Conan Doyle For The Defense by Maraglit Fox

In 1908 Scotland, a wealthy woman is brutally murdered. Though several eyewitnesses see the man, they are unable or unwilling to name the suspect. Around this time, immigrant Jew, Oscar Slater is doing business of some nefarious means. He's a con man, a swindler, a pimp- but not a murderer. 

However, the Glasgow police are being pressured to close the case and to do it fast. Using a tip from a pawn broker, authorities finger Slater. Unable to speak on his own accord, Slater is subject to a kangaroo court of sorts and is quickly found guilty despite a lack of sufficient evidence and clear proof of witness tampering. 

Sentenced to spend the rest of his life in one of human history's most diabolical prisons, performing hard labor, Oscar Slater verges on the edge of insanity. As a number of low-level civic leaders try to no avail to lessen the accused's sentence, things look bleak for Slater. That is until the creator of literature's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes, takes the case! Ladies and gentlemen, for the defense: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I love Sherlock Holmes stuff. From the Great Mouse Detective to Cumberbatch, and everything in-between, I am a sucker for the Great Detective! I also like a TV show called Mysteries at the Museum. During one episode, a segment was devoted to the work Doyle did on proving a man was innocent for the crime of mutilating livestock. But that gentleman was of Indian decent. So, I was excited to learn more of Doyle's extra forays into the world of true crime. 

The book is basically 2 stories in one. The first is of the life and trials of Oscar Slater. The next is the biography of Sir Arthur. The actual intermingling of the two principle characters in this account of Edwardian Era crime is, well, limited. 

For titling a book with such as 'For The Defense' Doyle is not really that much of an active player. Doyle seems to have done much more in getting George Edalji freed than he did Slater. And I think I would have much rather have read an in-depth account of that case than with the Slater affair.

Doyle wrote 2 pamphlets for Slater's cause. Though technically, the majority of the work of second essay was researched and compiled by a third party. Mostly all Doyle does is writing letters- there's no grunt work here! Sir Arthur mostly seemed to put his name on the second plea on Slater's part as would a celebrity who was selling indoor grills or discount clothing. 

A good fourth of this 352 page book is made up of appendices. I think if you removed them, the book came to about 284 pages. One-third of the book is comprised of verbatim testimonies or correspondence. That leaves about 2/3 of the book filled with author Maraglit Fox's insights into the crime and time period and it makes for this book to feel more like a scholarly text then a work of non-fiction entertainment. 

While Fox's own words are in-depth and cohesive, the manner in which the author presents cited works is not. Some segments are done like a script. Others are huge paragraphs of text. Sometimes Fox would enclose paragraphs with quotations. Other times, she indent the paragraph of text in italics. One thing is for sure, those Edwardian types sure did like to use a lot of words. I just wish that the manner in which their voices were offered in one style for a slightly more easier read. 

A true crime novel? YES. A biography about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? YES. A true crime novel in which Doyle takes the case much like his creation, Holmes? Absolutely not!

Don't let the title full you. Sir Arthur will not be running down British alleyways behind a pack of howling bloodhounds. He'll not be pushing the true fiend behind the murder over a cliff. Nor will he even enter a single courtroom! And if you thought you'd be learning anything about the art of apiary maintenance (beekeeping), forget it! This is real life and it's a little bit boring.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini #1

Art and Story by Cynthia Von Buhler
Covers by David Mack and Robert McGinnis
Published by Titan Comics

Minky Woodcock is a young secretary who longs to become a private detective like her famous father. Instead, she spends her days at the agency as his secretary. However, her chance to finally snag a case comes when her father is on holiday and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle arrives in need of an investigator. Doyle wants to expose his former friend, the great magician Harry Houdini, as a closet spiritualist whose trying to put his competition out of business.

Knowing very little of the spiritualist movement, Minky is invited by Doyle to attend a seance. However, instead of contacting the dead, Minky discovers quite a bit of tomfoolery with the whole thing and exposes the medium as a fraud. No longer wanting to deal with Doyle and his fictitious cronies, Minky fears that her chances of becoming a detective are over. That is until a chance meeting at a local speakeasy puts her face-to-face with the mysterious Houdini!

The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini is crime fiction publisher Hard Case Crime's first foray into comic books. Teaming with the folks at Titan, this miniseries is written and illustrated by Cyntihia Von Buhler (An Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer.) This first issue was quite interesting. I was a big fan of the short-lived Victorian mystery series Houdini and Doyle and was quite upset to learn it was cancelled. This story almost acts, unofficially of course, as a sort of closer to that TV show as the former friends and partners are now at odds with each other due to some sort of falling out.

Cynthia Von Buhler's art work is quite remarkable. It almost looks like it was drawn on stained glass. Yes- her style and technique does give the art a flat 2-D feel. But you really can't say that anyone out on the market today is putting out as visually stunning and exceptionally colored comics as Von Buhler is doing with this book either.

