MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories - Part XVI

David Marcum

Description

In 2015, The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories burst upon the scene, featuring adventures set within the correct time period, and written by many of today's leading Sherlockian authors from around the world. Those first three volumes were overwhelmingly received, and there were soon calls for additional collections. Since then, their popularity has only continued to grow. And now we present a new three-volume set. Like 2017's two-volumes set, Eliminate the Impossible, this new collection, Whatever Remains . . . Must Be the Truth features tales of Holmes's encounters with seemingly impossible events - ghosts and hauntings, cults and curses, mythical beasts and mediums, angels and demons, and more.In "The Sussex Vampire", Holmes tells Watson: "This agency stands flat-footed upon the ground, and there it must remain. The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply." In each of the stories presented in this huge three-volume collection, Holmes approaches the varied problems with one of his favorite maxims firmly in place: ". . . . When you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth . . . ." But what, exactly, is the truth?A Study in Scarlet, the first recorded adventure of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson, was first published in 1887. What an amazing journey the years since then have been! In addition to the pitifully few sixty tales originally presented in The Canon, published between 1887 and 1927, there have been literally thousands of additional Holmes adventures in the form of books, short stories, radio and television episodes, movies, manuscripts, comics, and fan fiction. And yet, for those who are true friends and admirers of the Master Detective of Baker Street, where it is always 1895 (or a few decades on either side of that!) these stories are not enough. Give us more!The forty-nine stories in these three companion volumes represent some of the finest new Holmesian storytelling to be found, and honor the man described by Watson as "the best and wisest . . . whom I have ever known."All royalties from this collection are being donated by the writers for the benefit of the preservation of Undershaw, one of the former homes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.Part XVI - Whatever Remains Must Be the Truth (1881-1890) features contributions by:Derrick Belanger, Mark Sohn, Tracy J. Revels, Brenda Seabrooke, Kevin Thornton, Andrew Bryant, Josh Anderson & David Friend, David Marcum, I.A. Watson, Arthur Hall, Tim Gambrell, Shane Simmons, Bob Bishop, Mark Mower, Kelvin Jones, and Jayantika Ganguly, and with a poem by Josh Pachter, and forewords by David Marcum, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Roger Johnson, and Steve Emecz.

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 25 novembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781787055049
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories
Part XVI
Whatever Remains . . . Must Be the Truth
(1881–1890)






First edition published in 2019 by
MX Publishing
335 Princess Park Manor, Royal Drive, London, N11 3GX
www.mxpublishing.com
Digital version converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© 2019 MX Publishing
The right of the individuals listed in the Copyright information section to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy, or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied, or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious or used fictitiously. Except for certain historical personages, any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of MX Publishing or any other party.
David Marcum can be reached at:
[e-mail]
Cover design by Brian Belanger
www.belangerbooks.com and www.redbubble.com/people/zhahadun



Stories in Companion Volumes
The following can be found in the companion volumes
The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories
Whatever Remains . . . Must Be the Truth
Part XVII and Part XVIII
Part XVII — (1891–1898)
The Violin Thief — A Poem – Christopher James
The Spectre of Scarborough Castle – Charles Veley and Anna Elliott
The Case for Which the World is Not Yet Prepared – Steven Philip Jones The Adventure of the Returning Spirit – Arthur Hall
The Adventure of the Bewitched Tenant – Michael Mallory
The Misadventures of the Bonnie Boy – Will Murray
The Adventure of the Danse Macabre – Paul D. Gilbert
The Strange Persecution of John Vincent Harden – S. Subramanian
The Dead Quiet Library – Roger Riccard
The Adventure of the Sugar Merchant – Stephen Herczeg
The Adventure of the Undertaker’s Fetch – Tracy J. Revels
The Holloway Ghosts – Hugh Ashton
The Diogenes Club Poltergeist – Chris Chan
The Madness of Colonel Warburton – Bert Coules
The Return of the Noble Bachelor – Jane Rubino
The Reappearance of Mr. James Phillimore – David Marcum
The Miracle Worker – Geri Schear
The Hand of Mesmer – Dick Gillman
Part XVIII — (1899–1925)
The Adventure of the Lighthouse on the Moor – A Poem – Christopher James
The Witch of Ellenby – Thomas A. Burns, Jr.
The Tollington Ghost by Roger Silverwood
You Only Live Thrice – Robert Stapleton
The Adventure of the Fair Lad – Craig Janacek
The Adventure of the Voodoo Curse – Gareth Tilley
The Cassandra of Providence Place – Paul Hiscock
The Adventure of the House Abandoned – Arthur Hall
The Winterbourne Phantom – M.J. Elliott
The Murderous Mercedes – Harry DeMaio
The Solitary Violinist – Tom Turley
The Cunning Man – Kelvin I. Jones
The Adventure of Khamaat’s Curse – Tracy J. Revels
The Adventure of the Weeping Mary – Matthew White
The Unnerved Estate Agent – David Marcum
Death in The House of the Black Madonna – Nick Cardillo
The Case of the Ivy-Covered Tomb – S.F. Bennett



