Leaves from the Note-Book of a New York Detective: The Private Records of J.B.

First published in 1865, this story collection featuring New York City private detective James Brampton will intrigue Sherlock Holmes fans, given the number of eerie parallels between the two characters. For example, Brampton remarks, “It is the observation of small things that makes a good detective, for it is often the most trivial circumstance which supplies the first link in the chain,” a comment quite similar to one of Holmes's. In the volume's introduction, Dr. John B. Williams encounters Brampton in a Georgia bar, where the sleuth bets him that a young man who has just entered is guilty of theft. While Williams assumes the Watsonian task of arranging for the publication of the investigator's cases, Brampton himself tells his exploits in the first person. Though many of the tales rely on a chance discovery by the detective, enough involve careful observation and analysis to satisfy 21st-century mystery readers. (Oct.)