-- Product Review --
While I rarely do
book reviews anymore (I was a professional book reviewer for 7-8 years,
reviewing an average of 500 books a year in many genres from young children to
novels and non-fiction), I could not resist MX Publishing’s invitation to
review 5 different books in the Sherlock Holmes genre.
I received:
Sherlock Homes – Tangled Skeins –
Stories From The Notebooks
Sherlock Holmes And The Sword of Osman
Ms. Hudson in New York
No Better Place: Arthur Conan Doyle,
Windlesham and Communication with the Other Side
The Final Problem – a Sherlock Holmes
Graphic Novel
These books were delivered
to my doorstep August 11th or so in an appropriate sized cardboard
shipping box, with no additional or unnecessary packaging -which is great for
the environment.
I have been reviewing each
book separately and have hyperlinked the titles of the books I’ve already completed
in the list above. The next book I will review in the list is: Mrs. Hudson In New
York written by Barry S. Brown.
I truly enjoyed
reading this book – and what made it stand out among other Sherlock works is
that Mrs. Hudson is a detective, and not just any detective, but an owner of the
agency of which Sherlock (a chemist by trade) and John Watson not only act as
fronts, but are also serious detectives. Sherlock and John hold a deep respect
for Mrs. Hudson, the brains behind the mysteries they choose to solve and the
founder of the company itself. In this novel, the three work together to solve
a crime that happens soon after they embark on a journey to the US to attend a
wedding involving distant members of Mrs. Hudson’s family. It was interesting to witness their comradely
and enjoy the humor intricately laced in this late 19th century
who-done-it tale. Watch for appearances of other famous and factual characters
to appear in the story-line.
Interestingly, the
book didn’t have an author bio and upon searching the publisher’s site… I
couldn’t find anything there either.
However, after doing a search online I found out that Barry’s book is the
4th in a series titled the “Mrs.
Hudson of Baker Street” mysteries.
Beyond this series, the author has written 2 non-fiction books, works of
poetry and many papers on the research conducted his professional life where he
dealt in treatment and strategies for mental health and drug abuse, among other
issues. He currently resides in North Carolina (US).
This paperback is about 286
pages, weighs roughly 358 g. and measures approximately 14 x 1.5 x 21.6 cm. You can find it on
Amazon.com - $16.95 (US) for the paperback and $7.69 (US) for the e-book. Alternatively visit
Amazon.ca where you can purchase the e-book for $9.99 (CDN) and the paperback
book for $22.37 (CDN).
The publisher - MX
Publishing - is the world’s largest specialist Sherlock Holmes publisher, with
over a hundred and fifty titles and eighty authors creating the latest in
Sherlock Holmes fiction and non-fiction. MX Publishing also has one of the
largest communities of Holmes fans on Facebook with regular contributions from
dozens of authors.
Interestingly, MX titles are licensed around the world
including Japan, China, India, Russia, Italy, Spain, and Poland – and many of
their books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. The company
itself is based in London, UK. Sadly, I could not
find any information about the publishing company regarding environmental
responsibility, in-house purchasing, or printing policies (i.e. SFI certified
paper, veggie inks, acid/bleach free paper, etc.). However they do support
social causes – for instance they have a group of authors who are donating the royalties
to the restoration of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's former home, Undershaw. The building was in terrible
disrepair and was saved from destruction by the Undershaw Preservation Trust (patron Mark Gatiss;
http://www.saveundershaw.com). Today the building has been bought by Stepping Stones (a school for
children with learning difficulties) and is being lovingly restored to its
former glory. Steve Emez, MX’x Managing Director, also is very involved with
charitable causes and has done many awareness campaigns via his skills with
swimming. Find out more about this company via:
https://www.facebook.com/MXPublishing
Award-winning authors Dave and Lillian Brummet:
http://www.twitter.com/brummet
http://www.facebook.com/
http://www.twitter.com/brummet
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