Christopher Redmond – författare

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tales range from Victorian horror, to jewel heists, to society scandals. As these authors show, there''s a Sherlock Holmes adventure for every taste.

This volume benefits the Beacon Society. No royalties from the sale of this volume will be paid to either the authors or the editor. Royalties earned will, with the cooperation of the publisher, be turned over in their entirety to the Beacon Society, a not-for-profit organization of Sherlockians with the purpose of introducing young people to Sherlock Holmes through classrooms and libraries."

In "About Being a Sherlockian," sixty essays explore what it is to be a Sherlockian and celebrate the enduring friendships created. From collecting to chronology, from cosplay to cons, from quasi-historical interpretations to pastiches and fan-fiction, the umbrella of Being a Sherlockian covers a myriad of interests and enthusiasms.

Editor Christopher Redmond says: "Perhaps most of the readers will be those who are already Sherlockians, but if the book should fall into the hands of someone who is not, I think it will give a very appealing picture of the endless riches to be found in What It Is We Do."

"Dip a toe, or even a whole foot into the world of Sherlockian fervor with this extraordinary book which illuminates the life-changing benefits of deep involvement with Holmes, Watson and their world. Les Klinger made me ''come out'' as a Sherlockian and my world is richer for it, as it is for the candid writers of this wonderful and surprising collection of essays." —Bonnie MacBird, author of "Art in the Blood" and "Unquiet Spirits"

In his introduction, editor Christopher Redmond says “The essays in this collection are not an analysis of what Sherlock Holmes is like (brilliant, unsociable, hawk-nosed) but rather case studies of whom he can be said to be like. Their sixty suggestions range across centuries and continents, and include figures from belief and legend as well as from contemporary fiction and film. Some are household names, while others will be unknown to nearly all readers. In each case, while the author has been encouraged to provide an introduction to the character in question, the ultimate purpose of the comparison is to shed light on some aspect of the character of Sherlock Holmes, whose complexities are far from exhausted more than 130 years after he was introduced to a curious readership.”

Here in one convenient book by a noted Sherlockian scholar is everything needed for the study and enjoyment of the Holmes canon: information on the stories and their publishing history; an assessment of a century of illustrators; a biography of Arthur Conan Doyle and a bibliography of his other writings; commentary on the films and plays about Sherlock Holmes; synopses of the stories and information about their characters; a survey of Victorian life and on the geography and social scene of 1895 London; and information on current Sherlockian organizations. A final section comments on the lasting appeal of Sherlock Holmes and what he means to generations of readers.

Sherlock Holmes Handbook sums up a Canadian scholar’s lifetime expertise about Sherlock Holmes – the characters and themes, the publishers and readers, Victorian London and the Houdini connection, radio actors and cartoonists, the fans who cling to Holmes’s reality and the professors who tease out motifs from the fifty-six short stories and four novels.

The first edition of Sherlock Holmes Handbook appeared in 1993. This edition catches up on new films, new books (a few with a hint of the supernatural) and the advent of the Internet, which has spread Holmes’s fame and Sherlockian fun even further worldwide. The intervening years have brought three multi-volume editions of the Sherlock Holmes stories, with hundreds of footnotes providing new insights and new amusement. They have also seen Holmes repeatedly on the amateur and professional stages, including a few Canadian productions. And there have been changes to everything from copyright rules to libraries, booksellers and audio recordings.