means there is a lot of crap around, the prose of an author like Estleman, who knows his Holmes and how to deal with him, is very consoling. All pieces aren't equally good, but the quality is high. It includes one of my favourite Sherlockian parodies ever: the short play "Dr. and Mrs. Watson at Home: A Comedy in One Unnatural Act" which I read many years ago in another anthology, and it's been great to find it here again. Very entertaining stuff for Holmes lovers.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.9 stars

the Adventure of the Arabian Knight ****
the Adventure of the Three Ghosts *****
the Riddle of the Golden Monkeys ****
Dr and Mrs Watson at Home ***
the Adventure of the Coughing Dentist ****
the Adventure of the Greatest Gift ***
the Devil and Sherlock Holmes ****
the Serpent's Egg ****

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Michael Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

More new short stories of which some are ok, some good, some not so good.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

These seem to be very lovingly done. You can tell the author was a Holmes fan and that they put a lot of work into making these as authentic as they could. That said, there were a few stories here and there that were weaker, and at times the characters seemed to be lacking. I still think it was a fun read, and I'll keep it around for a while yet. I will say I was a little disappointed with the unfinished Holmes story (though it was unfinished through no fault of the author's) just because I was as curious as Holmes to know where it might have gone and what the motive for someone staging such a scene might have been.

The 'suggested reading' section doesn't offer much if you're looking for other Holmes pastiches, but appears to list some good resources for writing them, or just for browsing through if you like that sort of 'behind the scenes' trivia and other information (which I do)


I will also admit that I was inspired to look up the song 'After the Ball' and it's been in my head for three days now. I actually like it more than I thought!

[M. Sprouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting hodge-podge of short stories and essays on Sherlock Holmes, they range from excellent to fair depending on the level of your interest in perhaps the most famous detective ever. This has quite the variety of stories and even an act in a play. It includes those that are humorous to open-ended and beyond. There has to be at least a couple to every readers liking. The author does not take things too seriously and taking all his other Sherlock Holmes' novels into account, this is my favorite.

[Outlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 essays and 8 short stories in this little book, the short stories would only have rated 2 stars each at most, but the essays were interesting and rated the book at 3 stars as a whole. The worst stories were the asylum & the one with W.Erpe and Doc Holliday - drivel. "On the Significance of Boswell's" was interesting, as was "Channeling Holmes". The comparison of Sherlock Holmes and The Shadow were entirely lost on a Brit, from the essay it sounded to me like a 1930's US re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes renamed as The Shadow - but as I say completely lost on a Brit.

[Robert Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories all written by the editor along with several essays and explanations that give insight and definition to the author's reasoning, the original characters and the place of the Baker Street Irregulars.

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is over all a very nice collection of short stories, though they are a bit hit or miss.

[Julie Ditton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the short stories in this anthology are entertaining. The author does U fine job of emulating Doyle.

[David Elkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice addition for the Holmes fan. Some of the stuff you figured out before the end, but I did enjoy the volume. Worth the time to read.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

the perils of sherlock holmes - short stories loren estleman
A collection of short stories regarding Sherlock Holmes not written by A.C. Doyle.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

#3 in the Sherlock Holmes series. This 2012 volume came as a surprise, since #1 and #2 were both published in 1978. The book is a compilation of material, not recently written (excepting 3 paragraphs referring to Jude Law at the end of the piece on Boswell's). For example, the suggested reading list has nothing more current than 1980.

Channeling Holmes - is a foreward.
The Adventures of the Arabian Knight - a short story wherein Holmes performs a service for Sir Richard Burton. Best of the stories.
The Adventure of the Three Ghosts - a short story in which a mystery is resolved when Watson invokes Charles Dickens. Unfulfilling resolution.
The Riddle of the Golden Monkeys - a short story in which Holmes solves a riddle for Sax Rohmer. Tricky escape from Fu Manchu's trap.
Dr. and Mrs. Watson at Home - a farcical play written for a group of the Baker Street Irregulars. OK as an after dinner skit.
The Adventure of the Coughing Dentist - in Arizona, Holmes assists Wyatt Earp trying to get Doc Holliday acquitted of murder. Effort put into atmosphere; resolution requires a diagram.
The Adventure of the Greatest Gift - a short story in which Holmes receives a cryptic clue threatening a French Marquis on a peace mission. A buildup without follow-through.
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes - A short story in which Watson introduces Holmes to an asylum inmate claiming to be the devil. A mystery without a resolution.
The Serpent's Egg - The initial chapter of a proposed round robin novel featuring Holmes. The project was abandoned long ago. One of the chapters was to have been written by Isaac Asimov, who died in 1992.
On the Significance of Boswells - A tribute to Dr. Watson and an attempt to distance him from his portrayal by Nigel Bruce in the Universal films of the 1940s.
Was Sherlock Holmes the Shadow - a mercifully short speculative contribution to the Baker Street Journal.

[Pupottina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben fatto, Estleman!

