Let Me Recommend This Book

Last week, I highlighted a few great books from MX Publishing, the publisher of The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street.  Today, as another piece of my year in review posts, I want to highlight some of the best Sherlockian books I've read this year.  Not all of these were necessarily published in 2017, but they are all worth adding to your collection, if you haven't already...

From Holmes to Sherlock by Mattias Bostrom

I've already spoken at length about how great this book is.  But, no Sherlockian year in review will be complete this year without mention of this book.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this book should be in every Sherlockian collection.

Arthur and Sherlock by Michael Sims

This history of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his most famous creation was all we could talk about at two meetings in a row this summer for The Parallel Case of St. Louis.  Michael Sims takes this history of literature's greatest detective and turns it into a page-turner in his own right. 

About Sixty: Why Every Sherlock Holmes Story is the Best edited by Christopher Redmond

Chance are, you probably know someone who wrote an essay in this book.  Because editor Chris Redmond made it a point to find 60 diverse authors to pen essays making an argument on which Sherlock Holmes story is the best.  Of course, we all know that SIGN is the best, but the other 59 authors' work are insightful and informative looks into how we view the different stories in the Canon.

The Whole Art of Detection by Lyndsay Faye

The only pastiche on this list, because after reading Lydsay Faye's Sherlockian writing, nothing else will ever compare.  Fifteen short stories are collected in this book, and each one is better than the last.  Faye not only makes you feel like you are reading a story that Doyle misplaced a hundred years ago, but makes you truly appreciate the friendship between Holmes and Watson as her stories take you through their lives together.

The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library edited by Leslie Klinger

I admit that I have only read 5 out of the 10 volumes in this collection, but oh man, do I love these books!  Exhaustively researched and annotated, this collection is a cornerstone for a scholarly collection on Sherlock Holmes.  Even if you have read every story in the Canon over and over, Leslie Klinger will bring new insights and research to you on every page.