Arthur Conan Doyle Books

This book was fun to read (and review). The terror tales are interesting in that they give one a view of the fears of the day. Some are funny from a modern sensibility and others are still repulsive....

I wrote more extensively about this at: conservativebooktalk.com/2007/11/26/tales-of-terror-and-mystery-by-arthur-conan-doyle/

i just finished reading this book and my was i hooked? the plot is quite familiar and the suspence build-up is also not surprising but the master has done it again and this time he cleverly played with identity, truly a genius however the laST PAGE OF THE BOOK WAS TORN AND I COULD NOT READ THE CRUCIAL LAST PAGE SO IF ANY ONE CAN MAIL ME WHAT THE LAST PAGE IS ALL ABOUT I WILL REALLY APPRECIATE

This book is not very long, and probably not the most comprehensive text on the subject, but as an introduction to the Victorian Quest Romance it works really well. The book is divided into chapters dealing with each of the authors as well as a chapter on the history of the romance itself. People can read it without reading the books mentioned but to get the full affect I'd recommend picking up at least Lost World and King Solomon's Mines. One thing in particular I enjoyed about the book was the way it addressed other critics in the field like Said. If you've read any of these other critics -- or any criticism on Imperialism at all -- I'd recommend also reading this book for a slightly different take on the same subject matter. This book seems to adopt a historical analysis of the genre, something along the lines of cultural materialism. I give it four stars only because it may not provide as much analysis as some people may be looking for.

Witches' Brew is a dense literary anthology broken into three chapters. The first chapter Something Wicked This Way Comes: The Wicked Witch takes it name aptly from a line in a spell from Shakespeare's Macbeth. I was pleased to find this piece as the opening work in "Witches' Brew" but disappointed that this beautiful piece is abbreviated.

Something Wicked This Way Comes also contains W.B. Yeats, "The Sorcerer." Jocks identifies Yeats as a Ceremonial Magician in addition to the revered Irish poet and playwright that most know him to be. Yeats was a member of the Theosophical Society, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. H.P. Blavatsky cofounder of this order, is included with a piece titled "Can the Double Murder" Cotton Mather, a staunch supporter of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials work provides an account that will chill the bones of most witches. Mather's short piece "Bridget Bishop" concerns a witch trial that depends on "spectral" evidence. On the lighter side, Benjamin Franklin's (yes, that Benjamin Franklin)short story is a tongue in cheek critique of the "scientific" approach used in witch trials. Franklin's contribution written in 1730 is a short essay called "A Witch Trial at Mount Holly." Oscar Wilde's mother, Lady Wilde's piece "The Horned Woman" is a legend about Irish witches. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame, is included with a dark look at magic in "The Leather Funnel."

Next, we find That's Witch with a "W": Witchcraft as Em-Power-ment. This chapter presents the powerful, omnipotent, witch and crone archetype. Beginning with a short poem by Emily Bronte, that uses nature as a metaphor for the spell that love casts. "Snatcher" by Dean Koontz is a compelling piece that makes a delightful read aloud piece on a dark and stormy night. This is a classic crone revenge story that includes a repulsive villain and a hideous monster. Doreen Valiente, one of the founders of the neopaganism movement is appropriately included in the anthology twice. Her poem "The Witch's Ballad," provides an insiders experience of a Sabbat. Erica Jong's "Figure of the Witch" truly embodies the theme of this chapter.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme: The Nature Witch is the last and my favorite chapter. Sandwiched between Doreen Valiente's basic course in witch craft "The Witches' Creed" poem and Erica Jong's potent warning against witch bias and anti-Semitism "Smoke," are wonderful pieces by the likes of Brothers Grimm and Emily Dickinson. A touching tale suitable to read to children "The Christmas Witch" by Rosemary Edgehill explains the significance of Yuletide. Evelyn Vaughn, (the pen name of the editor) contributes a lengthy story "Winter Solstice" that focuses on the semi-annual battle for dominance between the Oak King and Holly King.

