The Sherlock Holmes Stories of Edward D. Hoch

Edward D. Hoch

Contents

Introduction by Edward D. Hoch

Prologue: January 22–23, 1890: The Most Dangerous Man September, 1883: The Return of the Speckled Band

Summer, 1885: The Adventure of Vittoria, the Circus Belle

Summer, 1888: The Manor House Case

Christmas Day, 1888: The Christmas Client

June, 1894: The Addleton Tragedy

January, 189?: The Adventure of the Domino Club

September, 1899: The Adventure of the Cipher in the Sand

Christmas Eve, 1899: The Christmas Conspiracy 1902: The Adventure of the Anonymous Author August, 1911: A Scandal in Montreal

April, 1912: The Adventure of the Dying Ship

Edward D. Hoch: An Appreciation by Gary Lovisi

INTRODUCTION

I WAS INTRODUCED TO the novels of Ellery Queen at age nine, and it was only a year later, as I lay sick in bed with chicken pox, that my grandfather presented me with that massive volume, The Complete Sherlock Holmes. I read every story and novel over the next several days, and became a fan for life.

Starting in the late 1980s, a number of original anthologies began to appear, recounting new adventures of the famed sleuth. Some of these dealt with cases mentioned but not recorded by Dr. Watson. Others were open to just about anything the authors could imagine. I was honored to be chosen by several editors to contribute to their volumes. Now I find myself the author of a dozen stories which Gary Lovisi has asked me to collect here. I hope you find as much enjoyment in reading them as I had in writing them.

My special thanks to the editors who first published these stories: Fred Dannay, Marvin Kaye, Marty Greenberg, Mike Ashley, Otto Penzler, Andrew Gulli, George Vanderburgh and Janet Hutchings—a distinguished list indeed.

Edward D. Hoch

Rochester, New York

September 9, 2007