Short commercial break: GAD mystery.

I keep thinking I've written a post about the Golden Age of Detection.  Apparently not, or I just didn't tag it properly.  Alas!

Some of these will remind you of Sherlock Holmes in more ways than one, and some will feel like they've gone in very different directions.  Which is right and proper, since not all detectives are Sherlock Holmes -- and wouldn't the world be boring if they were!

If you happen to be desperate for more to read, and you enjoy books and short stories offline as well as on... try these GAD authors.

Ellery and Dear Jim.

This is sort of a contamination problem in writing.  Where one person (ACD) influences other authors, who are influenced in their own writing.

Certainly Ellery Queen was a huge fanboy of Sherlock Holmes.  And by that I mean the character Ellery Queen as well as the actual Queen cousins.  (Ellery Queen is complicated.  Sort of.)

You got other detectives in my Sherlock!

These examples are both from season 1, so no spoilers.  

"Rachel" -- A Study in Pink

Dying clue.  Famously used and made popular by the fictional detective Ellery Queen, to have the murder victim scribble out a dying clue.  And yes, EQ used that a LOT.  

Grammar police scene -- The Great Game

Nero Wolfe.  I'm sure Wolfe does this more than once; Wolfe is a particularly snarky detective, much like our Sherlock.  I just reread one of Wolfe's famous bits with a suspect, as you can see by the link.

Ideally I'd have a third "this belongs to another detective" bit here, but I haven't.  Sorry.  If I get something from future reads, I'll add that in and link back here.

I could pretend that The Blind Banker wasn't all ACD, but I'd be lying.  Everyone loves to use the secret codes... written on walls.  :D

Finals time! Plus BC audio dynamite.

Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch to perform one-off reading of Look Back in Anger -- I wish I could be there. I hope someone puts this on YouTube!!

Cumberbatch moments: Time Traveller Problems; Casual (Blue Jean) Batch and another Casual Batch; Anything will be held against you poster; ibelieveinmycroft offers Blond Batch when he's Peter Guillam from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy... and Benedict smoking (obviously in smokers' jail, hmmm; maybe while filming Sherlock).

If audio Benedict is more your cuppa, there WAS a tumblr for that [link broken as of October 2013].  From that lovely source, I found that Benedict has read a Ngaio Marsh novel, Death in a White Tie; you can find that and other audio books via LiveJournal now. First, I highly recommend Dame Ngaio Marsh's mysteries, and second: WOW. You can also Google to get various YouTube readings, such as Jabberwocky and Kubla Khan, for starters.

Review of the unaired pilot for Sherlock; and another longer review of it over here. 

After this point: Spoilers for season/series 2 until the final paragraph!

Our lovely ladies of BBC Sherlock pic!  Martin having a John moment with The Hat.

Yes, Anglo Fan Favorites did it for their 2012 Finals tourney.  

You knew it was coming, that Benedict would be pitted against Tom Hiddleston... and that Martin would be up for the Bronze! Finals voting ends Wednesday, July 11 at 11 am ET.

More Sherlockcandy... and a contest.

You see, but do you observe? Sherlockology's got a little competition going. Do go try it out. :)


Last night I found My Love Affair with Sherlock. (Link broken as of August 2013.)  It is SO COOL. Funny, clever, and full of interesting bits with the Sherlock cast and crew. Definitely Sherlock candy.


Cosplay for houses: 221B.

Rex Stout's detective Nero Wolfe is another possible distraction for Sherlock fans. A&E did a brilliant short series if you haven't seen it.


The picspam is hilarious, in case you haven't read it; see blog's top corner for links. In Baskerville: "Oh come on, Sherlock, own up and take your thumping like a gentleman."

Note from @The_Whip_Hand, including picture of Lara Pulver.

Last, the Sherlock drinking game. Take sips! You must survive to 2013 for season 3, remember.

Printed fanfic & other candy.

Some folks on Twitter have been requesting more/other fanfics to read. Well, strangely enough, first-generation fans were just as fascinated by Sherlock Holmes and they wrote fanfic too. Including authors of mystery and other genres. Some you might know, such as Mark Twain and Agatha Christie and August Derleth... :)

It is one of the oldest groups of fanfic around, if not the oldest.

I highly recommend The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes. I love that book. Someone should get on to the heirs of Ellery Queen [and all the others, Agatha Christie and August Derleth included] and see about reissuing it.

My very favorite is Richard Mallett's story about The Great Detective. Unforgettable! <3 And another Twitter user kindly recommended The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes to me. Its introduction is of great interest to Sherlockians. Particularly if you haven't delved elsewhere into the Golden Age of Detection.

If you haven't read Ellery Queen's Challenge to the Reader, you ought to. It's fun. :)


I found the book about Highly Sensitive People through the lovely MoniqueJ, who feels Sherlock is an HSP. I am becoming persuaded, since I've got farther into Chapter One. (Of course this means Moriarty probably is too -- that's a frightening thought!) I don't think Sherlock's really got Asperger's [despite John's half-joke to Lestrade; John was trying to make Greg feel better].


The Modern Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes and the Limits of Rationality. Nice take on his limits.

I'm really certain I have forgo neglected to bring up the fabulous Ariane DeVere, whose LJ transcripts of the Sherlock DVDS have given me many delighted moments.

More pics coming, some of which is frankly "just looking at Benedict" [natch], like this pic; although this one's got both Benedict and Martin smiling!

Benedict teases people about Sherlock, as does Mark Gatiss via a Q&A. (Don't worry, they're filming Sherlock come 2013, the boys are just messing with you!)

For fans of Andrew Scott, Radio Times just interviewed him. :)

P.S. For more GAD detective recs, see my work blog, AZ Shea, where I do bring up favorite mysteries. :)