Dan Andriacco's Baker Street Beat: A Short Holmes for E-Book Readers

Welcome

Saturday, January 28, 2012

A Short Holmes for E-Book Readers

The most popular chapter of my book Baker Street Beat has been the Sherlock Holmes pastiche.

“If you don’t read any other Holmes pastiche this year, please, please read the short story 'The Peculiar Persecution of John Vincent Harden,' which has to be the closest in tone and content to a Holmes work that I have read in a long time,” wrote Felicia Carparelli’s Sherlock Holmes Murder Blog.

“One of the best short pastiches that I have read,” said Ross K. Foad, in a “No Place Like Holmes” video review.

I'm delighted to announce that the short story, with a new introduction, is now available as a separate e-book for those who like pastiches but may not be interested in the Baker Street Beat essays. It's available now from Kindle in the U.S. and around the world. Soon it will be in other formats as well.

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REVIEWERS FIND MAGIC

The Baker Street Society says, "A first-rate pastiche, in fact it could scarcely be bettered. Short pastiches can be tricky things for writers to get right and indeed very few succeed wholly but here is one writer who does. Everything in this tale is spot-on. James Phillimore and his umbrella has been providing pastiche writers with rich pickings for years and exercising their collective imagination, but case closed, here is the definitive version."

Author Mike Hogan adds, "Twists and turns abound in this intelligent and well-written short story. As we have come to expect from Mr Andriacco, the prose and characterisations are true to the original Conan-Doyle stories, the dialogue is authentic in tone, and the late-Victorian background is convincing."

KUDOS FOR 1895

"The 1895 Murder is the most smoothly-plotted and written Cody/McCabe mystery yet. Mr. Andriacco plays fair with the reader, but his clues are deftly hidden, much as Sebastian McCabe hides the secrets to his magic tricks under an entertaining run of palaver. Jeff Cody’s stream-of-consciousness narration is amusing as always, and still more revealing than he might wish." - The Well-Read Sherlockian blog

“Reading The 1895 Murder, the third mystery in Dan Andriacco’s Sebastian McCabe/Jeff Cody series was like visiting a group of friends who, yet again, find themselves embroiled in a murder investigation. Andriacco’s masterful plotting had me stumped. When book four comes out, I will be one of the first to crack the cover.” – Kathleen Kaska, author of the Sydney Lockhart mystery series and the Classic Triviography books.

“Dan Andriacco has a writing style I would love to have. Dan has characters that have real lives and who you can identify with. His Jeff Cody character has great wit and McCabe great intelligence. His books are just fun to read." –Kieren McMullen, author of Watson’s Afghan Adventure and Sherlock Holmes and the Irish Rebels

It’s a pleasure to visit Erin again and to watch the solving
of a particularly baffling mystery. – The Sherlock Holmes Journal

British reviewer Ross K gives The 1895 Murder five "Napoleons" out of a possible six! Watch his video review.

THE REVIEWS ARE SWEET

"I loved Dan Andriacco's first novel about Sebastian McCabe and Jeff Cody, and I'm delighted to recommend the second, which has a curiously topical touch . . . The characters are engaging, the plot is cunning, and the writing is literate and witty. This is classy stuff!" -- Roger Johnson, The District Messenger, newsletter of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London

"Suspenseful twists and turns, laugh-out-loud humor, and a bit of romance had me turning the pages. This was Andriacco's second Cody/McCabe mystery, and I'm eagerly awaiting the third. In the meantime, I think I'll read Holmes Sweet Holmes again!"-- Kathleen Kaska, author of the Sydney Lockhart mysteries

"The writing is swift, well-paced and filled with whit. This is a great, lighthearted mystery and well worth the read. I admit I finally had to make myself put the book down and read it in two sessions or I’d never have made it to work in the morning." -- Kieran McMullen, author of Sherlock Holmes and the Irish Rebels

Ross K. Foad's video review gives Holmes Sweet Holmes 5 1/2 "Napoleons" out of a possible 6!

The Well-Read Sherlockian awards it 4 1/2 out of 5 stars in a detailed review!

READ THE REVIEWS

"The District Messenger," newsletter of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, calls Baker Street Beat "a very pleasant book," and compares it to "chatting over a drink with a knowledgeable fellow Holmesian."

Joe Revill, reviewing Baker Street Beat on his A Case of Witchcraft blog, also liked "The Wrong Cab" and "Reichenback Pilgrimage."

British video reviewer Ross K calls Dan Andriacco "a wonderful, creative, humorous writer."

The website Cult Britannia calls Baker Street Beat "an entertaining collection" and concludes "I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who has a love of Holmes and wants to learn more about him."

WHAT REVIEWERS SAY

Roger Johnson, the reviewer for The District Messenger, newsletter of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, calls No Police Like Holmes "an exciting and witty romp – not about Holmes but about his fans" and concludes "I like it!"

A longer review by Sue Magee of The Bookbag, a British an online review service says in part: "It's a satirical look at Holmes and the industry he's spawned, but it's affectionate and neatly constructed . . . There are plenty of twists, a good few red herrings and an ending which surprised me as I had someone entirely different chalked in as the murderer."

"No Police Like Holmes is a chocolate bar of a novel—delicious, addictive, and leaves a craving for more," says the blog Girl Meets Sherlock."Holmesians of all tastes and ages will recognize themselves in Andriacco’s characters and enjoy his fast-paced plot. Thankfully, the series continues, and fans can satiate their desire for more with Andriacco’s next novel, Holmes Sweet Holmes."

"No Police Like Holmes is a fun, literary read. In the hands of Andriacco, the above statement is not an oxymoron. Get this book, dive into a comfy chair, pour yourself a couple of fingers of scotch and enjoy this, sweetheart." So says Felicia Carparelli's Sherlock Holmes Murder Blog. But read the whole review! Felicia is no slouch at mystery writing herself, by the way.

British video reviewer Ross K calls No Police Like Holmes "very, very funny."

To Publisher's Weekly, the book is an "entertaining whodunit" and "Cody is engaging enough to make further books in the series welcome."

"Andriacco’s characters and their lives are so very normal and untormented, his writing style so light, and his observations so witty that No Police Like Holmes is an enjoyable, palate-cleansing romp of a mystery with a little Sherlockian education thrown in," advises The Well-Read Sherlockian. "Take it with you to the park or the beach and see if you can catch the culprit first!"

THE REVIEWS ARE IN

Felicia Carparelli's Sherlock Holmes Murder Blog calls this Sherlock Holmes pastiche "the closest in tone and content to a Holmes work that I have read in a long time."

British reviewer Ross K gives it six "Napoleons" out of a possible six!

Charlotte Anne Walters hails the story as "a lesson in Holmes pastiche from a skillful and genuine fan."

The link above is to the Amazon Kindle version, but "The Peculiar Persecution" is available in other e-book formats as well. The story also appears in Baker Street Beat.

Dan Andriacco's Baker Street Beat

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

A Short Holmes for E-Book Readers

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