THE SHERLOCK SHELF 2: Exit Sherlock Holmes, Holmes of the Movies, The Adventure of the Ectoplasmic Man

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EXIT SHERLOCK HOLMES by Robert Lee Hall (1977)
This one sports rave blurbs from Allen J. Hubin, P.D. James and Atlantic Monthly, so it’s probably not bad. I really can’t remember. According to the back cover, when Holmes disappears to deal for the final time with Moriarty, Dr. Watson travels “deep into Holmes’ mysterious past, until he must face that shocking discovery that his old friend has lied to him for years about who he really is and where he comes from.” Dang! That sounds pretty good. I see that Mr. Hall has since written a series of Benjamin Franklin mysteries, the latest published in 2001.

HOLMES OF THE MOVIES by David Stuart Davies (1966)
A nice overview of Sherlock flicks from the silent era to Gene Wilder's appearance as the smarter brother. Along the way there are chapters on Wm Gillette’s play, the first talkies, Arthur Wontner, Basil Rathbone, the Rathbone-Bruce series, Peter Cushing, and Holmes in the sixties, peppered with a good number of black and white photos. If the book has a flaw, it’s in giving Cushing slightly more than his due, dubbing him "The “Authentic Holmes”. But since Mr. Cushing was kind enough to write the Introduction, I suppose such flattery should be overlooked.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE ECTOPLASMIC MAN by Daniel Shashower (1985)
Instead of being discovered in one of Dr. Watson’s many hidden dispatch boxes, this manuscript surfaced in the papers of Mrs. Henry Houdini. Though the good doctor had no intention of publishing the story he and Holmes shared with her husband, he was kind enough to pen a novel length manuscript and mail it to her. What a guy. Holmes and Houdini joined forces, we are told, to foil crooks out to blackmail the Prince of Wales. In the course of the adventure, Houdini reduces his body to ectoplasm, and Holmes deduces how he does it. Hey, I’d like to know that, too.

THE SHERLOCK SHELF 1: The Demon Device, The Giant Rat of Sumatra & Sherlock Holmes Illustrated

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Well, shucks. Looks like Sam Spade is still on vacation. In his absence, I guess I’ll start pulling books off the Sherlock shelf and see what’s what.

THE DEMON DEVICE by Robert Saffron (1979) is one of those untold (until now) adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle. This one takes place during WWI. The Germans are developing still another secret weapon, and the intrepid author is sent to destroy it.  This one is unusual in that it is introduced with a note from Conan Doyle from the spirit world. Apparently, ever since his death he had been seeking a “sympathetic receptor” to whom he might convey this tale, and at last found it in Robert Saffron. Hey, I believe in aliens, so why not this?

THE GIANT RAT OF SUMATRA by Richard L. Boyer (1976) is “An adventure in abduction, intimidation and insanity.” This one is introduced by its true author, John H. Watson, M.D., by a note penned in 1912. He is placing this manuscript in the strongbox of Barclay’s Bank, he says, until the arbitrarily chosen date of 1976 “with the assurance that by then, the people who could be injured or offended by what follows will have long since turned to dust.” As a bonus, we are treated to a postscript by someone identifying himself as “S.H.” singing the praises of “Good old Watson!”  

SHERLOCK HOLMES ILLUSTRATED by Clive Hopwood, with illos by Paul Crompton and Glenn Rix (1981) is a mixed bag. Along with six newly illustrated Conan Doyle tales, we have articles on Holmes on the screen, the Victorian underworld, Scotland Yard, Jack the Ripper, and a 10-page comic book adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles. And more. The illos are nicely done, and the inking reminiscent of EC artist Graham Ingels.