A light-hearted guide to the world of Sherlock Holmes, the London of his day, Doyle's stories, and actors who have played the part of Holmes, packed with little known facts, capsule summaries of stories, and bandw illustrations. No index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Over 400,000 copies sold! If you are a mystery buff, an Agatha Christie fan, an occasional Christie reader or an acquaintance of any of the above, this book is for you and all your fortunate friends The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Agatha Christie, on the 25th anniversary of Agatha Christie's death, continues as a grand salute to the queen of mysteries. It is filled with wonderful and surprising things about her books, her characters, the movies and plays based on them, and Dame Agatha herself. Original contributions by some sixty writers celebrate the Christie touch. Take your pick among thse intriguing features and speculations: -Surviving an English country weekend - if you had the advice of Hercule Poirot - A guide to the Christie poisions, as well as the cruder methods of genteel mayhem - The "other" Agatha Christie who wrote romantic novels - A murder victim's (!) first-person account of a Christie Mystery Weekend - The Hercule Poirot Double-Crostic and other puzzles That's a taste. There's much more - and witty plot summaries of all Christie's novels, plays, and many of her short stories. (But no endings, of course!) This treasury is more than entertainment - it is also a personal reference work for Christie fans. And there are scores of movie posters, film stills, illustrations and a Christie mystery map, too.
Sherlock Holmes remains as popular, and as fascinating, now as he ever did. Now, in this beautiful and lavishly illustrated book, Daniel Smith explores Sherlock Holmes and his world in every engrossing respect. The Sherlock Holmes Companion, a witty and informed text, provides plot summaries of every single Sherlock Holmes story, in the order in which they were written, and with good-humored and even waspish assessments of their relative merits. There are compact biographies of Holmes, Moriarty, Watson, and Conan Doyle—whose own life and earnest preoccupations remain of enduring interest. The book contains many original interviews with some of the actors who’ve played Holmes, or written film or television scripts about him, over the years as well as a comprehensive chronology of all the thespians to attempt a portrayal of Holmes, from Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett to Stewart Granger. If you want to know the different kinds of firearms ever toted by Holmes, or when he first took to sporting a deerstalker, or how often the examination of footprints facilitated the successful solution of a case, or when Roger Moore played Holmes or Robert Duvall Watson and why, then this book is for you. Illustrated throughout with more than 150 pictures—half in full color—ranging from period engravings, gorgeous theatre posters and book jackets to modern-day location shots and film stills from TV adaptations, The Sherlock Holmes Companion is a compendious guide to all the stories, their author and the enigmatic pipe-smoking creation at their heart.
“Dr. Watson, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” said Stamford, introducing us. “How are you?” he said cordially, gripping my hand with a strength for which I should hardly have given him credit. “You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.” “How on earth did you know that?” I asked in astonishment. “Never mind,” said he, chuckling to himself. At that first sight of Watson, Sherlock Holmes made brilliant deductions. But even he couldn’t know that their meeting was inaugurating a friendship that would make himself and the good Doctor cultural icons, as popular as ever more than a century after their 1887 debut. Through four novels and fifty-six stories, Arthur Conan Doyle led the pair through dramatic adventures that continue to thrill readers today, offering an unmatched combination of skillful plotting, period detail, humor, and distinctive characters. For a Holmes fan, there are few pleasures comparable to returning to his richly imagined world—the gaslit streets of Victorian London, the companionable clutter of 221B Baker Street, the reliable fuddlement (and nerves of steel) of Watson, the perverse genius of Holmes himself. It’s all there in The Daily Sherlock Holmes, the perfect bedside companion for fans of the world’s only consulting detective. Within these pages readers will find a quotation for every day of the year, drawn from across the Conan Doyle canon. Beloved characters and familiar lines recall favorite stories and scenes, while other passages remind us that Conan Doyle had a way with description and a ready wit. Moriarty and Mycroft, Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson; the Hound, the Red-Headed League, the Speckled Band, and the dread Reichenbach Falls—it’s all here, anchored, of course, in that unforgettable duo of Holmes and Watson. No book published this year will bring a Holmes fan more pleasure. Come, readers. The game is afoot.
In the same winning formula as The New Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Agatha Christie (more than 300,000 copies sold) and The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Sherlock Holmes (1999), this all-new companion to Shakespeare will present The Bard in a new and exciting way in a new century. For students, scholars, theater lovers, and scholars - nearly everyone! - this book wraps some 400 years of Bardology into a lively and often unexpected package.In their witty and inimitable way, Dick Riley and Pam McAllister examine the whole dramatic canon, play by play, including dramas of disputed authorship. (The long poems and sonnets are also covered.) Included are inside stories on theater and film productions, "alternate" interpretations of the plays, Shakespeare's status around the world, the clubs and societies, the mysterious life - and even the question that has plagued critics almost from the day he put down his quill: whether Shakespeare even wrote the works attributed to him.
Looking at all aspects of the Dracula phenomenon, this book includes entries on the psychological and sociological implications of Stoker's book and the stage plays, movies, television versions, actors, and, of course, the historical Dracula, Vlad the Impaler.
1903 saw The Adventure of The Empty House and the return of Sherlock Holmes to 221b Baker Street where he explains the deception of his death at the Reichenbach Falls to his faithful friend Dr John Watson. 2012 sees The Crime of The Empty House where the former home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Undershaw, lies in disrepair and the threat of being destroyed forever. Commissioned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, Undershaw was witness to the creation of many of his most famous works, including The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Return of Sherlock Holmes. It is a building deserving preservation for the British nation, and indeed the world, for all time. Sadly, the building is currently under threat from the property developers who wish to divide the house into 3 separate units and build a further 5 alongside. Planning permission for development has already been approved by Waverley Borough Council. The Undershaw Preservation Trust (UPT), with Mark Gatiss [BBC Sherlock] as Patron, is dedicated to the preservation and protection of this important literary building and are campaigning to get this decision overturned, so the house can be restored to its original glory and enjoyed as the single dwelling Sir Arthur Conan Doyle intended it to be. This book is a collection of short Sherlock Holmes stories and poems written by fans from around the world in support of the Save Undershaw campaign - even the cover has been designed by fans. Royalties from the book go towards the UPT to preserve this wonderful house for future generations of Doyleans, Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts and literary fans of all kinds. More information on the Save Undershaw campaign can be found on their website: www.saveundershaw.com.
"The Adventure of the Speckled Band" by Arthur Conan Doyle follows Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they investigate the mysterious death of a woman in a locked room. Her sister, fearing for her life, seeks Holmes' help. The clues point to a chilling family secret and a strange sound in the night, leading Holmes to uncover a sinister plot hidden in plain sight.
»The Adventure of the Dying Detective« is a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle, about the brilliant Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in 1913. SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE [1859-1930], was a Scottish physician and author, best known for his stories about the groundbreaking master detective Sherlock Holmes. Doyle wrote a total of 56 short stories and four novels about Sherlock Holmes and his constant companion Dr. Watson.