This is a refreshing collection of Holmes pastiches . . . What makes the tales so enjoyable is the ingenuity of the plots: they are engagingly inventive. Not only are we presented with puzzles involving the man who wears a yellow top hat to feed the pigeons in Trafalgar Square, the cyclist who disappears in tthe snow without leaving and traces and the dead tree which has a sinister bearing on a young man's inheritance, but . . . some of the stories feature 'guest stars'; we have, for example, an appearance of Inspector Baynes, the actor Sir Henry Irving and magician Maskelyne. Mycroft Holmes in all his bulk also appears. For my money, this is one of the best collections of Holmes pastiches for some time. Recommended.
David Stuart Davies SHERLOCK MAGAZINE on the first edition
A superbly crafted and grippingly entertaining collection of stories
There is no more popular character in British mystery fiction than Sir Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. So popular was this deductive genius of a sleuth that stories continued to be published by fans and admirers long after the death of Doyle. The Singular Adventures of Mr Sherlock Holmes featuring new stories by Alan Stockwell recounting the adventures of the Baker Street detective is just such an example. Stockwell does full justice to the character of the famous sleuth with his imaginative, ingenious, inventive plots that are completely faithful to the spirit and tone of original Doyle stories. A superbly crafted and grippingly entertaining collection of stories, The Singular Adventures of Mr Sherlock Holmes features seventeen thrilling and enthusiastically recommended Sherlock Holmes short stories that once again bring England's most famous detective to live in our minds and imaginations. 5 stars.
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
Stockwell's Encore Scores!
The re-release of Alan Stockwell's The Singular Adventures of Mr Sherlock Holmes goes deeper than the original. Here are all the wonderful original stories [from the first edition], plus three great new adventures to whet the appetite of any true Holmes aficianado! . . . Doyle himself could have penned any of the three new stories. Like a master chef, Stockwell has blended the three things needed for a true Holmes story: a solid mystery, a well-written plot, and believable villains. Everything is done to perfection as a chef prepares a souffle: just enough spice to make it ambrosia, not enough to make it unfit for human consumption. A wonderful collection of tales, told by one who has mastered the world of Sherlock Holmes! 5 stars.
Dale Harris The Raven on the second edition
The Newsletter of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. June 2010
A couple of years ago [member] Dr Auberon Redfearn portrayed the great detective in Alan Stockwell's murder mystery play The Singular Adventure of The Gloved Pianist. Now the author has published the script, with a fuller account of the case, as told by Dr Watson, in Sherlock Holmes and the Singular Adventure of The Gloved Pianist (Vesper Hawk Publishing). Always at a loss for a suitable Christmas present for his friend, Dr Watson gives him a subscription to the Baker Street Chamber Music Society, little suspecting that the first recital they attend will be marred by the gruesome murder of Guido Salvato the celebrated 'gloved pianist'. The suspects include a professional rival and a jilted lover, but Holmes needs all his skill and specialist knowledge to discover the culprit. Watson's narrative includes a less grisly but equally baffling mystery, that of the disappearance of the Hon Edward Dunstable. As I said of the earlier volume The Singular Adventures of Mr Sherlock Holmes (also available from Vesper Hawk) "The Style is an acceptable simulacrum of Dr Watson's, and Mr Stockwell clearly knows his period and his Canon. He also has an engagingly inventive imagination." The acting version of The Gloved Pianist would be great fun to stage, as the audience has a significant role in the drama.
Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press August 2010
Alan Stockwell's pastiche was dramatized as "The Singular Adventure of the Gloved Pianist" and performed for the Sherlock Holmes Society of London in 2008; Stockwell has turned the play back into a pastiche, and his SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SINGULAR ADVENTURE OF THE GLOVED PIANIST is an entertaining mystery in more ways than one with opportunities for audience participation.
The Sherlock Holmes Society of London Journal Winter 2010
This new Sherlock Holmes pastiche is presented in a book of imaginatively novel structure. First. there is a short self-contained Holmes Adventure —as it were, a taster, Buy-One-Get-One-Free. Then follows the title mystery in text form, the book ending with a dramatized version of it.
As in his previous volumes, Alan Stockwell gets close to the authentic Watsonian narrative style, and the reader is transported convincingly back into the ambience of the (here) Edwardian era. The story introduces a very ingenious basic idea, whereby the latest technology of the age conspires to produce a crime unique in the annals of malefaction. The tale is strongly plotted, and all the loose ends of the suitably tangled skein are neatly teased out and tied together at the end, with a satisfying profusion of false trails along the way. The whole is seasoned with some sly touches of humour — not to mention the odd pawky pun.
The inspired concept of setting the principal action entirely in the concert hall of the Baker Street Chamber Music Society greatly facilitates its translation into dramatic form, the audience at the play becoming the audience in the concert hall. As I was privileged to take the part of Holmes in the first performance at Smarden, Kent, in 2008, I can vouch for the fact that the drama plays extraordinarily well.
To paraphrase a closing remark by Holmes, the demonstration of method in the one case, and the murder in the other, were both effected by means which “would have been impossible just a few years ago”. If this intriguing fact does not make you yearn to read the book, then it jolly well should!
SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY EVENING
"SHERLOCK HOLMES and the Singular Adventure of the GLOVED PIANIST"
. . so we came to the dinner interval with four suspects to consider. Members of the cast chatted amicably with the audience. I noted that Mr Shawcross [the steel magnate] was keen to name somebody else as the culprit. There was no unaminity of verdict at our table - for any one of these doubtful characters could have done the dreadful deed. All was revealed by Sherlock Holmes in a tour de force of deductive powers which comprised a brief second act.
Thus ended a most enjoyable evening. In an excellent piece of dinner theatre Mr Stockwell has provided . . . an intriguing drama with strong period characterisation. The format was such that . . . it may readily be staged by any small company.
Review in The Sherlock Holmes Journal SUMMER 2008
AMATEUR GROUPS WISHING TO PERFORM THE PLAY MAY DO SO WITHOUT PAYMENT BUT SHOULD CONTACT THE PUBLISHERS FOR PRIOR PERMISSION BY VISITING:
