Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine 3

Marvin Kaye

déc. 2009 · Wildside Press LLC

À propos de cet ebook

The third volume of "Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine" features "A Volume in Vermillion," by Kim Newman, plus fiction by Bruce I. Kilstein ("Watson's Wound"), Darrell Schweitzer ("The Death of Falstaff"), Stan Trybulski ("Tough Guys Don't Pay"), Hal Charles ("Vacation from Crime"), Jean Paiva ("Workout"), and Peter King ("Mayhem in St. Mary Meade"). Plus nonfiction by Lenny Picker ("The Non-Solitary Cyclist"), Gary Lovisi ("Notable Holmesian Paperback Pastiches & Other Oddities"), and Bob Byrne ("Meet Nero Wolfe"), as well as features by John H. Watson, M.D. and Mrs. Hudson's Household Hints. Classic reprint: "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Quelques mots sur l'auteur

The most famous fictional detective in the world is Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. However, Doyle was, at best, ambivalent about his immensely successful literary creation and, at worst, resentful that his more "serious" fiction was relatively ignored. Born in Edinburgh, Doyle studied medicine from 1876 to 1881 and received his M.D. in 1885. He worked as a military physician in South Africa during the Boer War and was knighted in 1902 for his exceptional service. Doyle was drawn to writing at an early age. Although he attempted to enter private practice in Southsea, Portsmouth, in 1882, he soon turned to writing in his spare time; it eventually became his profession. As a Liberal Unionist, Doyle ran, unsuccessfully, for Parliament in 1903. During his later years, Doyle became an avowed spiritualist. Doyle sold his first story, "The Mystery of the Sasassa Valley," to Chambers' Journal in 1879. When Doyle published the novel, A Study in Scarlet in 1887, Sherlock Holmes was introduced to an avid public. Doyle is reputed to have used one of his medical professors, Dr. Joseph Bell, as a model for Holmes's character. Eventually, Doyle wrote three additional Holmes novels and five collections of Holmes short stories. A brilliant, though somewhat eccentric, detective, Holmes employs scientific methods of observation and deduction to solve the mysteries that he investigates. Although an "amateur" private detective, he is frequently called upon by Scotland Yard for assistance. Holmes's assistant, the faithful Dr. Watson, provides a striking contrast to Holmes's brilliant intellect and, in Doyle's day at least, serves as a character with whom the reader can readily identify. Having tired of Holmes's popularity, Doyle even tried to kill the great detective in "The Final Problem" but was forced by an outraged public to resurrect him in 1903. Although Holmes remained Doyle's most popular literary creation, Doyle wrote prolifically in other genres, including historical adventure, science fiction, and supernatural fiction. Despite Doyle's sometimes careless writing, he was a superb storyteller. His great skill as a popular author lay in his technique of involving readers in his highly entertaining adventures.