It is pleasing that Native American voices are also included. Anita Endrezze's mythic tale, "The Humming of Stars and Bees and Waves," is an eerie Yaqui tale of a crone's epiphany after a retreat in a cave. Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, offers a haunting shape-shifter poem "The Strange People." If more diverse voices were included the anthology would be stronger still, afterall, witch and magic are global.

Yvonne Jocks' anthology provides a broad overview of popular and classic witch literature, crossing continents, cultures and approximately 400 years.

I really love both the Martinelli and Russell/Homes series, but I found the last Martinelli outing disappointing. It was a great pleasure to see Kate back in grand form, with the added deliciousness of the Russell/Holmes tie-in. I love watching Kate deal with the peculiarities of reenactors and the "is it real or is it fake" manuscript market -- a nice change from more typical urban violence

While I agree that the pace is slower in this plot than is typical for this series, I didn't find that the narrative dragged. Moreover, the reasons for the slow-down were laid out explicitly and are the kinds of issues investigators encounter when they aren't forced to solve their cases before the next show comes on: confused jurisdiction; uncertainty as to whether a homicide has occurred; no indication that the public at large is endangered; no close relatives or friends to interview (or to hassle the police).

The pace also allows for exposition of Kate's personal life to flow through the story without holding it up. King has done her usual brilliant job of juxtaposing lives, cultural/historical attitudes, and personal quirks to illuminate the sadness and waste of a needless tragedy. (She also does a GREAT job showing the investigators and the criminal making use of the same tech trail.) Her social commentary manages to be explicit without being preachy and is an essential thread in the plot.

I've read several of Laurie King's books over the years. With the exception of A Grave Talent which was quite good, most of her books are just average, this one included. She is NOT a master of plotting. Her books meander here and there and eventually reach a conclusion that may be less than satisfying. So it is with The Art of Detection. The supporting characters are only vaguely drawn. Her protagonist, Kate Martinelli, is not that interesting. Now I'm a liberal Californian, but I could hardly stand to read one more line about the cultural rainbow of San Francisco, and all the OVERT EXAMPLES of what constitutes a "family" there. All right already. We get it. King's books are not terrible, just way back in the middle of the pack of mystery writers.

Kate and Al are investigating a murder on the old gun emplacements outside of San Francisco. The victim is a fan of Sherlock Holmes, even going so far as to dress as he did and to decorate part of his home according to the description of Holmes' study. The investigation hinges on the question of a manuscript the victim supposedly purchased, said to be a long lost work of Conon-Doyle. Kate is especially interested in this as her partner is a Holmes fan. The ending was a surprise for me and I read all of Laurie Kings's work. A rousing good read.

I was looking forward to reading a Kate Martinelli/Sherlock Holmes novel, since I've enjoyed King's Martinelli and Mary Russell novels equally (for those who aren't familiar with her Mary Russell books, Sherlock Holmes is a major character in the series). _The Art of Detection_ was even better than I expected! What I liked best were the several threads that tie this novel together with some of her others; in particular, you might want to also read _Locked Rooms_ as it's a Russell/Holmes book set in San Francisco.

I love Laurie King's Mary Russell novels, and I really like her Kate Martinelli mysteries, so I was very much looking forward to this meshing of those two worlds. But after reading it, I was left thinking, "Why bother?" Going back over it, I really can't find any one part of the book that was particularly bad, but it just didn't draw me in. The descriptions of the landscape in and around San Francisco are vivid; the details of the lives of the Sherlockian characters are fascinating (and it was amusing to see Kate wrestling with the concept of their dedication to their hobby); and the Holmes story-within-a-story was quite entertaining. But there seemed to be a lack of excitement throughout--a sense of apathy about the case and it's connections to the mysterious rediscovered manuscript which made the sudden violence of the ending seem completely out of place and the sudden happiness following that even more disconcerting. And I have to admit, that as a fan of both series, I was really hoping for at least some reaction from any of the characters when they discovered what the manuscript could really be. A quick reference in the last sentence frankly was not enough for me. I'm glad I waited until it was in paperback to buy it.

