52 Weeks | 52 Sherlock Holmes Novels - Inspired, Created, and Edited by Paul Bishop

It’s been many years since I read the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but I did read the complete canon back then. However, then came a long drought before I eventually began picking up a few pastiches this past year, largely due to Paul Bishop’s enthusiastic blogging about his latest passion. This book has done wonders to reinvigorate my desire to dig back into the adventures of the great detective.

This volume comprises 52 different offerings submitted by various contributors, encompassing the wide and diverse universe of Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock-adjacent material. Most are novels but other forms of media are represented or referenced such as comics, movies, and TV shows. Additionally, we are treated to several essays about such subjects as collecting, publishing, illustrating, and even engineering Sherlockian merchandise.

I’m sure this is a book that is not meant to be read from cover to cover but, rather, to be dipped into now and again and perused at a leisurely pace. While I may well do that in the future, I am who I am, and therefore, not content to wait around for the appropriate time to dip my toe in once more. Consequently, I did choose to read this entire volume from start to finish. However, I wanted to savor it over time so I limited myself to reading two to three entries each evening. I found this to be a great way to absorb the content and appreciate the perspectives of the various contributors even more.

Speaking of the contributors, they are all well connected to the Sherlockian universe in one way or another. Most are authors in their own right and have penned tales in the milieu themselves. Their 52 entries cover the entire gamut including traditional Holmesian tales that could have been written by Doyle himself, to those that include supernatural, science fiction, western, or horror elements. Several feature characters other than Holmes or Watson and include entries following Mycroft, or Moriarty, or Irene Adler. I found every single one to be an interesting and insightful read. 

So, did this book serve its purpose? I should say so! While I have read a few of the 52 entries, and have heard of a few of the others, I can honestly say that I now have many more on my TBR list.

Inspired by this book, it's time to end this review and start reading my newest acquisition, one of the 52 highlighted in these pages: "Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows", the first of the Cthulhu Casebook series by James Lovegrove.