Michael Kurland – författare

When a large shipment of gold disappears en route to England, Sherlock Holme, knows that only one man is clever enough to pull off such an outlandish and theoretically impossible crime: Professor James Moriarty. Moriarty, however, had nothing to do with the crime, but to regain his peace he undertakes to locate the missing gold, and soon finds himself matching wits with a mind as nimble - perhaps even more so - than his own.

With an introduction by Leslie S. Klinger, editor and compiler of all three volumes of "The Annotated Sherlock Holmes", this collection of ten original stories brings light to one of the least examined periods in the life of the great detective - his time in the former colonies, the United States. This Holmes is a youthful one - a young man not yet set upon his course in life and in his famous lodgings at 221B Baker Street. In Richard Lupoff's "Inga Sigerson Weds", he's come to America to represent the family at his sister's wedding. In "My Silk Umbrella", Mark Twain narrates his fateful encounter with Holmes at a baseball game in Hartford, Connecticut; Steve Hockensmith narrates the meeting of the young William Gillette and the object of his later, most famous turn upon the stage; and, Peter Tremayne reveals the intersection of Holmes and the Irish in the 19th century American midwestern landscape. With further stories by Marta Randall, Rhys Bowen, Peter Beagle, and others, the legend, the mythology and even the history of the world's greatest detective is further enhanced by these charming, clever and mystifying tales.

The rise of scientific thinking in finding, catching, and convicting criminals—and, just as important, freeing the innocent—has transformed society's assault on crime. Before scientific detective work, early attempts to maintain public safety relied on the severity of punishment rather than any probability of apprehension. But with the rapid development of the sciences in the nineteenth century, some techniques began to spill over into more effective police work. Michael Kurland's engrossing history of forensic science recounts this remarkable progress, which continues to the present. He traces the history of the major techniques of criminal detection and many of the minor ones. Here are Bertillon's physical measurements used to recognize habitual criminals; the study of fingerprints identifying criminals long after they have left the scene of the crime; Gravelle's comparison microscope comparing bullets to determine if they have been fired from the same gun; the development of bloodstain identification and, ultimately, the blood type involved. Mr. Kurland explains how once–accepted techniques have fallen by the wayside—handwriting analysis, for example—and how methods such as lie detectors, voice spectrum analysis, bite mark evidence, and other methods have proven unworthy. Finally Irrefutable Evidence explores the rise of modern DNA typing techniques, which have proven the innocence of many persons convicted of major crimes and resulted in the exoneration of more than two hundred on death row. With 12 black–and–white illustrations.

When American journalist Benjamin Barrett is sent to Constantinople to report on the sea trials of a new submarine, the assignment soon becomes more eventful than he had predicted, particularly after rescuing a certain professor from an attack...

Blue blood is flowing in London as a killer slits the throats of the cream of England's aristocracy. Naturally Scotland Yard enlists the great Sherlock Holmes himself. Only when this ultimate weapon of the law failed to stem the deaths are they forced to play a last desperate card - Professor James Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime, who had his own methods of fighting evil...

Moriarty is awaiting trial for murder when Queen Victoria's grandson mysteriously disappears. In exchange for his release and the murder charges (of which he's innocent) being dropped, the so-called "Napoleon of Crime" must track down the missing prince and find out who is behind his disappearance and the brutal murders left in his wake.

NEW YORK CITY, 1935. NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST EXTRAORDINAIRE ALEXANDER BRASS NEEDS A STORY...It all begins when a furtive tipster promises an explosive story and gives Morgan DeWitt-assistant to New York World celebrity newsman Alexander Brass-an envelope filled with photographs of the most compromising nature. When the tipster turns up murdered, Brass and his team resolve to find the killer, running the gauntlet of blackmailing Nazis, accommodating nymphomaniacs and US senators on the way...