A terrible scream rent the air.
"Too late!" Holmes exclaimed, and started running towards the sound.
I followed after, my pistol cocked at the ready.
Had my dream mysteriously and horribly foreshadowed what was to happen? For here was Holmes again, rushing back towards me this time, while behind him, a great beast charged, body of a big cat, and the head... the head... Oh God, no!
From a country estate in Sussex to the murky docklands of Limehouse, from the Royal Albert Hall to a music hall in Shoreditch, from the respectably net-curtained suburbs of Beckenham and Hampstead to a brothel in Bow, Holmes and Watson go plumbing the depths of human depravity to unmask likely and unlikely villains. The cast of colourful characters include a world famous Russian violinist, an intrepid female detective, Miss Dimples and her performing poodles, a diminutive maid named Fancy, a dead policeman on a platform at St Pancras station, as well as Wiggins, Jimsy and Bobs of the Baker Street Irregulars, and a pet leopard names Lola. Meet these and many more in eight new enthralling stories.
A terrible scream rent the air.
"Too late!" Holmes exclaimed, and started running towards the sound.
I followed after, my pistol cocked at the ready.
Had my dream mysteriously and horribly foreshadowed what was to happen? For here was Holmes again, rushing back towards me this time, while behind him, a great beast charged, body of a big cat, and the head... the head... Oh God, no!
From a country estate in Sussex to the murky docklands of Limehouse, from the Royal Albert Hall to a music hall in Shoreditch, from the respectably net-curtained suburbs of Beckenham and Hampstead to a brothel in Bow, Holmes and Watson go plumbing the depths of human depravity to unmask likely and unlikely villains. The cast of colourful characters include a world famous Russian violinist, an intrepid female detective, Miss Dimples and her performing poodles, a diminutive maid named Fancy, a dead policeman on a platform at St Pancras station, as well as Wiggins, Jimsy and Bobs of the Baker Street Irregulars, and a pet leopard names Lola. Meet these and many more in eight new enthralling stories.
Most of these stories first appeared in various volumes of the MX Books of New Sherlock Holmes Stories, from 2023 to 2025, as follows: The Adventure of the Old Russian Woman (Vol. XL), The St Pancras Puzzle (Vol. XLII), The Other Woman and A Matter of ABC (Vol. XLIV), Inspector Gregson at Bay (Vol. XLVII), Sherlock Holmes and the Female Detective (Vol. LI), and Holmes the Hunter (Vol. LII).
Sadly, there will be no more of these anthologies, since their inestimable editor, David Marcum, has decided after ten years hard slog to turn his attention to other projects, including his own writing. His legacy remains, however, in that all royalties from the sales of the books go to support Stepping Stones, the school for special needs children based at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s former house, Undershaw, in Surrey. I was privileged to visit there in May 2025 to celebrate David’s achievement at a terrific event organised by Steve and Sharon Emecz of MX publishing, and attended by local dignitaries and several celebrities, as well as other Sherlockian writers.
The brief David gave us was to write in the style of the Canon, with no deviations into, for instance, the supernatural, unless Holmes could find a rational explanation for the mystery. Use of Smart phones or other pieces of modern technology were, of course, totally banned. Most of us took on the challenge of reproducing Dr Watson’s voice to the best of our ability, something I have found most enjoyable, and a change from my usual literary persona of Mrs Martha Hudson.
I have also included one new story, The Case of the Fatal Flowers, as well as a few of the short light pieces I wrote for my blog, featuring Holmes and Watson at their dining table, discussing Mrs Hudson’s adventures and literary endeavours, and the subsequent disconcerting (to Holmes) changes they made to her culinary offerings. I hope they will amuse, after all the murders and grisly deaths.
SK
This collection led me to Susan Knight, a longtime MX Publishing author, as well as to see an entirely new Mrs. Martha Hudson, a fixture in Sherlock Holmes tales. In most Holmes stories, Mrs. Hudson is a shadow. Holmes calls her, "that dratted woman," more an appliance than a person. She brings in trays or scolds Holmes like a substitute mother. This anthology offers fans eight clever mysteries - a new one, "The Case of the Fatal Flowers," included - but represents Hudson's strength. Holmes remains the focal point of each adventure, yet readers realize housekeeper/ landlord is more a crime-solving partner than a prop. That is part of the work's freshness.
The Dublin-based Knight has a trail of short stories and five novels that feature Mrs. Martha Hudson as detective. She brings that knowledge to bear in references throughout Sherlock Holmes The Hunter and Other Mysteries. Mrs. Hudson, through Dr. Watson's pen, he gains presence and voice. In "A Matter of ABC," the housekeeper even tells the great detective, "If you don’t like the way I make your egg, why don’t you cook it yourself?" That is very different from the long-suffering servile matron beneath the stairs usually portrayed.
In other Sherlock tales and films, the kitchen is Mrs. Hudson's domain. She usually dreads going upstairs into her famous lodger's realm. Knight rolls out a different Martha Hudson because she is able to reference so many past writings. For example, in the title tale, "Holmes the Hunter," the world's first consulting detective, says, "we returned from Constantinople with Mrs. Hudson," a nod to the MX Publishing's 2004 Death in the Harem: A Mrs. Hudson and Sherlock Holmes Mystery. Also, in "A Matter of ABC," readers learn about Hudson's sister Nelly and a mention an episode that points to Knight's 2002 Mrs. Hudson Goes to Paris.
The prose, voice and characters are strong throughout most of the book. The only weakness is that the "Tidbits from the Dining Table at 221b Baker Street," short scenes from the author's blog. The snippets entertain, yet seem a like filler. Nonetheless, as mentioned earlier, Sherlock fans previously unaware of a strong Mrs. Hudson will enjoy them and the rest of this volume.