I feel cheated. I spent quite a few days reading this bit of useless nonsense. It started off okay with considerable accuracy regarding Conan Doyle and Houdini. But that all faded pretty quickly.

For the most part, it was just a pastiche of '20s popular history with this personage or that being either mentioned or showing up.

An ongoing appearance of the "ghost" of Poe never got resolved. "Scooby Doo" cartoons manage to do a much better job of tying up loose phantasmic threads.

The ending scene refers to the Poe story "The Oblong Box." I went back to the text of that tale to try to make sense out of the rectangular basket that Conan Doyle, at Houdini's request, throws into the Atlantic. It didn't work for me. If anyone has a comment that can clarify, I'd be happy to see it.

This book is utter tripe so I don't feel bad about the spoilers in the last couple of paragraphs. If you run into a cheap copy at the local thrift store, leave it there. Even at 50 cents, "Nevermore" is a total rip.

Hjortsberg has created an interesting recipe for his novel. The characters of Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are the main ingredients. Throw in a farm girl who thinks she's the reincarnation of Isis. Set the story in 1923 New York City and have the characters cross paths with Damon Runyon, W. C. Fields, Fanny Brice, and other notables of the jazz age. Spice these ingredients with Houdini's amazing illusions and Doyle's belief in the occult. Add a few pinches of romance. Stir up the mixture with a killer inspired by the stories of Poe.

One has to suspend belief to enjoy this concoction, but once the reader can do that, s/he will discover that Hjortsberg has managed to combine these improbable elements into a fun mystery.

It won't take much for the avid mystery fan to figure out whodunit, but that won't dim the enjoyment of being pulled into the age of crystal sets, speakeasies, flappers, and vaudeville. And, of course we know the killer will have to be hideously clever to outwit both Houdini and the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

NEVERMORE is like Houdini's magic ---only an illusion.

Houdini and Conan Doyle are two of my favorite people from history. This story was fun and enjoyable. It reminded me of "The Alienist" quite a bit, too. It is fun stuff--spritualism, magic, illusion, detective work...all
happening during a great time in history.

William Hjortsberg's "Nevermore" brings together Harry Houdini, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a serial killer emulating Edgar Allan Poe's stories, and a host of real characters from the 1920s. Sherlock Holmes's creator is in the United States delivering a series of lectures on spiritism, and Houdini is playing his usual role as a skeptic. The two inevitably run into each other time and time again, and they form a friendship, one that is tried to some degree by their different philosophies. While they are going about their businesses, a killer is dispatching victims in ways that are taken from Poe tales. And at the same time, a woman calling herself Isis is performing supernatural feats that Houdini cannot explain away.

If the story sounds busy, that's because it is. The various threads seem to coexist without mingling for quite some time. In fact, the serial killer all but disappears for a substantial portion of the second half of the novel. With the standard suspense aspect thusly diminished, the novel becomes more of a combination of a period piece and an exploration into the two men's obsession with supernatural phenomena. The historical aspect of the mystery often works well, though Hjortsberg does seem to revel a bit much in the minutiae of the period, from cigarette brands to characters. The supernatural aspect does not work, as Houdini is clearly the loser; there is never really any doubt but that spirits exist and influence the world. Also, it should be noted that Houdini's character, while heroic, is also decidedly unflattering, especially in his dealings with Isis.

"Nevermore" begins with a great deal of promise but ultimately fails to fulfill that promise as the threads never mesh entirely satisfactorily. While Hjortsberg writes well for the most part, he never truly unites the several threads, and a few of them are left dangling.

