I always enjoy pastiches. It’s exciting to see different people’s takes on one subject. The thrill is the different directions that subject invariably goes in.

This is a collection of Sherlock Holmes adventures, which all share the theme of taking place in the United States. The settings, naturally, run the gamut from the streets of New York to the Texas plains to the wharfs of San Francisco.

The authors are just as varied as the settings. Steve Hockensmith has been contributing exciting Western mysteries to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine for years, while Lyndsay Faye’s first book (also a Holmes mystery) only just came out.

The stories, as a whole, do a good job of retaining the original flavor of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories.

Grade: A-



Sherlock Holmes in America will be available Nov. 1.