Try a Taste of: Sherlock Holmes

Published Friday, May 20, 2022

Sherlock Holmes has fascinated me since childhood. The best stories come from the great storyteller himself, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but many others have made valiant attempts to recreate the feel and atmosphere of the Holmes mysteries. Below are a few of my favorites, including a collection written by Doyle’s son. In these stories you will see Holmes as a master criminal, as a retiree training a new generation, and of course as the greatest detective of all time. I hope you enjoy these wonderful books as much as I did.
-Jim

Plot summaries from publisher.

The House of Silk
by Anthony Horowitz

London, 1890. 221B Baker St. A fine art dealer named Edmund Carstairs visits Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson to beg for their help. He is being menaced by a strange man in a flat cap – a wanted criminal who seems to have followed him all the way from America. In the days that follow, his home is robbed, his family is threatened. And then the first murder takes place.

Almost unwillingly, Holmes and Watson find themselves being drawn ever deeper into an international conspiracy connected to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston, the gaslit streets of London, opium dens and much, much more. And as they dig, they begin to hear the whispered phrase-the House of Silk-a mysterious entity that connects the highest levels of government to the deepest depths of criminality. Holmes begins to fear that he has uncovered a conspiracy that threatens to tear apart the very fabric of society.

Available Digitally:
Cloud Library (ebook)
Overdrive/Libby (audiobook)

Request in Catalog
The Beekeeper's Apprentice
by Laurie R. King

Long retired, Sherlock Holmes quietly pursues his study of honeybee behavior on the Sussex Downs. He never imagines he would encounter anyone whose intellect matched his own, much less an audacious teenage girl with a penchant for detection. Miss Mary Russell becomes Holmes's pupil and quickly hones her talent for deduction, disguises and danger. But when an elusive villain enters the picture, their partnership is put to a real test.

Available Digitally:
Overdrive/Libby (ebook and audiobook)

Request in Catalog
The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes
by Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr

From the son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and one of America's greatest mystery writers, John Dickson Carr, comes twelve riveting tales based on incidents or elements of the unsolved cases of Sherlock Holmes. The plots are all new, with painstaking attention to the mood, tone, and detail of the original stories. Here is a fascinating volume of mysteries for new Sherlock fans, as well as for those who have read all the classics and crave more!

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The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street
by Rob Nunn

What if Sherlock Holmes had turned to crime instead of detection? The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street by Rob Nunn investigates this very concept. Holmes famously said that “when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of all.” A sinister influence is at work in Victorian London with Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson running a hidden criminal empire. The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street explores all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories through the lens of Holmes as a criminal while adding many new exciting tales of Holmes’ daring to delight its readers.

Available Digitally:
Hoopla (ebook)

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Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of the Stapletons
by James Lovegrove

1894. The monstrous Hound of the Baskervilles has been dead for five years, along with its no less monstrous owner, the naturalist Jack Stapleton. Sir Henry Baskerville is living contentedly at Baskerville Hall with his new wife Audrey and their three-year-old son Harry.

Until, that is, Audrey’s lifeless body is found on the moors, drained of blood. It would appear some fiendish creature is once more at large on Dartmoor and has, like its predecessor, targeted the unfortunate Baskerville family.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are summoned to Sir Henry’s aid, and our heroes must face a marauding beast that is the very stuff of nightmares. It seems that Stapleton may not have perished in the Great Grimpen Mire after all, as Holmes believed, and is hell-bent on revenge…

Available Digitally:
Cloud Library (ebook)
Overdrive/Libby (audiobook)
Hoopla (audiobook)

Request in Catalog
About the Author

Jim is the Circulation Manager at EPL. He enjoys reading all genres but especially fantasy and mysteries from the Victorian period. He can often be found roaming the stacks looking for the next great read.

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