The story went very slow at first and it's really for us busy readers to hold on as it's really hard to get the story line at first. That's why the first half of the story is so boring. But then if you go on reading it, the first half isn't wasted at all and they are all well-planned. Well, but it goes so slow..

The theatrical productions of the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are entertaining, but I suggest that you don't waste any time on the piece by Yuri Rasovsky. The logic is flawed, the dialogue is trite, and the humor is flat. It would be a terrible play even if the characters were new, but it's even worse as a Sherlock Holmes story since the actions are entirely out-of-character both for Holmes and for Dr. Watson.

I'd give 4 stars to this item if it only contained the first four discs. Disc Five eroded my enthusiasm to the point that now I can only muster a 2-star rating overall.

How did this win a Best production Award? In todays world of hi tech audio, this was sadly lacking in production. The actors sound like they are sitting on stools reading into a microphone. There is no feeling of action or excitement. It is a dull reading with music that sounds as if it was taken from a record, and not designed for this production. When compared with the Sherlock Holmes I hear on XM - this production falls flat, and was a disappointment.

In this remake of a well-known classic, Professor Moriarity plots with potential blackmailers to have Holmes killed, resulting in suspense and intrigue, including Holmes falling in love, with a mystery woman. The audio offers a new and realistic take on the London detective story.

These are well done audio dramatizations with full orchestra and a fine cast. The third play takes up one CD and is not by Doyle and furthermore, is a comedy. I found it funny, but it may not be to the taste of a Doyle/Sherlock Holmes purist. Given that the focus of this set was to present performances of Sherlock Holmes plays that Doyle wrote or was involved in (the first play, "Sherlock Holmes" was originally written by Doyle but then re-written by William Gillette), I was surprised that Doyle's one-act play "The Crown Diamond" wasn't presented too (it would have fitted on one-disc). That said, "Crown Diamond" has never been highly regarded by most fans. All in all, a terrific set that is well worth having.

I listened to this audiobook on a recent hiking trip and found it very entertaining. A talented cast presents the only Holmes plays written by his creator, Sir Authur Conan Doyle.

In Sherlock Holmes, our hero fends off various nefarious plans launched by his nemasis, Professor Moriarity, the head of the London crime syndicate. Holmes even develops a love interest.

In the second play, The Speckled Band, Holmes solves an old murder and prevents a second one. The Anglo-Indian doctor has unusual habits, a mean disposition, surly servants and dog, and a propensity for seeing unhappy outcomes to the women left in his charge. Fortunately, Watson knew the family in India, and brings Holmes into the picture at the right time.

Then we have the little extra treat. Ghastly Double Murder in Famed Detectives's Flat is a more recent comedic play involving the Doyle characters, written by Yuri Rasovsky. This shows us what happens when the spotlight is turned off, as many new twists encircle Holmes, Watson, Mrs. Watson, and the long-suffering housekeeper. In this short story, Holmes elects an early retirement, as the current cases and criminals no longer hold his attention. Watson foresees his own demise, as he is broke, in debt to nefarious characters, and has already sold book rights that Holmes will never grant. The landlady realizes no one other than Holmes will pay the rent that has enabled her lifestyle all these years. She and Watson team up to stop Holmes' retirement with a surprising outcome.

The Lost World is delightful adventure fiction that remains quite popular nearly a century after it original publication. Arthur Conan Doyle's story may have some factual errors regarding specifics of various dinosaur species, but it is nonetheless a thrilling adventure into the wilds of the Amazon jungle. Black and white photos (albeit somewhat blurry) give credence to the existence of an isolated basaltic plateau that hosts not only dinosaurs, but also primitive natives living in constant struggle for survival against a brutal tribe of ape-men.

Doyle's characters were ready made for the silver screen. The irascible Professor Challenger has encountered evidence that large creatures, possibly dinosaurs, inhabit an unexplored region of the immense Amazonian forest, but is ridiculed by the scientific establishment despite his notable academic credentials. A highly skeptical scientist, Professor Summerlee, agrees to accompany an expedition on behalf of the prestigious Zoological Institute. The team is rounded out by Lord John Roxton, a famous Amazonian explorer, and Ed Malone, an enthusiastic young reporter for the London Gazette.

