The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures

Sicilian, Sam. The Angel of the Opera, New York: Otto Penzler Books, 1994. An entirely apocryphal but highly enjoyable novel in which Holmes encounters the Phantom of the Opera. See also Meyer's The Canary Trainer.

Smith, Denis O. The Adventure of the Purple Hand, private, 1982; The Adventure of the Unseen Traveller, Newport Pagnell, Diogenes, 1983; The Adventure of the Zodiac Plate, Diogenes, 1984; The Secret of Shoreswood Hall, Diogenes, 1985 and The Adventure of the Christmas Visitor, Diogenes, 1985. Faithful accounts of unrecorded cases that suggest a strong air of authenticity.

Starrett, Vincent. The Unique Hamlet, Chicago, private, 1920. A recognized classic with all the hall marks of an authentic case. This is reprinted in Ellery Queen's Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes and in Starrett's own The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (University of Chicago Press, 1960).

Symons, Julian. 'How a Hermit was Disturbed in his Retirement' in The Great Detectives, London, Orbis, 1981; New York, Abrams, 1981; also reprinted as 'The Adventure of Hillerman Hall'. Wherein an aged Holmes is visited by a young Miss Marple. Obviously apocryphal, but delightful none the less.

Taylor, John. The Unopened Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, London, BBC Books, 1993. Six apocryphal stories adapted by the author from his BBC radio series. 'The Wandering Corpse', 'The Battersea Worm', 'The Paddington Witch,', 'The Phantom Organ', 'The Devil's Tunnel' and 'The Horror of Hanging Wood'.

Thomson, June. The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes, London: Constable, 1990. Seven stories based on the unchronicled cases, all prefixed 'The Case of…': 'The Vanishing Head-Waiter', 'The Amateur Mendicants', 'The Remarkable Worm'. 'The Exalted Client', 'The Notorious Canary Trainer', 'The Itinerant Yeggman' and 'The Abandoned Lighthouse'. This and the next two volumes contain some of the best Sherlockian pastiches and have the ring of authenticity, though several are clearly apocryphal.

Thomson, June. The Secret Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes, London: Constable, 1992. Seven more stories: 'The Paradol Chamber', 'The Hammersmith Wonder', 'The Maplestead Magpie', 'The Harley Street Specialist', 'The Old Russian Woman', 'The Camberwell Poisoning' and 'The Sumatran Rat'.

Thomson, June. The Secret Journals of Sherlock Holmes, London: Constable, 1993. Seven further cases: 'The Millionaire's Persecution', 'The Colonel's Madness', 'The Addleton Tragedy', 'The Friesland Outrage', 'The Shopkeeper's Terror', 'The Smith-Mortimer Succession' and 'The Maupertuis Scandal'.

Thomson June Holmes and Watson. London, Constable, 1995. A well considered biography of the duo based solely on the writings of Watson.

Whitaker, Arthur. 'The Case of the Man Who Was Wanted', Cosmpolitan, August 1948; also reprinted as 'The Adventure of the Sheffield Banker'. A story once mistakenly believed to have been by Conan Doyle but which is clearly apocryphal.

Williamson, J.N. (editor). The Illustrious Client's Case-Book (edited with H.B. Williams), Indianapolis, Illustrious Clients, 1948, and The Illustrious Client's Second Case-Book, Indianapolis, Illustrious Clients, 1949. A collection of pastiches of spurious authenticity. Include recreations of 'The Terrible Death of Crosby the Banker' and 'The Adventure of the Politician, the Lighthouse, and the Trained Cormorant.'

Wilson, Alan. 'The Adventure of the Tired Captain', Sherlock Holmes Journal, Winter 1958-Spring 1959; and 'The Adventure of the Paradol Chamber', Sherlock Holmes Journal, Spring-Winter 1961. Two faithful and possibly authentic recreations of unrecorded cases.

Wolfe, Sebastian (editor). The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes, London, Xanadu, 1989. Anthology of fourteen apocryphal pastiches, parodies and spoofs. All are reprints except 'The Affair of the Midnight Midget' by Ardath Mayhar.

The Contributors

Stephen Baxter, 'The Adventure of the Inertial Adjustor'. Since his first novel, Raft, in 1991, Stephen Baxter (b. 1957) has established himself in the front rank of British writers of science fiction. His related novels include Timelike Infinity, Flux, Ring and the collection Vacuum Diagrams. One of his most popular books was The Time Ships, a sequel to H.G. Wells's The Time Machine and it is Baxter's interest in Wells that resulted in his story in this collection, which is a fully fledged murder mystery and not science fiction.

John Betancourt, 'The Adventure of the Amateur Mendicant Society'. John Betancourt (b. 1963) is an American author and publisher whose Wildside Press is dedicated to producing quality books of fantasy and supernatural fiction. His own books have been mostly science fiction or fantasy, though Rememory contained a strong mystery element. Other novels include Rogue Pirate, The Blind Archer and Johnny Zed, plus the story collection Slab's Tavern and Other Uncanny Tales. He is currently working on a series of fantastic adventure novels featuring the Greek hero Hercules, starting with The Wrath of Poseidon.

Eric Brown, 'The Vanishing of the Atkinsons'. Brown (b. 1960) is best known for his science fiction, much of which has appeared in the British magazine Interzone. Several of his best stories have been collected as The Time-Lapsed Man and Blue Shifting. His novels include Meridian Days and Engineman.

Simon Clark, ' The Adventure of the Fallen Star'. Clark (b. 1958) has rapidly established himself as a writer of serious horrornovels, the books exploring much deeper aspects of the human psyche than the titles – Nailed by the Heart, Blood Crazy, Darker and King Blood – convey. Born and bred in Yorkshire where he still lives with his wife and two children, Clark worked for several years in local government before becoming a full-time writer in 1993.

Basil Copper, 'The Adventure of the Persecuted Painter'. Copper (b. 1924) is a prolific writer of thrillers and supernatural fiction. He is as popular amongst devotees of hard-boiled American detective fiction, with his long- running Mike Faraday series of novels, as he is amongst the gothic-horror brigade with his excellent brooding novels Necropolis and The Black Death. Closer to Holmes, Copper continued the adventures of Solar Pons started by August Derleth in 1929 in emulation of Sherlock Holmes. Copper's Pons is, if anything, even closer to the character of Holmes, perhaps because Copper has a deeper affinity with the fogbound streets of Victorian London. His Pons collections are The Dossier of Solar Pons, The Further Adventures of Solar Pons, The Secret Files of Solar Pons, Some Uncollected Cases of Solar Pons, The Exploits of Solar Pons and The Recollections of Solar Pons.

Peter Crowther, 'The Adventure of the Touch of God'. Crowther (b. 1949) is a prolific British writer and editor who hails from Yorkshire, the home of many contributors to this volume. He made a name with his series of anthologies based on superstitions which began with the award-winning Narrow Houses, and he has also produced an anthology of stories about angels, Heaven Sent. His recent work includes the well-received novel Escardy Gap, written with James Lovegrove, and the anthologies Destination Unknown and Tales in Time. His first story collection, The Longest Single Note, is in the works.

David Stuart Davies, 'The Darlington Substitution Scandal'. Davies is a noted Sherlockian, co-founder and Co-President of The Northern Musgraves Sherlock Holmes Society and editor of its journal the Sherlock Holmes Gazette. He has written two Sherlock Holmes novels, The Tangled Skein and Sherlock Holmes and the Hentzau Affair, plus the assiduously researched survey

Holmes of the Movies, and his biography of Jeremy Brett, Bending the Willow.