The Mammoth Book of The Lost Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes

Denis O. Smith

Jan 2014 · Sold by C & R Crime

About this ebook

These are stories of the sort loved by true fans of the greatest of all detectives, in which a client tells Holmes a strange tale, drawing him into a baffling mystery. Whether in fogbound London or deep in the English countryside, these action-packed stories, set during the 1880s and early 1890s, before Holmes’s disappearance at the Reichenbach Falls, faithfully recreate the atmosphere of Conan Doyle’s early Holmes stories.

This wonderful anthology brings together the best work of Denis O. Smith, much admired for his new Sherlock Holmes stories, including ‘A Hair’s Breadth’, ‘The Adventure of the Smiling Face’ and ‘An Incident in Society’. Ten of these stories have never previously been published in book form.

Ratings and reviews

As a self proclaimed Sherlockian, I am always eager to read books that attempt to recreate the life of the "world's most famous Consulting Detective." I read Doyle's Complete Works annually, and consider myself a good judge of imitations of his work. The author here has portrayed Watson's style of speech and writing well, but he is portrayed as a skeptic-questioning and disbelieving, ad nauseam. Holmes' personality and style are off the mark. He speaks too much, shows his hand too often and prior to the solution; something the original character doesn't do. He also shows emotion far too often. The stories are entertaining, but are not fascinating. The conclusions are easily predicted. The 1st story was dissatisfying and I had difficulty imagining that I was peeking into the life of my favorite character. However, the writing improves in the tales that follow, although I must admit that I skimmed through several pages of some stories, because they just dragged out unnecessarily.

About the author

Denis O. Smith's interests range from logic and the history of London to Victorian society and railways, all of which contribute to giving his stories a true flavor of the period. He lives in the heart of Norfolk, England, from where he makes occasional trips to London to explore some of the capital's more obscure corners.