SHERLOCK HOLMES
Basil
Rathbone
Peter
Cushing
Eillie
Norwood
Benedict Cumberbatch
David
Stuart Davies is a recognised authority on
Sherlock Holmes and has written a great deal about
the character in fiction, non fiction and drama.
SHERLOCK HOLMES
NOVELS
The Tangled Skein (various reprints – most recently Wordsworth edition 2009 and Big Finish audio CD 2012)
It is autumn 1888, and following the successful conclusion of the Baskerville case, Sherlock Holmes is faced with an even darker mystery. A lethal package, an attempt on Holmes’ life, murders on Hampstead Heath and a strange phantom lady lead Holmes and Watson to return to Devon and the bleak terrain of Dartmoor where they encounter the true embodiment of evil, Count Dracula, Lord of the Undead.
‘One of the best Holmes pastiches of all.’ Crime Time
The Shadow of the Rat (various reprints – most recently Wordsworth edition 2009)
A body is found floating in the river – a body that has been deliberately infected with the plague virus. Holmes and Watson find themselves seeking answers at The Bridge of Dreams, a club where a person’s darkest wish can be granted – for a price. Holmes falls under the control of a will stronger than his own which threatens the life of his closest friend Watson and leaves the government - indeed Britain inself – open to a deadly terror, the monstrous Giant Rat of Sumatra.
‘Another excellent Holmes tale from the pen of David Stuart Davies.’
Roger Johnson, Sherlock Holmes Journal
The Hentzau Affair (various reprints – most recently Wordsworth edition 2009)
Colonel Sapt of the Ruritanian Court journeys to England on a secret mission to save his country from anarchy. He is to engage the services of Rudolf Rassendyll once more to impersonate the King while the monarch recovers from a serious illness. But Rassendyll had mysteriously disappeared. In desperation Sapt consults Sherlock Holmes who with Watson travels to the Kingdom of Ruritania in an effort to thwart the plans of the scheming Rupert of Hentzau in his bid for the throne.
‘Sherlock Holmes and the
Hentzau Affair is a wonderful blend of detective story and
rousing adventure yarn.’
The Baker Street Journal
The Veiled Detective (Hale 2004; Titan 2009)
It is 1880 and the young Sherlock Holmes arrives in London to pursue a career as a private detective. He soon attracts the attention of criminal mastermind Professor James Moriarty, who is driven by his desire to control this fledgling genius. Enter Dr John H. Watson, soon to make history as Holmes’ famous companion…
I
‘Davies does a
wonderful job of reimagining Holmes’ and Watson’s adventures in
this slightly bent world,
but he does an even more masterful job with the people in it’
wellreadsherlockian.com
‘This is the best
Sherlockian mystery novel I have seen all year… I do not hesitate
to recommend it.’
Classic Specialities
‘I just can’t
keep quiet about this book. It is a real page turner, an
exhilarating roller coast ride of suspense,
appalling crimes, hidden clues,with more twists and turns than a dark foreboding maze.
Come! Join the chase… after all the game is afoot!’
Mystery Net Community
‘The novel gives us a uniquely intelligent, thought-provoking and fresh view
of one of the great friendships in all literature.’
Roger Johnson, The District
Messenger
You can see a
fabulous concept trailer by Grace Lee for The Veiled
Detective on You
Tube
The Scroll of the Dead
(Titan, 2009)
Sherlock Holmes
attends a séance to unmask an imposter posing as a medium. Here he
encounters Sebastian Melmoth, a man hell bent on discovering a
mysterious Egyptian papyrus that may hold the key to immortality.
It is up to Holmes and Watson to use their deductive skills to stop
him or face disaster.
‘A thundering good yarn… I
wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who has an affection for
Holmes
and a good, old-fashioned page
turner.’
Sleuthing the Shelves
Sherlock Holmes & The
Devil’s Promise
(Titan,
November 2014)
Holmes and Watson are holidaying on the English coast when they
discover a corpse on the beach... which then disappears. They can
get little help from the nearby village, populated by strange and
unfriendly characters. Then the corpse suddenly reappears in their
cottage and they are attacked by persons unknown. Watson suffers
amnesia as a result and discovers that months have passed since the
attack, and Holmes is not the man he remembers. What has happened
to his friend? Does it have something to do with a dead devil
worshipper, whose children happen to live in the cursed
village?
David's latest Sherlock Holmes novel from Titan Books has a foreword by the brilliant co-creator of BBC TV's Sherlock, Mark Gatiss.
'Sherlock now lives in other people's stories, too, as he does in The Devil's Promise, penned by the great Davies,
whose Sherlock Holmes writings have brought me hours of pleasure.'
Mark Gatiss
Coming Soon: Sherlock Holmes & The Ripper Legacy (Titan, Spring 2016)
More from Titan Books:
You can read a fascinating article 'The Anatomy of a Cover
Design' on the Titan Books
website, which looks at how the publishers arrived at the cover
style for their successful series of Sherlock Holmes novels, using
David's The Veiled Detective as the starting
point.
SHERLOCK
HOLMES NON FICTION
The Sherlock Holmes Book (Dorling Kindersley, October 2015)
Co-Editor, with Barry Forshaw.
Another in DK's award winning Big Ideas Simply Explained series, The Sherlock Holmes Book is a fascinating exploration of the great detective, his creator and the character's ongoing influence.
