Sherlock Holmes in the States

Since the beginning of the Game, Sherlockians have always been fascinated by Sherlock Holmes's connections to America. "I am always happy to meet an American," he famously said. Speculation is strong that he went to the United States in his youth or during The Great Hiatus.

And that is the basis of an excellent pastiche anthology from Michael Kurland, perhaps best known for his series of novels about Professor Moriarty. In Sherlock Holmes: The American Years, he presents nine quality short stories from some excellent writers.

As is often the case with Holmes pastiches, the pages of this book are graced with many familiar personalities from history - Mark Twain, P.T. Barnum, Dr. Joseph Bell,  and Edwin Booth, among others. In almost every case they well done, really coming across as the persons they are supposed to be rather than just fictional characters using their names.

One of my favorite characters in the book appears in a story called "The Old Senator" by Steve Hockensmith, author of the fun "Holmes on the Range" series of mysteries featuring a cowboy Sherlockian. This story is written from the point of view of a

narrator whose identity doesn't become explicit until the end (although I guessed it because he was so true to life.)

It's hard to pick a solid favorite in this bunch, though, because of Kurland set the quality bar so high.