Text Box: In 1929 Dr Watson felt strong enough after the death of Sherlock Holmes to . . . delve once more into his battered dispatch box crammed with papers . . . to recall fifteen adventures which “show the many and varied talents of this prodigious man.” A typical Sunday railway journey lost its tedium so effectively that I did not realise that two and a quarter hours had become four and I nearly missed Exeter altogether. Alan Stockwell has captured the style of Dr Watson very well. I particularly liked The Blue Silk Underwear in which Holmes solves a code in the lace-work of - well -the title, and it is pleasant to see Mrs Watson featuring in this story. The Flat-Top Desk shows Holmes at his most compassionate though the ending is not a happy one. In The Oppressed Tragedian we meet Bram Stoker and the eminent actor Mr Henry Irving who seeks Holmes’s help when he is a victim of blackmail – a fascinating read. These tales are different from the usual run of pastiches and I certainly found much enjoyment in them. Cover of The Torr Magazine of the Sherlock Holmes Society of the West Country

Violet Carfax

THE TORR

On the first edition Spring 2004
Text Box: 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, plus three great new adventures to whet the appetite of any true Holmes aficionado! Stockwell also has edited "The Spurious Ambassador", bringing that story (the one small spot in his original book) into line with the world of Holmes. 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 soufflé: 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 “RAVEN” Review on amazon.com 25th November, 2006 Text Box: So many Sherlock Holmes pastiches verge on the ridiculous - Holmes meeting Dracula, going back in time, into space and so on - that it is very refreshing to find this collection of adventures firmly anchored in Holmes' own time and place. It is planned as an extension to the Canon and written in an authentic fashion as narrated by Watson. The blurbs on the cover quote critics calling it one of the best collections of pastiches in recent times. I beg to differ - it is THE best! 5 stars. R. BIDDLE Review on amazon.co.uk 16th December 2006 Text Box: Perfect collection of Sherlockian pastiches After a long time a perfect collection of amazing cases of Sherlock Holmes again. The plots of these pastiches are consistent with the famous Detective. And stories look like being from the pen of John H Watson himself. Mr Stockwell proves to be his worthy successor knowing the original Holmesian Canon as well as life and institutions of Victorian England. I spent wonderful Christmas time when reading this singular book. 5 stars. ALES KOLODRUBEC, president of the Czech Society of Sherlock Holmes Review on amazon.co.uk 16th January 2007 Text Box: New Holmes Pastiche Available Now! Alan Stockwell has released an edited and expanded edition of his Holmes pastiche novel The Singular Adventures of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. The book is very well written, and much like the original stories. I am pleased to note that he revised the one story after reading my review on amazon.com. The three new stories alone make this book worth the price. Holmes is alive and well, reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated! PENDRAGON Review on online.literature.com 29th November 2006 Text Box: I'm not usually a pastiche kind of a guy. A set of stories first released in 2003 has recently been revised and expanded. I refer to The Singular Adventures of Mr Sherlock Holmes by Alan Stockwell. The plots are quite workmanlike in their construct. I found two very worthwhile recommendations. One from David Stuart Davies and another from Roger Johnson, one of our regular readers and commenters. While I can't comment on having read the stories myself, I'm more inclined to purchase this pastiche than any other. Scott Monty Baker Street Journal Personal Blog 28 November 2006 Text Box: Spot on Holmes pastiche This collection of original stories will appeal to any Holmes devotee. Highly recommended - I look forward to further releases from this author, who succeeds in accurately capturing the style of Doyle. 5 stars. EDDIE CHALGRAVE Review on amazon.co.uk 13th December 2006 Text Box: Mr Stockwell does an outstanding job on the hardest part of any Sherlock Holmes story: thinking up mysteries clever enough for the Great Detective to solve. With only a couple of exceptions these are some very adroit stories and the author never cheats by bringing in a late character at the end to conveniently be the criminal. The final story has a big emotional kick and is a bit of a shocker. . . If you are keen on brain teasers, this is a definitive keeper. STARFIRE Review on amazon.com 18th February 2007 Text Box: 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. 5stars. Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) Review on amazon.com March 3rd, 2007