Starring Sherlock Holmes
(Titan, 2009)
A definitive
illustrated history of Sherlock Holmes on screen. Every Sherlock
Holmes film and television series is covered including overseas and
lesser known productions (up to 2007). The book is
illustrated with an amazing collection of 450 posters, photographs,
lobby cards, press books and other rare Holmes memorabilia, much of
it from the collection of Richard Lancelyn Green.
‘An absolutely
lovely coffee table book giving the history of Holmes in film (and
television) from the earliest silent versions through
2007.
Tons of pictures and excellent reviews and synopses by Davies. Five stars for a wonderful reference book.’ Good Reads
Bending the Willow: Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes (Calabash Press, 1996; Revised editions 2002, 2006 and 2010. Currently out of print)
An in depth look
at Jeremy Brett's masterly portrayal of Sherlock Holmes for Granada
TV's landmark series. The actor said that he wanted his Holmes to
'bend the willow', not break it. He succeeded brilliantly in
bringing the character to life, while battling his own personal
demon: the manic depression that haunted him for many
years.
The book draws on
the many conversations David had with Jeremy Brett and key people
involved with both the TV series and Jeremy Paul's stage play
The Secret of Sherlock Holmes. The result is the
first detailed study of all of Jeremy Brett's performances as the
great detective.
'Bending the Willow is a wonderful tribute to Jeremy, a clear and understandable explanation of his illness, and a full, fair portrait of the man.' Edward Hardwicke
'This is a fine memorial and a fine book.' The Sherlock Holmes Journal
'Bending the
Willow will become a cornerstone of Sherlockian theatrical history
and a model for all future work in the area.
A pity that other
great screen Sherlocks had no historian like Davies.'
The Baker
Street Journal
STAGE
David penned two Sherlock Holmes
plays for Roger
Llewellyn, both directed by Gareth
Armstrong.
You can see highlights of Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act on You Tube and audio CDs of both plays, plus David's novel The Tangled Skein, are available via Nick Briggs and the amazing team at Big Finish.
The fabulous Sherlockology team provide a
review of The Last Act and
The Death and
Life on their
Tumblr.
The amazing Roger
Llewellyn played Sherlock Holmes on stage for fifteen
years
Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act
A one-man play which premiered at Salisbury Playhouse in 1999 and won an award at the Edinburgh Festival the same year. Starring Roger Llewellyn as Holmes, the play toured until the spring of 2014.
It is 1914 and Holmes has just returned to Baker Street from Watson’s funeral and he feels compelled to tell his absent friend all that he should have told him when he was alive, including a shocking secret.
‘This is perhaps the best way to enjoy the master detective at his best, direct from his own thoughts, the hesitancy, the grandeur, the voice of a man who fought Professor Moriarty, who struggled with his intellectual feelings for Irene Adler
and who
throughout it all is the benchmark for great British detective
stories.
David Stuart
Davies’ script is near perfect.’
Liverpool Sound & Vision Reviews
Sherlock Holmes: The Death & Life
Another one man play commissioned by Roger Llewellyn, which premiered at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford and toured until the spring of 2014.
Conan Doyle has grown tired of his detective creation and employs the services of a certain mathematical professor to bring about his demise, but things do not go as the author intended and Sherlock Holmes learns of his true nature.
‘This unusual,
challenging and often highly amusing drama not only
presents
a fresh and
intriguing insight into the Sherlock Holmes saga
but also explores
the nature of the strange and unnerving relationship between
creator and creation’.
Sherlock Holmes Journal
DVD
COMMENTARIES
David has provided DVD commentaries for the digitally remastered Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Basil Rathbone films and the Granada TV Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett. Recntly he has recorded commentaries for Ian Richardson's Sherlock Holmes films.
AUDIO
Both of David's Holmes plays, Sherlock Holmes: The Death and Life and Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act, have been recorded by Nick Briggs and the brilliant team at Big Finish and are available on audio CD.
'Thanks to
Llewellyn's superb performances, Davies's inspired
scripts,
and to the
careful supervision of Nicholas Briggs, these are productions to
treasure.'
The Sherlock Holmes Miscellany by Roger Johnson and Jean Upton
Roger Llewellyn with Nick Briggs and DSD at the
recording of Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act for Big
Finish
MISCELLANEOUS SHERLOCK HOLMES
EDITORIAL WORK
BOOKS
David is General Editor for Wordworth Editions' Mystery and Supernatural series and has written the Introductions to all the Wordsworth paperback editions of the Conan Doyle stories, those for Collectors’ Library and…
Sherlock
Holmes: The Game's Afoot (Wordsworth)
Twenty new Sherlock Holmes adventures in a volume edited by DSD and featuring his short story 'The Reichenbach Secret'.
The Best of Sherlock
Holmes
(Wordsworth)
A collection of twenty of the very best of the Holmes short stories from the fifty six penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with an in-depth Introduction by DSD.
JOURNALS & MAGAZINES
Sherlock Magazine
David edited
Sherlock Magazine, which covered crime fiction as
well as the great detective.
Society Publications
David was also
co-editor of The Musgrave Papers, The
Ritual and The Journal of the Arthur Conan Doyle
Society.
SHERLOCK HOLMES SOCIETIES
David is a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of
London and ran their film evening for ten
years.
He is an invested member of the
New York Baker Street
Irregulars.
With his wife, Kathryn, and Carol
Whitlam, he was a co-founder of the Northern Musgraves and was
involved with the society from 1987 until 2004. He is also a
Scandalous
Bohemian.
DSD with Mark Gatiss at the Sherlock Holmes Society of London's 2006 Annual Dinner at the House of Commons