The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories, Part VI Read online

  Editor’s Introduction: A Holmesian Golden Age

  by David Marcum

  In late 1887, a doctor who also wanted to write saw his work appear in an obscure volume, Beeton’s Christmas Annual. The narrative was A Study in Scarlet, recounting some astounding events that had occurred in early 1881.

  In the one-hundred-thirty years since that small volume was published, the name of its subject, Sherlock Holmes, has gone on to be known and admired literally all over the world. In 1890, a second work about Mr. Holmes appeared, The Sign of the Four, and the following year, shorter narratives of his investigations were revealed in the recently created Strand magazine. The genie was out of the bottle. The public - those that weren’t already acquainted with Our Heroes, The Detective and The Doctor - desperately wanted to know more. Through the next few decades, up until 1927, new “official” adventures were irregularly published. The first twenty-four short stories, eventually comprising The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, appeared in The Strand from June 1891 until December 1893. At that point, it was revealed the Holmes was believed to have died in early May 1891 at the hands of the nefarious Professor Moriarty, just a month before The Strand had started publishing the shorter adventures. In spite of outcries of disbelief and demands for additional chronicles, nothing was forthcoming until 1901, when details of The Hound of the Baskervilles were revealed.

  In 1903, around the time of Sherlock Holmes’s retirement to Sussex, new stories were shared, divulging exactly how the great detective had survived his supposed 1891 death at the Reichenbach Falls, where he had gone afterwards, and about how he returned to London in April ’94 to resume his practice. These additional accounts, eventually collected in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Valley of Fear, His Last Bow, and The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, continued to be placed before the fascinated reading public until 1927, when the last story of the official “Canon” was finally published.

  And for some people, those pitifully few sixty reports are enough.

  But not for the rest of us.

  In “The Problem of Thor Bridge”, Watson writes:

  Somewhere in the vaults of the bank of Cox and Co., at Charing Cross, there is a travel-worn and battered tin dispatch box with my name, John H. Watson, M. D., Late Indian Army, painted upon the lid. It is crammed with papers, nearly all of which are records of cases to illustrate the curious problems which Mr. Sherlock Holmes had at various times to examine.

  Even when Watson’s original writings were being published in The Strand, other extra-Canonical tales began coming into sight. Some were obviously parodies, but others had the feel of veracity - Watsonian efforts that had gone astray, perhaps, and revealed themselves in non-Strand settings by way of someone other than the Literary Agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This continued through the years, with newly discovered compositions appearing in varied and diverse places - newspapers, magazines, books, radio and television shows, films, and even within the hallowed pages of The Baker Street Journal and The Sherlock Holmes Society of London Journal.

  In 1974, an event of incredible Sherlockian importance occurred: A Watsonian manuscript was discovered and subsequently published by Nicholas Meyer as The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. The existence of this document alerted (or reminded) The World that there were other lost writings by Dr. Watson afoot. The World sat up and took notice.

  After Meyer showed The World that other Watsonian manuscripts did indeed exist, The World went out and began to find them. For someone like me, who was ten years old in 1975 and just discovering the way to 221b Baker Street, The Canon was simply insufficient, even in those bygone days. Others might enjoy repeatedly arguing about the minutiae related to the original publications - I wanted more adventures!

  And even though more were being found, there still weren’t enough. However, excellent detective work by Holmes fans and scholars all over the world have recovered more and more of Watson’s own lost writings, as well as manuscripts from other pens that relate Holmes’s adventures from many different perspectives than that of just the Good Doctor.

  Meyer’s initial discovery of that lost Holmes adventure was said to be the beginning of a new Holmesian Golden Age. Some argue that it dwindled for a time, and that we’re now in a new and different Golden Age. That’s for someone else to decide. I only know that - finally - my addiction to more and more Holmes adventures is (mostly) being adequately fed. Still, there will never be enough!

  I can say with assurance that whatever Golden Age that we’re in now only promises to continue. New Holmes stories, it seems, appear almost daily. And it isn’t only the print medium which helps to satisfy my addiction, along with that of so many others out there. Imagination Theater kept the Holmes Fires burning on the radio for years, continuing a tradition of decades. And after a number of years without Our Heroes being represented in film, there are rumors that the next Holmes motion picture featuring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson, respectively, might be creaking into motion.

  I understand that some feel that the previous Downey films possibly stretched the Canonical Holmes a little bit beyond recognition, but I’m happy enough with them. They do get some things seriously wrong, I’ll admit, but they also show many aspects of Holmes that were referred to in the original stories but only appeared off-screen, so to speak. Additionally, as there have been no other film representations of Sherlock Holmes since the now long-ago Granada films of the 1980’s and 90’s starring Jeremy Brett, something new is completely a cause for celebration. (Of course, one can certainly point to a few other Holmes-influenced television shows since those Granada episodes, such as House, M.D. and even The Big Bang Theory, in which main characters have a few Holmesian traits, but at least - while they were being influenced somewhat by Holmes - they had sense enough not to steal his name while doing it.)