The plot is not entirely farfetched as the Amazon jungle remained largely unexplored in the early twentieth century except along the Amazon River and its major tributaries. In this narrative account the directions have been deliberately obscured to keep others from finding this prehistoric sanctuary. Nonetheless, I have spent evenings - so far without success - utilizing Google Earth to scan for possible locations of this hidden plateau. I continue my efforts.

In 1912 Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World was published in serial form in both Great Britain (The Strand Magazine) and in the US (Philadelphia Press), and later that year in book form. Although perhaps less familiar today than H. G. Well's classic science fiction novels like The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, The Lost World was made into a popular film in 1925 (starring Wallace Beery), a BBC radio broadcast by John Dickson Carr, an audio cassette (with Leonard Nimoy), more modern films in 1960, 1992, and 1998, and as various TV movies. This particular paperback edition was released in conjunction with a new A&E/BBC production The Lost World in 2002.

hey guys, standards are slipping here.

this is not a mystery book--this is early science fiction.

and, elizabeth peters is not englihs, she's american, and the mitchell book is about a comanche, on a reservation--definitely NOT english.

you need a better editor here.

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) is now chiefly remembered for his excellent Sherlock Holmes stories. However, Doyle wrote many exciting stories of adventure and mystery. This book contains four such stories.

1) In The Lost world, reporter Edward Malone accepts the challenge to explore a recently discovered South American plateau that allegedly contains dinosaurs. Teamed up with the eccentric Professor Challenger, the dubious Professor Summerlee, and the heroic Lord John Roxton, the heroes of the story find themselves immersed in an adventure beyond their wildest dreams. 2) In The Poison Belt, Malone is summoned by Professor Challenger with a cryptic note. It seems that the Earth is moving towards a poisonous section of space, and Challenger hopes that he can rescue himself and his associates-the last people left on Earth. 3) The Terror of Blue John Gap is a short diary telling the story of one man's confrontation with a monster that any modern man knows could not possibly exist. And finally, 4) The Horror of the Heights is another short diary excerpt that tells the story of a daring aviators discovery that the air also has its jungles and predators.

While somewhat dated, these stories are well written and quite exciting. They reflect a world that is now gone, but is quite interesting to read about. Overall, I must say that if you like adventure stories, then you must read this book!

Penguin edition of Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World and Other Thrilling Tales" comes with four tales: "The Lost World," "The Poison Belt," "The Terror of Blue John Gap" and "The Horror of Heights."

The first two stories (both are long ones) features Doyle's famous creation besides Holmes -- hot-tempered genius Professor Challenger. "The Lost World" is narrated by a newsreporter Edward Malone, who seeks for the chance to show before his love Gladys that he also could show the heroism by doing a great thing. So he grabs the opportunity to accampany the exploration team to prove the theory of Professor Challenger that there is a plateau untouched by the modern civilization deep in the South America where extinct animals are still living.

So, there go four characters -- Challenger, Edward Malone, Lord John Roxton (a nice-guy type of sportsman), and Professor Summerlee, who wants to disprove Challenger's theory by his own hand. The adventures themselves including the encounter with dinosaurs or other creatures are written with vivid touch, even though some parts are clearly dated. And some readers may feel uncomfortable when reading some violent scenes.

This story is filmed many times -- most as early as in 1925 -- but the ending is much different. Interestingly, the dinosaurs are not the main feature of the novel (even though Penguin's cover suggests the terrible havoc they do on the city, which is unashamedly borrowed in Steven Spielberg's film of the same title).

"The Lost World" (1912) was written immediately before WWI, and perhaps was the last romance that could depict the heroism in this way, in a remote country, against the exotic background of the Amazon. If you like it, read "King Solomon's Mines" or "She" by H. Rider Haggard, which were written in the late 19th century.