Spesso ci chiediamo se è veramente possibile mettersi nei panni di qualcun altro. Leggendo I PERICOLI DI SHERLOCK HOLMES, si ha questa sensazione. È come se LOREN D. ESTLEMAN ci fosse riuscito nella missione impossibile di sentirsi un po’ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Impossibile non chiedersi come abbia fatto.
Nel genio di Estleman c’è un po’ dell’arte creativa e narrativa di Conan Doyle.
Da appassionato lettore di racconti e romanzi di Sherlock Holmes, è riuscito a ricreare tra le sue pagine quella che è l’essenza del celebre personaggio di Conan Doyle. È come se i racconti, contenuti in I PERICOLI DI SHERLOCK HOLMES, li avesse scritti il famosissimo scrittore di Edimburgo.
Questi racconti sono così perfetti da essere degni di Arthur Conan Doyle. Anzi, leggendoli, si ha come la sensazione di ritrovarsi a leggere proprio una sua opera, ritrovata misteriosamente, dopo anni di anonimato. È una raccolta straordinaria, eccezionale. Come sentenzierebbe Conan Doyle, forse, quando parlano di Estleman, “dicono che il genio consiste in un’illimitata capacità di avere cura dei dettagli” e lui ci è davvero riuscito. “Nulla è insignificante per una mente superiore”.
La sua raccolta è così perfettamente simile alle opere originali che è stata approvata anche dall’associazione culturale del patrimonio di Arthur Conan Doyle.
Ben fatto, Estleman!

http://youtu.be/6R1NVZbbVZI

[C.O. Bonham · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the author that gave us Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula comes a collection of Sherlockian short stories most with a literary twist.

Can Sherlock solve a case of a Christmas haunting? What trouble has the author of Fu-Manchu gotten himself into? Will it take all 1001 Arabian Knights to find a hidden Egyptian king? Will Sherlock put Watson's soul on the line when he matches wits with the devil himself?

Find the answers to all these mysteries and more, inside a copy of The perils of Sherlock Holmes.

All so included, at no extra charge, three essays that take a scholarly look at the famous detective and his ever present chronicler.

I loved everyone of these stories. A must read for any Holmes fan.

I do wish that Estleman would write "The Serpents Egg" as a full novel instead of the tease that it is now.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting mix of stories that takes the Great Detective out of his comfort zone and into new areas. I particularly enjoyed the Christmas tales because they showed both Holmes and Watson in a softer light. The one story I did not like, and the reason this collection is four stars instead of five was "The Serpent's Egg," but that I believe was because it was unfinished and I felt the author short changed me by not finishing the story himself before putting it in the collection.

The essays were very interesting particularly the one about Watson, who I have always felt gets the short end of the stick in discussions and media. Overall, Holmes and mystery fans will enjoy this one though I would suggest skipping the "The Serpent's Egg."

[Jc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry Loren, but the stories in this book are NOT your best work -- not up to the level of your "Sanguinary Count." That being said, for the lover of Holmes, a few of these are better than many of the seemingly unlimited short story Holmesian pastiches available out there. However, the true student of Holmes SHOULD have a copy of one of the essays in this collection: "On The Significance of Boswells." This is an update of an essay Estleman’s 1986 essay on the character and depictions of Watson. Certainly reflects my views, but if you disagree with his thesis, then this is the essay to argue against. The essay itself more than makes up for the cost of the book.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful collection of short stories that perfectly captures the style and atmosphere of the great mystery fiction by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle starring his famous duo of Holmes and Watson.

In some of these imaginative tales you will meet other famous people from history and literature including Wyatt Earp and Lord Chislehurst who as a child was known as Tiny Tim Cratchit from A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Dickens. Several essays are also included in this work as well.

If, like me, you can't get enough of the famous detective residing at 221B Baker Street, then you will surely enjoy this book.

[Kal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was awesome. That is the easiest way to sum up my opinion on the book as a whole. I had to force myself slowly read through this book over the weekend so not to read it all in one day. Being raised where I was, the story with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday become my favorite. I gave the book four stars because there were a couple of the short stories I that weren't my favorite. One of which sort of left me feeling like the case was never really fulfilled, but as I whole I'd love to add this to my Sherlock collection.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 3 essays were very interesting; and the several short stories were written in the style of AC Doyle; Estleman managed to include some famous historical people in the stories, such as Wyatt Earp, Doc Halliday and Sax Rohmer. One story solves the mystery of Scrooge's Christmas ghosts. Very well-written and entertaining.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually better done, as a late Victorian/early Edwardian pastiche, than "Dodger". The stories are clever and the characters - in character. Very nearly four stars, but somehow I didn't find many of the plots very memorable. I did thoroughly enjoy all the stories when I was reading them, however. Suspense, humor and cleverness: nicely done.

[Katie]

Great collection of Sherlock Holmes stories. Loren D. Estleman captures the feeling of Doyle's original writings, and yet manages to still give the stories a "fresh" feeling. I liked some of the twists you find in the stories such as one that includes the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not many writers delving into ACD's world of Holmes have the ability to match the voice and rhythm of the original but Estleman is up the the task. This is a fun read for the Sherlock fan. You can even hear the dialogue in the voices of Freeman and Cumberbatch...but sadly, only in your head :)