Sherlock Holmes Handbook

Canadian author Redmond's unquestioned standing as a Sherlock Holmes expert, manifested in books such as In Bed with Sherlock Holmes and Welcome to America, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, is not displayed to best advantage in this updated edition of his guide to the Great Detective. He simply doesn't meet his goal of writing a comprehensive companion to the original stories and the cultural world that has grown up around them that will satisfy both neophytes and cognoscenti. Instead, both kinds of readers are likely to be disappointed. Only 25 pages are spent summarizing the Canon, in some cases spoiling the plots, but 40 are devoted to ""Fans and Followers,"" a history of organized devotees of Holmes and Watson. Despite the author's pride in avoiding errors in the first edition, this one is not free of them, including the assertion that a ""Merivale"" was one of the Scotland Yarders pitted against Holmes by Doyle to the claim that actor Jeremy Brett authored the play he appeared in, The Secret of Sherlock Holmes. Those in search of a one-volume guide might want to wait for Sherlock Holmes for Dummies.