"The Poison Belt" the second "Professor Challenger" tale sounds more apocalyptic, beginning with the newspaper column of the Professor who predicts the mass destruction of the human beings. The story brings back the four characters of the last adventure, and shows how the world ends as Malone et al. see it. Though the story lacks scientific precision (what's "ether"?, you may say) and the final chapter is a huge letdown, the story is full of impact, describing the fear and terror of the people facing death. Some parts of it still look very modern and immediate, as if the scenes from "Dawn of the Dead" or "28 Days Later."

The last two shorts are comparatively weak, but not bad. "The Terror of Blue John Gap" is, as the title suggests, about the terror of the underground while "The Horror of the Heights" could be rephrased as "the horror seen by a daredevil pilot."

The Penguin edition has Philip Gooden's insightful introduction which also tells us the real-life models of the characters. He also provides useful notes, and the book has the original illustrations (the kind of garish drawings capturing the shocking moments of the story), which are pure delight to see. A good read for holidays.

The Adventure of the "Gloria Scott" is a Sherlock Holmes short story about criminals who take over a boat. It's very much like The Valley of Fear. Sherlock Holmes and any kind of mystery is only present for the first half of the tale, while the second half is filled with nothing but horrid violence. The only difference is the Adventure of the "Gloria Scott" is about 160 pages shorter.

There's not much else I can say about the Valley of Fear except it contains of my my all-time favorite quotes - "I am Birdy Edwards." This phrase is a terribly fun thing to say, and it capped a scene that was by far my favorite part of the Valley of Fear experience. Try saying it in internet chatrooms if you get bored.

Rather than purchase The Valley of Fear, I would HIGHLY recommend purchasing The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes (37 Short Stories And A Complete Novel From The Strand Magazine). While it does have some of the more mediocre Holmes tales like the "Gloria Scott" one, it also contains some of the best writing you'll ever find anywhere, like The Adventure of Silver Blaze and The Adventure of the Reigate Squires; works of pure genius. Plus you get pictures, and I didn't see any pictures in the Valley of Fear.

To sum up:

The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes - Capital!

The Valley of Fear - Not capital.

THE VALLEY OF FEAR is the seventh book in the Sherlock Holmes canon. As I am reading these books in order, I can say that, although the book has its moments, it just is not up to the standard one has come to expect at this point in the series. Despite an interesting story, a couple of big points prevent it from joining the top tier.

The first is that the mystery, although interesting, is just not that new at this point. A murder in an old remote castle, surrounded by a moat, with a wife, friend and servants all perplexed as to what may have happened, is treading old ground. Although Holmes states several times in the book that this case is one of the most interesting and perplexing he has encountered, anyone who has read the previous six books knows that this simply is not true. Doyle seems to have run out of steam here and as THE VALLEY OF FEAR is the fourth and last Sherlock Holmes novel, I hope that the next two books, which return to the short story format, will be better.

Second, the book is split into two distinct parts. The first part is the mystery itself, while the second part is the backstory of the characters that explains why things happened as they did. In this second part, there is no appearance of Holmes or Watson until the final few pages of epilogue. This harks back to the first Sherlock Holmes book, A STUDY IN SCARLEY, which is also a novel rather than a collection of short stories, in which the action digresses into the Utah plains. Again, the writing may be good and the story even fairly interesting, but I read Sherlock Holmes to read about Sherlock Holmes. This backstory is too long for a Holmes' novel.

It only took me twenty pages of A STUDY IN SCARLET, again the first book, to realize why Sherlock Holmes has withstood the test of time. The writing grabs the reader from the get go. It would be a shame if the series ended with a whimper rather than a bang and so I hope that THE VALLEY OF FEAR was a one-off. We shall see.

