The book written in the 90's by June Thomson has seven interesting stories which never got published by John H Watson. Interestingly enough, the author's (late) uncle who shared the same name as that of Dr. Watson was curious and lucky enough to obtain that unpublished collection after a serious amount of research.
The stories include Ainsworth abduction (story of Vittoria the circus belle), the Boulevard assassin's capture, the dreadful business of the Abernetty family, the Ferrer documents, the case of the Vatican cameos, the Camberwell Deception and the Bartonwood murder(that involved leeches).
The most interesting aspect of the book is that the original series (by Doyle) has passing references to most of these stories at some point or other. This is what turns this book into a winner. June Thomson has carefully studied the actual series including the timelines and she has painstakingly derived branching cases from those passing references. For instance, the Camberwell Deception is that case in which Holmes sorted out a domestic problem for Mrs.Cecil Forrester who was the past governess of Mary Morston. Mary Morston of course, is Dr. Watson's wife whom he met during the case of "Sign of Four".
Similar connections to the original series exists for the story of the circus belle, the Ferrer documents and the Bartonwood murder. These connections/references are mentioned as footnotes in this book and these will quietly push us along till the end of the book. Nothing has been exaggerated here, no unwanted twists in any of the stories, no mention of Lestrade, Moriarty or Irene Adler just for the sake of it. In short it is a short, well prepared Holmes mini package.
The stories include Ainsworth abduction (story of Vittoria the circus belle), the Boulevard assassin's capture, the dreadful business of the Abernetty family, the Ferrer documents, the case of the Vatican cameos, the Camberwell Deception and the Bartonwood murder(that involved leeches).
The most interesting aspect of the book is that the original series (by Doyle) has passing references to most of these stories at some point or other. This is what turns this book into a winner. June Thomson has carefully studied the actual series including the timelines and she has painstakingly derived branching cases from those passing references. For instance, the Camberwell Deception is that case in which Holmes sorted out a domestic problem for Mrs.Cecil Forrester who was the past governess of Mary Morston. Mary Morston of course, is Dr. Watson's wife whom he met during the case of "Sign of Four".
Similar connections to the original series exists for the story of the circus belle, the Ferrer documents and the Bartonwood murder. These connections/references are mentioned as footnotes in this book and these will quietly push us along till the end of the book. Nothing has been exaggerated here, no unwanted twists in any of the stories, no mention of Lestrade, Moriarty or Irene Adler just for the sake of it. In short it is a short, well prepared Holmes mini package.
Verdict: A very good read.
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