  In early 2015, I had the idea for this now ongoing series of anthologies, partly due to a perceived need to remind people about the true Sherlock Holmes, a man of the Victorian and Edwardian age, born in the 1850’s. People needed to remember that Holmes is a hero and not a villain. He was complicated, but not irreparably and quite objectionably damaged.

  The proposed book that occurred to me was initially planned to be a couple-of-dozen stories (at best) in a paperback format. However, it grew and grew to a three-volume hardcover set, Parts I, II, and III, with sixty-three new adventures - the largest collection of new Holmes stories yet assembled. It was quickly realized that the popularity of the anthologies, along with the desire of so many “editors” of Watson’s manuscripts to participate, would lead to additional volumes. In 2016, two more were published, Part IV: 2016 Annual and Part V: Christmas Stories. Now, in 2017, you’re reading this latest edition, Part VI: 2017 Annual, and Part VII: Eliminate the Impossible is already in the works for Autumn 2017. And there’s no end in sight - Two more volumes for 2018 are in the early planning stages.

  Part of what makes this ongoing collection so special is that all of the participants - now over one-hundred of them! - donate their royalties, (as well as the hours and hours of work that go into producing their contributions,) to the Stepping Stones School at Undershaw, one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s former homes. My ever-present deerstalker and I were very privileged to be able to attend the Grand Opening of the Stepping Stones School at the refurbished Undershaw on September 9th, 2016, and to see first-hand both the famed building itself - which I’d heard about for so long - and the school and the students, making this whole project even more real and important to me than it ever had been before.

  In the past year, these anthologies have also been issued in India (four volumes so far,) and they are being translated into Japanese. The books have raised over $15,000 for the school, and as I wrote, there is no end in sight, either in terms of these collections, or for a couple of additional related projects now in the works.

  This
incredible team effort truly stretches around the world, with contributors from many countries and most continents. (I’m still hoping for stories from South America and Antarctica. Tell your Antarctic Sherlockian friends to email me!) All of these incredibly generous people continually offer their very best, and once again, I’m very happy and proud to be sharing this collection with everyone, since I’ve had the selfish pleasure over the last few months of being the only one who, up until now, has had a chance to read all of these wonderful stories collected in this one place, straight out of Watson’s Tin Dispatch Box.

  This collection spans Holmes’s days in Montague Street, before he moved to the famous 221b, through the 1880’s and 1890’s, and so into the 20th Century, and those complicated days both before and after the Great War. As with other volumes, the stories are arranged chronologically, and each adds yet more important and entertaining threads to The Great Holmes Tapestry.

  As always, I have a number of people that I wish to thank for all the help that went into this volume:

  First and Most: My wife Rebecca and son Dan. Both of you are everything to me.

  All of the Contributors: I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your efforts, encouragement, and friendship.

  Steve Emecz: Your tireless enthusiasm and support never cease to amaze me. I’m very lucky to know you.

  Roger Johnson and Jean Upton. Huge thanks yet again! I can’t count all the nice things you’ve both done for me, and also the ways that you’ve both helped this project, all the way back to the beginning. And of course I’ll never forget that you hosted me at your wonderful home during a portion of my second Holmes Pilgrimage to England in 2015.

  Derrick Belanger: Your encouragement for this and other projects far and wide, as well as your friendship, is always appreciated.

  Marcia Wilson: One of my favorite authors - Period! - and one of the most supportive people I know. Your advice along the way is always invaluable. I’m so glad to have written you that fan letter years ago.

  Bob Byrne: My friend with whom many things are discussed on a nearly daily basis: Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe, mysteries, family and faith, work, vexations, and amusements.

  Dan Victor, whose work I first read decades ago - and you’re only getting better! Very glad to have met you in person for just a few minutes in London, and to have gotten to know you (in this modern sense) much better through regular emails. And thanks for letting me read your stories hot off the presses - Always a treat!

  Tom Turley: We began emailing in relation to these volumes, and it’s progressed to a very enjoyable ongoing conversation. And now it’s turned out great that you have a story in this book, as well as the next one, coming later in 2017. I always look forward to hearing from you.

  Mark Mower: You sent a story for the first set of books, and I was fortunate enough to meet you in person at the launch party in London in 2015 - and thanks again for your support to get me over there. Since that time, we’ve become email pen-pals, and I always enjoy hearing your “man-on-the-ground” perspective from England. I’m jealous of where you live!

  Denis Smith: My favorite pasticheur! I’m so happy that you were still at that old address where I’d written twenty-plus years ago, and that I was able to find you again in the present to get you into this party. I enjoy our regular communications, and while you’re not in this book, I’m certain that you’ll be in the next!

  Shannon Carlisle: After being introduced at a meeting of The Nashville Scholars of the Three Problem Scion, Shannon, teacher extraordinaire and Sherlockian, arranged for her class to interview me about being a Sherlockian. I was very honored, and their insightful questions helped me to examine and explain some of the things that I like best about Sherlock Holmes. A big thank you to Shannon and her class!

  Brian Belanger: Once again, another great cover, and it’s always a pleasure to work with you. You have many many talents, and I can’t recommend you highly enough. Keep up the great work!

