28 November 2011

Sherlockian Mysteries That Will Keep You Tied Up

by Maureen Corrigan

"The game's afoot, Watson!"

Indeed, for Sherlockians, 2011 certainly feels like a year when the literary "game" of exploring the genesis and extending the limits of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 56 short stories and four novels about Holmes and Watson has grown more frenetic. (This winter sees the return of two acclaimed incarnations of Holmes in film: A Game of Shadows, the second of Robert Downey Jr.'s Holmes movies, and series two of the BBC's offbeat Sherlock, which places our heroes in contemporary Britain.)

To clear a path through the literary fog, here are my picks for two of the best new works of fiction and criticism about The Great Detective, as well as my recommendations for some terrific novels featuring contemporary investigators who carry forward Holmes' trademark method of detection: "an observance of trifles."

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The House of Silk

by Anthony Horowitz

Horowitz's The House of Silk is the 1st new Holmes novel to be authorized by the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate in its 125-year history. Interesting, but not, in itself, an assurance of worth. What is persuasive about this Homes homage is its cliffhanger plotting, as well as the fact that it's written by the accomplished English novelist and screenwriter, whose credits include the Alex Rider spy series for young adults and the superb ITV mystery series "Foyle's War."...

 

On Conan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling

by Michael Dirda

Dirda has written a rollicking, erudite, and terrifically beguiling little book ... In it, Dirda discusses not only the entire Holmes canon, but also Conan Doyle's tales of terror, science fiction, spiritualist writings and historical romances. ... Reading experiences don't get much more captivating than this; nor does literary criticism.

 

Ghost Hero

by S. J. Rozan


The End of the Wasp Season

by Denise Mina

A Drop of the Hard Stuff

by Lawrence Block


* To read the complete reviews, just go to
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/28/142659550/sherlockian-mysteries-that-will-keep-you-tied-up