Studying Scarlet: A New Sherlock Holmes Mystery (New Sherlock Holmes Mysteries)
Studying Scarlet: A New Sherlock Holmes Mystery (New Sherlock Holmes Mysteries) book cover

Studying Scarlet: A New Sherlock Holmes Mystery (New Sherlock Holmes Mysteries)

Paperback – August 25, 2014

Price
$10.95
Format
Paperback
Pages
135
Publisher
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1500955731
Dimensions
6 x 0.31 x 9 inches
Weight
6.7 ounces

Description

Elementary, my dear reader. What else, after fifty years of enjoying the stories of Sherlock Holmes, is a recently retired gentleman to do with his time but write more stories about the world's most beloved detective. Craig Stephen Copland confesses that he discovered Sherlock Holmes when, some time in the muddled early 1960s he pinched his older brother's copy of the immortal stories and was forever afterward thoroughly hooked. He is very grateful to his high school English teachers in Toronto who inculcated in him a love of literature and writing, and even inspired him to be an English major at the University of Toronto. There he was blessed to sit at the feet of both Northrup Frye and Marshall McLuhan, and other great literary professors, who led him to believe that he was called to be a high school English teacher. It was his good fortune to come to his pecuniary senses and abandoned that goal and pursued a varied professional career that took him to over one hundred countries and endless adventures. He considers himself to have been and to continue to be one of the luckiest men on God's good earth. A few years back he took a step in the direction of Sherlockian studies and joined the Sherlock Holmes Society of Canada-also known as the Toronto Bootmakers. In May of 2014 this esteemed group of scholars announced a contest for the writing of a new Sherlock Holmes mystery. Although he had never tried his hand at fiction before, Craig entered and was pleasantly surprised to be selected as one of the winners. Having enjoyed the experience he decided to write more of the same, and is now on a mission to write a new Sherlock Holmes mystery that is related to and inspired by each of the sixty stories in the original Canon. He currently lives and writes in Toronto, New York, the Okanagan Valley, and Tokyo, and looks forward to finally settling down when he turns ninety.

Features & Highlights

  • Pray tell, are you addicted to Sherlock Holmes stories? Read the entire Canon? But you need MORE SHERLOCK? You came to the singularly correct place. Sixty new “canonical” Sherlock Holmes stories; each one a tribute to one of the original stories in the Canon. Enjoy.STUDYING SCARLET. A strikingly beautiful mature woman from The South has come to London in search of her estranged husband. She makes contact with three of his associates and a few days later all three are dead, garroted by a shadowy group of anarchists. In need of help she enters 221B Baker Street and hires the world’s greatest detective. She is accompanied by an elderly, not-petite African American woman who hires Holmes and lets him know who is in charge. A younger generation joins in the adventure. Like their parents, they are physically gorgeous, athletic, courageous, excellent horse riders, and, fortunately, strong swimmers. Together with Holmes and Watson, they ride madly across southern England trying to prevent a disastrous assassination and save the Empire.Fans of Sherlock Holmes will enjoy a new adventure that closely follows the narratives, characters, setting, and language of the Canon. Fans of Gone with the Wind will love this new parody/pastiche and the many tributes to the great saga of the antebellum age. Buy it now, read it, and enjoy your much-loved characters yet again.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(99)
★★★★
25%
(83)
★★★
15%
(50)
★★
7%
(23)
23%
(75)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Head of the Class

I have arrived to a point where I believe I should write up a boilerplate review of Mr Copeland's books and when another comes out simply paste it into the review section. Stated simply, his last few books belong with the very top echelon of my collection of 300+ Holmes/Watson pastiches. This particular outing merits being rated even higher. Simply stated, I cannot imagine how a story could have been done any better. Just make sure you allocate a Friday night and Saturday morning. Don't try to read it in bits and pieces; the frustrations you'll face are too great trying to sneak away from your assigned tasks to put your nose back into the book.

The author has a marvelous gift for keeping a taut, action-filled narrative in place at all times. The action doesn't let up and just about the time you think you have settled into a groove and start making predictions about where the plot will turn, surprises suddenly appear and you are sent to the drawing board again. One especially nice touch is how Mr Copeland has the English and American participants interacting. Humor, sly and otherwise abounds as the reader is led through the processes by which staid, stiff-upper-lip Englishmen (and women) deal with their rowdy partially-civilized cousins from the Colonies.

To someone who is getting involved with the Holmes/Watson pastiches for the first time, prepare yourself for the realization that most of those you will read after this one will not be in its league. I believe that Mr Copeland, in a sly manner, is keeping retired English teachers like myself on their toes by including lines like the following:

"...Then she broke out into a pleasant peel (sic) of laughter..."

For shame, Mr Copeland.
11 people found this helpful
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Good time to be had

I liked this book. It was funny and had a good plot line. I suspect I would have really enjoyed it more if I were a 'Gone With the Wind' fan.
2 people found this helpful
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Four Stars

Nice Sherlock take.
1 people found this helpful
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A fun, Amazing and enjoyable Book

A fun, Amazing and enjoyable Book written by someone who clearly has affection for history and literature. The story line flowed. The inclusion characters from the past added to my extreme exicitement. Story was packed with intrigue, suspense, humor and romance. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.
1 people found this helpful