Copyright information
Unless otherwise indicated, the following contributions are the first publication, original to this collection.
“Sherlock, Mycroft, and Me” © 2019 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“The Adventure of the Ghoulish Grenadier” © 2019 Josh Anderson and David Friend.
“The Wylington Lake Monster” © 2019 Derrick Belanger.
“The Paddington Poltergeist” © 2019 Bob Bishop.
“The Blue Lady of Dunraven” © 2019 Andrew Bryant.
“Stories, Stepping Stones, and the Conan Doyle Legacy” © 2019 Steve Emecz.
“The Haunting of Bottomly’s Grandmother” © 2019 Tim Gambrell.
“The Adventure of the Obsessive Ghost” © 2019 Jayantika Ganguly.
“The Adventure of Miss Anna Truegrace” © 2019 Arthur Hall.
“All Supernatural or Preternatural Agencies are Ruled Out as a Matter of Course” © 2019 Roger Johnson.
“The Weird of Caxton” © 2019 Kelvin Jones. This story originally appeared in a substantially different non-Sherlockian form in 1983. First publication of this version original to this collection.
“Whatever Remains . . . .” and “The Affair of the Regressive Man” © 2019 David Marcum.
“The Spectral Pterosaur” © 2018 Mark Mower.
“The Hound of the Baskervilles (Retold) — A Poem” © 2019 Josh Pachter.
“The Adventure of Headless Lady” © 2019 Tracy J. Revels.
“The Curse of Barcombe Keep” © 2019 Brenda Seabrooke.
“The Adventure of the Intrusive Spirit” © 2019 Shane Simmons.
“The Juju Men of Richmond” © 2017, 2019 Mark Sohn. A somewhat different version of this story originally appeared online. First publication of this revised version, original to this collection.
“ Angelus Domini Nuntiavit ” © 2019 Kevin P. Thornton.
“The Adventure of the Giant’s Wife” © 2019 I.A. Watson.







Editor’s Introduction: “Whatever Remains . . . .”
by David Marcum
People like mysteries. We read books about them. We watch films and television shows about them. We look for them in real life. The daily unfolding of the news— What’s the real story? What is the truth behind these events that I’m following? What will happen next? What will tomorrow bring?— is just another form of mystery.
Some people claim that they don’t like mystery stories, instead preferring other genres. But consider for instance how often a mystery figures in a science-fiction story. I’ve been a Star Trek fan since I was two or three years old in the late 1960s and saw an Original Series episode on television, and I can say for sure that many—if not most— Star Trek television episodes or films have strong elements of mystery somewhere within the story, and in most cases the characters serve as detectives, leading us from the unknown puzzle at the beginning of the story to the solution at the end, working step-by-step and clue-by-clue to find out what happened, or to identify a hidden villain. Is that harmless old actor really Kodos the Executioner? How exactly does Edith Keeler die? Why does God need a starship?
To extend the Sci-Fi theme a bit: I don’t like Star Wars , although I guess that one way or another I’ve seen just about all of it, so I’m certainly aware of the mysterious elements throughout the story. What did the hints imply about Luke’s father, before the answer was provided? What exactly was the emperor up to before all was revealed? Who are Rey’s parents? It’s all a mystery, cloaked in space battles and pseudo-religion Force-chatter and light-sabre fights. In Dune , which I do like, mysteries abound as the story unfolds, with questions that must be answered, followed by more questions. These stories may not be a typical “mystery story”—a murder or a jewel theft, with a ratiocinating detective or a lonely private eye making his way down the mean streets, but they are mysteries none-the-less.
Look at other genres: Romance books and films? Who is the tall dark stranger, and how can his background be discovered by the heroine, layer-by-layer, using detective-like methods? The Dirk Pitt books by Clive Cussler, along with books about Pitt’s associates “co-authored” by others, are most definitely mysteries, although clothed in incredible world-shaking plots. (I’ve lost track of the Sherlockian references that continually pop up in the adventures of Pitt and his friends.) The original James Bond books, before Bond became so currently complicated and far from his origins, were each labelled as A James Bond Mystery . Stephen King, known for his supernaturally-tinged masterpieces, writes stories that are full of mysteries, and sometimes with actual detectives, showing just how much influence that the early mystery writers like John D. MacDonald had on him. Television shows like Lost or Dallas or How I Met Your Mother respectively asked questions like What is the Island? or Who shot J.R? or Who is the mother? None of these were specifically mysteries, and they are draped in all sorts of other trappings—time-shifting castaways, oil-baron shenanigans, or a typical sit-com group’s antics—but the plot points that drive the shows are no different than what would be found in a mystery story. It’s the same for stories that are nominally for kids like Gravity Falls or A Series of Unfortunate Events ask What’s Grunkle Stan’s story? and What’s up with that ankle tattoo and the VFD?
And liking mysteries is just a step away from pondering greater unknowns. It’s a human trait, as shown in cultures around the world. No matter what place, and no matter what era, we find stories of ghosts, and monsters, and questions raised about the nature of death, and whether there is more going on all around us than can ever perceived. It was that way thousands of years ago, when mankind squatted in caves around fires, waiting for the dangerous night outside to pass, and it’s that way right now, as we hide in our fragile constructs of civilization and wires and thin walls and fool ourselves into believing that we’ve pushed back the night. (Look around. We haven’t. The night is here.)
The Victorian Era, with its rapid strides in scientific knowledge, brought science crashing up against superstition and religion and spiritualism. Scientists had been gaining an understanding of t