This one has Moriarty, what more can you want? When you have the super detective himself, Sherlock Holmes, trying to get to the bottom of what his arch-nemesis, super villain Professor Moriartry is up to, the stage is set for a gripping narrative, as they try and outdo each other, and Watson tries doggedly to follow along.

The last of the four complete Sherlock Holmes novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Valley of Fear gives the reader two plots for the price of one. More accustomed to writing short stories than well-developed novels, Doyle creates two story lines, only loosely connecting them. He then throws Moriarty, the arch-villain, into the mix, though Moriarty was killed off in a previous novel.

In the first plot, which directly involves Sherlock Holmes, a letter warns, in code, that something dreadful will happen at Birlstone, an ancient manor house surrounded by a forty-foot moat. Before Holmes can act, however, the owner, Jack Douglas, is found shot to death, his face destroyed in the blast from a sawed-off shotgun. Douglas was an American, and the nature of his death and the weapon "proves" to the local police that the killer was also an American. As Holmes investigates, with the help of Scotland Yard, the mystery deepens. Douglas always raised the drawbridge at night, the moat was too big to leap, and there were no strangers in the house. Gradually, Holmes uncovers Douglas's background in America.

In the second plot, a group of coal miners belonging to a secret society welcome a new member, Jack McMurdo, someone accused of murder in Chicago who needed to escape someplace where no one knew him. His lodge has recommended that he go to the Vermissa plain, "the Valley of Fear," and see Boss McGinty, the Bodymaster of the lodge there. McGinty and his men belong to a group which wreaks havoc on the community when it believes injustices have occurred. Seemingly above the law, they have avoided being caught, though rumor has it that a Pinkerton man has been sent to unmask the members of the group. Holmes plays little or no part in this whole section.

The two plots have seemingly little in common, except that the dead man from Part I is branded with the mark of the lodge of miners. The second part, about the lodge of miners, provides the motivation for the murder of Douglas in the first part. It is too bad that Doyle did not separate these two stories, since the story of the miners, though not involving Holmes, could have been developed as a powerful "one-off." It is a story filled with all the ingredients of great fiction--even including a love story--a dramatic and relevant mystery with connections to the social issues of the day. For anyone interested in watching a writer try to bridge the gap between short stories and novels, this "novel," though fun, shows the errors of using two plots with too little integration of ideas. n Mary Whipple

A Study in Scarlet
The Hound of the Baskervilles: 150th Anniversary Edition (Signet Classics)
The Sign of Four (Penguin Classics)
The Naval Treaty
Speckled Band/Mystery of the Second Stain (Sherlock Holmes)

The novel describes how the "Scientific American" in 1923 starts a special contest (to raise its sagging circulation): everyone who can give proof that there is life after death and you can get in contact with the spirits of the deceased, that one can divine the future, do something supernatural ... will win a price money of several thousand dollars. Spirtism was a great hype at this time. The "Scientific American" choses as judges Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes who in later years turned spiritist and believer in ghosts, divination, etc.) and Harry Houdini (rational magician who always worked to reveal self-proclaimed spiritists as fraudsters who are making money from people mourning for their lost ones).

The interesting and rather surprising fact about this storyline is: it is true! Of course the dialogues, several details and several supporting characters are more or less made up for the book, but the general background events really happened - so it makes the book a very interesting reading. You learn more about the lifes of Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle (everything seems to be well researched by the authors as far as I can say from looking some of it up in biographies). And the authors try to present Doyle's and Houdini's points of view without unfair prejudgement and give reasons and "proofs" for both views. But that's also the thing that might dissatisfy the reader most, especially if he does not believe in spiritism, like me, because some of those "proofs" for supernatural powers given in the novel are obviously made up for "artistical" reasons.

Not very captivating... unless you know alot about Houdini

This was by no means a master work. But I found it engaging as a yarn and insightful as a treatment of Houdini, and of his time battling to expose shadowy mediums and hucksters. I read it all in one big gulp and wanted more.