Lestrade realized abruptly that he was not alone. He turned to face his assailants. Outnumbered, he braced himself for an unfair fight with no delusions of winning. Light glinted off metal as one of the men drew a blade, and Lestrade realized that he was in for more than just a beating.

Sherlock Holmes has been a beloved character from his first story, and his mystique endures to the modern age in print and on screen, but he has had a long life in the theater, as well. Where did it begin? What are the themes, stories, and characterizations that make his stage presence unique and just as enduring?

An eclectic mix of eight stories drawn from the annals of the MX Series of New Sherlock Holmes stories and the many Holmes anthologies of Belanger Books, all from the pen of emerging pastiche author Stephen Herczeg.

Increasing numbers of crime shows and movies have featured detectives on the autism spectrum. Portrayals of such characters have been met with acclaim and criticism. Is the entertainment industry celebrating neurodiversity or is it reinforcing stereotypes? In The Autistic Sleuth, over two dozen characters appearing in filmed productions from around the globe will be analyzed to explore how film and television present atypical minds through some of the world's most popular detectives.

Here are a few essays about puzzlers in and about Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.

On New Year's Day 1891, Sherlock Holmes summons the limping street urchin, Wiggins, to Baker Street and decrees he must die at dawn. Wiggins, however, has other plans. To fulfil the dying wish of his mother, Irene Adler, he schemes with his two formidable American aunties to keep two important facts from the great detective: Mrs. Hudson is actually his Aunt Grizelda, and he is both Holmes' child and a girl pretending to be a boy. Through a series of mysterious letters Adler bequeathed to Wiggins, the dark backstory of her parents and all their long-kept family secrets unravel.

When a half-naked man is found gibbering on the moor, Sherlock Holmes uncovers a series of bizarre murders. At their heart lies a shadowy figure known only as The Sorcerer. He can talk to the dead, they say. He can bend any will to his own. Even a will as formidable as the detective's. The investigation leads from Dartmoor to Ireland and, ultimately, back to one of the most terrifying scenes of his career. Can Holmes survive the Reichenbach Falls a second time?

Sherlock Holmes thrives on danger. Sudden knife attacks, being stalked, and facing a network of assassins present little more than a cheery break in the monotony. But the enigmatic Lady Beatrice presents danger of a different kind. Is she a murderer or a potential victim? Or something even more perilous? Uncovering her secrets could change Holmes's life forever, and in ways even he cannot anticipate.

What is a crimson trail? Is it blood? Or paint? Or yarn? Why would Sherlock Holmes revisit a previously solved case? How could an open window be important and how can a house be blackmailed? Dr. John Watson reveals the answers to these questions in The Crimson Trail and Other Stories along with cases involving the disappearance of a poet's intended, a Christmas card clue, a missing tiara, a caped murderer, a vampire attack, and a mythical moor creature.

A client forsworn, a threatened town, and a Goliath of unimaginable proportions. Sherlock Holmes has survived a three-year vendetta against him by Moriarty’s remaining henchmen. Wounded and bleeding, with Mycroft’s help, he clandestinely boards an Atlantic steamship. At the close of his great hiatus, Holmes finds sanctuary at Vassar Women’s College. This radical challenge entangles him in the web of a nefarious mystery. Its unraveling involves New York’s most revolutionary residents: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.

Meet Sherlock Holmes through the eyes of his fellow lodger once again... and meet both through the eyes of the Yard - especially those who saw them the most: Inspectors Lestrade, Gregson, and Bradstreet. From Montague Street to a supposedly straightforward case of smuggling in Cornwall, Scotland Yard saw more than the disconcerting and dazzling private detective: it also saw an admirable and steadfast British soldier who shared their need for justice. Doctor John Watson may call himself unremarkable, but the Yard would disagree...

June 1946. London, England. A murdered man. A mysterious woman. A note in another language. Irene Holmes, daughter of the long-retired Sherlock Holmes, used her unique talents of deduction and observation to assist her childhood friend Detective Eddy Lestrade with his cases during the war. With the war over, Eddy keeps her on as a consultant, finding her essential to solving crimes. During one of these cases, Irene meets Joe, a man who finds her instantly intriguing and has enough opinions of his own to keep up with her challenging personality.

Sherlock Holmes is missing. Dr. Watson receives a cursed note, summoning him to the city of Milan. In his plight, he turns to the one person who can help him: Mycroft Holmes, secret agent and eternally concerned elder brother. Mycroft has to team up with Dr. Watson and fellow agent Victoria Trevor to follow Sherlock's trail and stand against the dark forces that threaten his life.

With contributions from Stephen Fry, Mark Gatiss, Douglas Wilmer, and many more, this book was put together by fan site Sherlockology to help save Undershaw, the former home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Are librarians meek and mild bookish types with orthopedic shoes and granny glasses? Or are they ruthless killers with voracious appetites for wine, women, and song? Can a young widow solve a murder with the help of a Chicago policeman and an affinity for Sherlock Holmes? The Murder in the Library reveals all. It is elementary, my dears.