  Nick Utechin: Thanks again for lending your expertise to this endeavour, and for the time you spent showing me around Oxford. I wouldn’t have known what I was missing if you hadn’t given me the inside scoop!

  Hugh Ashton: I appreciate your stepping up from the beginning and being so supportive of this project with your contributions. I really appreciate the work you do as one of the true and best traditional pasticheurs. I wish I’d had a chance to talk with you more in London a couple of years ago, but hopefully there will be another chance.

  Craig Janacek: I have much gratitude for the authentic stories that you write, and how you have been so willing to contribute any time there is a call. Keep up the great work!

  Colin Jeavons, for writing a foreword to this volume, and his son Saul Jeavons for arranging it. Mr. Jeavons, you are the definitive Inspector Lestrade for all time and for all generations, and I’m so proud to have you associated with this project. Thank you, sir!

  Larry Albert: A long overdue thanks to you, who have worked tirelessly in your own field, and have also been a tremendous help with this project, as well as some that you and I are working on that haven’t even been revealed yet!

  Luke Kuhns: We met you in 2013, on my first Holmes Pilgrimage, when you coordinated my initial book-signing at The Sherlock Holmes Hotel in Baker Street - not massively attended, but something that I’ll never forget. Later, you were the first to send a story when I put out requests for the original MX Anthologies. In September 2016, when I was able to go to Undershaw for the grand opening of Stepping Stones, you led me down from London and back again. To someone who is always willing to make the extra effort, I salute you!

  Judy Baring-Gould Orthwein: Thank you for letting me pick your brain about your father, William S. Baring-Gould, that amazing Sherlockian who explained so many things perfectly and answered so many questions exactly right. I’ve been a Baring-Gouldist almost as long as I’ve been a Sherlockian, and it’s much appreciated!

  Mr. David Forbes-Nixon and his assistant Julie Owen, both of whom got me to England for the grand opening of Stepping Stones in September 2016. Through his DFN Foundation, Mr. Forbes-Nixon has done amazing things there, and I’m very happy to have been able to be attend the festivities and meet both of them.

  Melissa Farnham, Head Teacher at Stepping Stones. I now have a much better understanding of the amazing work you’re doing, and I appreciate that you took time to take my picture, with me sitting in Doyle’s very study at Undershaw, in the very spot where The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Return of Sherlock Holmes were completed. You were very patient, and many thanks!

  Richard Doyle: I enjoyed getting to hang around with you for a while at Undershaw, exploring the place and trying inadequately to explain U.S. politics. It was just a few minutes for you, but I’ll never forget it!

  And now... the game is afoot!

  David Marcum

  January 6th, 2017

  The 163rd Birthday of Mr. Sherlock Holmes

  Questions or comments may be addressed to David Marcum at

  [email protected]

  Foreword

  By Colin Jeavons

  Little did I imagine when I took on playing Lestrade that it would still attract so much attention so many years later! I had fond memories of the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films of my youth, and when initially asked to consider the role, I wondered if I could make it work, as Dennis Hoey’s portrayal was so different to what I had to bring to the part. I asked my younger son (who was an avid fan of the books) to look up Conan Doyle’s descriptions of Lestrade - whilst not flattering, here was a role I could play... my family have had many a laugh at my expense over the descriptions of “ferret-like” and “rat-faced” over the years since! In fact, I was once sent a script for another programme where I was unsure which part I was intended to play, so we read through until the des
cription “A ferret-faced man enters...” and sure enough, that turned out to be the part I was being offered!

  Whilst I am by nature something of a hermit, and this will I suspect be the only foreword I’ll ever be persuaded to write, I am delighted that the royalties from this anthology go to the Stepping Stones School for special needs students. We have seen first-hand the difference that this wonderful school can make to the life of a child, and to their whole family, as dear friends of ours have a daughter who is lucky enough to be a current pupil.

  Happy reading!

  Colin Jeavons

  January, 2017

  Foreword

  by Nicholas Utechin

  Forty-two years ago, Nicholas Meyer published The Seven-Per-Cent Solution – an immense success out of left field. Forty-one-and-one-half years ago, a colleague and I at a radio station thought we would try and write a Holmes pastiche. Austin Mitchelson edited news bulletins which I read to some thousands of people in London. Every half hour, we would scribble notes of plot and dialogue. We wrote separate chapters and stitched them together.

  The end result was something called The Earthquake Machine. For some reason, we were pleased with it, so we thought of another and called it Hellbirds. They were published in the U.S. in 1976 and neither was particularly good.

  We thought we had been so clever to use Rasputin, Winston Churchill, Baron von Richtofen, and (very briefly) a young Adolph Hitler spread around the two books. (After all, our guide, Meyer, built his whole novel around Sigmund Freud.) We thought that a death atop the Eiffel Tower or a robbery at the Tower of London would add so much pizazz. Did Doyle ever insert Mr. Gladstone or Sir Arthur Sullivan into his works? Was there good reason that he only wrote four long stories?