Title: The Outstanding Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Gerard Kelly
Publication date: May 2011
Publisher: MX Publishing
ISBN:1908218673
Genre: Mystery, Detective, Crime
I was pleasantly surprised to have come across this collection when I believed I had exhausted all the collections of Sherlock Holmes. Then I realized that this was a modern version of the classic series. Being a fan of the famous fictional detective who enchanted his readers with his magical deductions, I was excited to read this set of short stories.
Gerard Kelly has done a fine emulation of the literary genius, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. By that I mean that he has taken care to recreate the setting of these stories, paying attention to details of the time period and culture. I have to say that if I hadn’t seen the author’s name, I’d have been fooled that someone had published a long-lost collection of SH.
Each fictional chronicle in this book is blessed with the classic features of a Holmes episode, the pivotal one being drawing ingenious conclusions from simple matters, invisible to the layman. To the glee of puzzle lovers, Holmes does lay his magic on unravelling cryptograms as well. The ever-reliable Watson continues to be the loyal yet clueless observer and we love him for being so. I know I enjoyed this book and hope other SH fans will.
~ Fahima Yousouf
A Writer's Retreat 