Daniel D. Victor – författare

The eleven stories gathered together in these two volumes share their own common feature.  All have connections to the world of belles lettres, the world of literature—some to celebrated authors in particular, others to themes or stories associated with specific writers . . . . Let others plumb this collection for more subtle themes.  From Maupassant to Stevenson to Fitzgerald, the authorial giants who populate these pages are explanation enough for its title.  As interesting as such literary associations may be, of course, one can never forget that in the finest tradition of all the other adventures of Sherlock Holmes, these sketches depict a series of heartless criminal acts—some more gruesome than others. This volume contains: The Adventure of the Missing Necklace, The Adventure of the Amateur Emigrant, The Adventure of the Second William Wilson, The Adventure of the Aspen Papers, and For Want of a Sword.                                  

The eleven stories gathered together in these two volumes share their own common feature.  All have connections to the world of belles lettres, the world of literature—some to celebrated authors in particular, others to themes or stories associated with specific writers . . . . Let others plumb this collection for more subtle themes.  From Maupassant to Stevenson to Fitzgerald, the authorial giants who populate these pages are explanation enough for its title.  As interesting as such literary associations may be, of course, one can never forget that in the finest tradition of all the other adventures of Sherlock Holmes, these sketches depict a series of heartless criminal acts—some more gruesome than others. This violume contains; The Adventure of the Smith-Mortimer Succession, Capitol Murder, An Adventure in Darkness, An Adventure in the Mid-Day Sun, The Adventure of the Star-Crossed Lovers, and A Case of Mistaken Identity                                  

The eleven stories gathered together in these two volumes share their own common feature.  All have connections to the world of belles lettres, the world of literature—some to celebrated authors in particular, others to themes or stories associated with specific writers . . . . Let others plumb this collection for more subtle themes.  From Maupassant to Stevenson to Fitzgerald, the authorial giants who populate these pages are explanation enough for its title.  As interesting as such literary associations may be, of course, one can never forget that in the finest tradition of all the other adventures of Sherlock Holmes, these sketches depict a series of heartless criminal acts—some more gruesome than others.

A young inventor—the man whose name appears in the title of Dr. Watson’s narrative, “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans”—lies dead on the floor of an old house, two bullet holes in his back.   To solve the gruesome murder, Sherlock Holmes enlists the aid of William Gillette, the celebrated American actor renown for his portrayal of the famous detective, and Arthur Conan Doyle, conveniently familiar with the world of spiritualism that serves as backdrop to the brutal crime.  In a plot replete with foreign spies, young lovers, eerie séances, and an array of the dead inventor’s strange mechanical devices, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson press on to discover the identity of Bruce-Partington’s cold-blooded killer.

Sherlock Holmes examines the body of a murdered scrubwoman that lies on the floor of the South Kensington Museum of Art. But it is not a real corpse he looks at, for those remains have been removed by the coroner.  The body Holmes studies appears in a drawing of the murder scene precisely rendered by an American art student. The drawing leads Holmes, Dr. Watson, and the artist-a young Frank Norris before he turns his talents to writing- across the English countryside in search of the killer. From the shops in the Strand to the pier at Brighton, from the lions of Trafalgar Square to the coalfields of Lancashire, the trio, along with Inspectors Lestrade and Gregson, find themselves entangled in a tale of gold, greed, and murder.

Romance blooms at Phillips Junior High when teacher Art Malamud, the school's union rep, meets Mandy Sayer, the newest member of the faculty. As the school year progresses, Art leads his colleagues in the historic Los Angeles teachers' strike of 1970 and stokes the ire of the principal, Vivian Laws. Though Art has tenure and relative immunity from Laws's personal attacks, Mandy does not. As a result, she receives an unfair evaluation of her first year's work and even harsher criticism at the start of her second. Mandy's local grievance leads to a major battle with the school district, and the injustice ends up threatening not only her professional life but her future with Art as well.