Let's talk a bit about the covers. Von Buhler cover as well as David Mack's are good. But the variant cover by Hard Case Crime artist Robert McGinnis is exotic and deadly. My mother used to read all sorts of mystery paperbacks when I was a kid. Those sordid painted covers were tawdry and alluring- and yes a little dirty. That's how the overall story is. There's quite a bit of nudity, hanky panky, and beautiful things that if you are not careful will reveal that it's a wolf in sheep's clothing and attack when your guard is done. The publisher sure knew what it was doing putting a Mature rating on this one. But I cannot wait for the next issue as this historical mystery has me hooked in just one oh too short issue!
Issue #1 debuts in stores on November 15, 2017. It retails for $3.99.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Sherlock Holmes #1

This is one of those comics in which if it wasn't for the group's I participate in on Facebook, I wouldn't have known that it existed. When I saw this posted as a comic convention find by a fellow group member, I was so jealous. I immediately went to the net to purchase a copy for myself. Needless to say, it wasn't cheap. So, I held off on getting the book and I waited.

  My wait wasn't very long as I found a decent good- to- very good copy for only a buck! I'm pretty sure I yelled out “MINE!”, even though I was the only customer in the store at the time. That's how bad I wanted this issue.

  This issue, dated October 1975, is based on the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by Dennis O’ Neil, who at the time of publication was doing masterful mystery work on various Batman series. So he was the perfect choice to head this up. The gothic style cover art is by superstar artist Walt Simonson (Thor) with interiors by Filipino artist E.R. Cruz. I'm not very familiar with Cruz and what little I could find about him could fill a postage stamp. But he did do some work on a variety of DC'S lesser known horror titles and his work here is really good.

  Sherlock Holmes #1 is divided into two parts. Part one retells Doyle's ‘The Final Problem’ in what was to be the last ever story between Holmes and his arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty. I've read the story on which this part was based and the adaptation was quite good.

 Part two covers a story that I have yet to read in prose form, ‘ The Adventure of the Empty House.’ That story marked Holme’s return after a brief hiatus in which fans of the detective went bonkers and demanded that Doyle resurrect his most famous creation. To rate the story on its merits alone, the solution to how Holmes survived his encounter with Moriarty was OK. But his reasons for faking his own death were actually quite brilliant.

  The biggest surprise about this issue is that not only is it the first issue, it's the only issue. I'm not sure why it didn't catch on with readers. And no this wasn't a one-shot as there's a plug for issue #2 at the end of the book. And no- this title wasn't a victim of the DC implosion as that didn't occur until 1978. (Speaking of book endings, there is a great article about Sherlock Holmes in fiction and film at issue's end that was really interesting. Be sure not to skip it!)

 A fun read that is best read at night. A must for fans and collectors that consider themselves a member of the Baker Street Irregulars.

  Worth Consuming.

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

   

The Sherlock Holmes Puzzle Collection

  When I found this book, I was so excited. I have been on a Sherlock kick recently having discovered the Benedict Cumberbatch series on PBS. So when I found this puzzle book, I thought I would get to be like the famous detective and solve some crimes.

  The book is setup just like the original novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with Dr. John Watson as the narrator. This time, the prose is in the form of Watson's notebook containing some of Holmes lesser known ( and so extent, less exciting mysteries- unpublished of course!) With the answers in the back, I thought that this would be like Donald J Sobol's Encyclopedia Brown series that I adored as a kid. (who am I kidding, I still do!) Yet I would have to venture that about 75% of this book reads like the SATs!

   With complicated word plays, lengthy math problems, logic puzzles, and blasted fractions, this book was hard. It didn't help that these puzzles get more and more difficult as the book progresses. Plus, some of the more tricky puzzles unfairly require the reader to have a general knowledge of life in Victorian England in order to solve them.

  By the end of the book, these contests were so difficult to even comprehend that I was pretty much rushing through them. I was that flustered with this book. I think you've got to be a member of MENSA to enjoy the second half of this book. And if you aren't, you’re going to need a pen, paper and possibly a calculator and dictionary to solve them.

  I enjoyed the artwork, some of which were original pieces by Sydney Paget, illustrator of Doyle's stories when first published in London's The Strand magazine. This is a lovely little book for serious Sherlock enthusiasts but for a comparative novice of Holmes and Watson like me, it's going straight to a used bookstore for trade credit.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

"Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Library of Congress Century Bestseller Series)"

WORTH CONSUMING!

It took me a few days to get back into this book. I ended up getting sick and I just didn’t feel like reading small print. It was very easy to get back in this book and not be too lost.

I really am starting to enjoy these tales of Holmes, Watson, and Co. I still think some of his assumptions that come true are a stretch, but it’s still worth reading!

 I highly recommend!

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

WORTH CONSUMING!

I really thought I was going to hate this book. In fact, I was a little intimidated by the sheer brilliance of this Victorian classic. Plus, the Holodeck episodes in which Data portrays Holmes on Star Trek: The Next Generation are among my least favorite.

 But, I read recently a book in which a character was enjoying Sherlock Holmes and I decided to give it a try- again. I had read a kids version of Hound of the Baskervilles when I was 10-13 and had mixed reviews.

 But, this time I fell in love with the whole package. I can see David Tenant in my eye as Holmes and I like the fact that you’re not required to solve the case against Holmes. I got a little confused when mid-way through the book goes 20 years or more back in time to Mormon settlement in Utah. However, once I realized that this was how to book was supposed to flow, I really got into the mystery and realized Doyle is a bloody genius.