CHRISTMAS IS AFOOT!

MEDICAL EXPERTS are recommending that we shouldn't go home for the holidays. The science, along with the most recent data, reveals that it isn't wise or prudent to do so at this time. It's best to hunker down and spend the holiday season with only your housemate, or housemates, if that's your situation. And by all means we should do what's right for the greater good of humanity and our country. Always. But being sequestered doesn't mean we can't enjoy the holidays, because we can, we most certainly can. We have FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, Google Hangout and Duo and we are all adept at cooking and eating and decorating and ordering items online. And if we insist upon an alternative gathering of sorts to make us feel even better we can always go Holmes for the Holidays, under the safe and assured guidance of editor's Martin H. Greenberg, John L. Lellenberg and Carol-Lynn Waugh, plus cover artist extraordinaire Guy Deel, and a host of contributing mystery authors paying homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic detective creation, Sherlock Holmes.

GUY DEEL's jacket art on Holmes for the Holidays is the perfect mood setter for getting into the spirit of Christmas: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are strolling along a cheerily lit London street on a snowy December evening, with Holmes eyeing what's on display behind the panes, while Watson appears already contented with his gift buying securement. All we need now is some joyful singing! Berkley published this hardback anthology containing fourteen Sherlock Holmes pastiches in 1996.

'Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes has been solving cases and amazing fans for over a century. From his flat at 221 B Baker Street, the engaging detective has led readers--and an often incredulous Dr. Watson--on a series of mystery adventures unmatched anywhere in literature. Now, Berkley Prime Crime presents HOLMES FOR THE HOLIDAYS, a brilliant collection of fourteen original Holmes stories written by today's premier mystery writers. Each story features Holmes and Watson, festively solving the darkest of crimes in the brightest of seasons:

In Anne Perry's "The Watch Night Bell," Holmes and Watson must foil the foulest of schemes--a Christmas midnight murder...

In Loren D. Estleman's "The Adventure of the Three Ghosts," Holmes and Watson are plunged into the plot of "A Christmas Carol"--and a real-life murder plot of Dickensian proportions...

In Carole Nelson Douglas's "The Thief of Twelfth Night," a holiday feast provides the perfect chance for a robbery--but Holmes knows the proof is in the pudding...

In Reginald Hill's "The Italian Sherlock Holmes," the master detective spends the holidays in Rome, and matches wits with an ambitious rival...

And ten other masterful authors unveil ten new holiday whodunits featuring the world's greatest Detective. It's elementary!'

The Watch Night Bell by Anne Perry
The Sleuth of Christmas Past  by Barbara Paul
A Scandal in Winter  by Gillian Linscott
The Adventure in Border Country  by Gwen Moffat
The Adventure of the Three Ghosts  by Loren D. Estleman
The Adventure of the Canine Ventriloquist  by Jon L. Breen
The Adventure of the Man Who Never Laughed  by J. N. Williamson
The Yuletide Affair  by John Stoessel
The Adventure of the Christmas Tree  by William L. DeAndrea
The Adventure of the Christmas Ghosts  by Bill Crider
The Thief of Twelfth Night  by Carole Nelson Douglas
The Italian Sherlock Holmes  by Reginald Hill
The Christmas Client  by Edward D. Hoch
The Adventure of the Angel's Trumpet  by Carolyn Wheat

Deel's jacket illustration on More Holmes for the Holidays is just as effective as his earlier one: Holmes in deep contemplation, puffing unconsciously on his pipe while a Christmas present lies nearby waiting to be opened. Watson, of course, is relaxing in the background, ever available though. Pass the eggnog, please! Berkley published this hardback anthology containing eleven Sherlock Holmes pastiches in 1999, three years after the first volume was published to unanimous praise. The best pastiche in this edition was in my mind the last, Tanith Lee's The Human Mystery.

'In HOLMES FOR THE HOLIDAYS, today's best mystery writers featured Arthur Conan Doyle's inimitable Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in an original anthology of holiday whodunits. Now Berkley Prime Crime is proud to present MORE HOLMES FOR THE HOLIDAYS--in which the beloved duo returns... to the scene of the crime:

In Anne Perry's "The Christmas Gift," a Stradivarius is plucked away from a master violinist just before a holiday performance--one Sherlock Holmes had his heart set on attending...

In Loren D. Estleman's "The Adventure of the Greatest Gift," Holmes receives an unusual present, a wax recording cylinder bearing festive greetings--or is it a warning about an impending war between England and France?

In Carolyn Wheat's "The Case of the Rajah's Emerald," Timothy "Tiny Tim" Cratchit requests Holmes and Watson's assistance in identifying the true heir of the late philanthropist Ebenezer Scrooge...

In Peter Lovesey's "The Four Wise Men," Watson's former army superior invites him to appear in a nativity service and guard the valuable Star of Bethlehem treasure from being stolen by a villain from Holmes past...

With these and seven more merry mysteries, you can spend the season with the world's most famous detective, courtesy of today's masters of mystery, in MORE HOLMES FOR THE HOLIDAYS.'

The Christmas Gift  by Anne Perry
The Four Wise Men  by Peter Lovesey
Eleemosynary, My Dear Watson  by Barbara Paul
The Adventure of the Greatest Gift  by Loren D. Estleman
The Case of the Rajah's Emerald  by Carolyn Wheat
The Christmas Conspiracy  by Edward D. Hoch
The Music of Christmas by  L. B. Greenwood
The Adventure of the Christmas Bear  by Bill Crider
The Adventure of the Naturalist's Stock Pin by  Jon L. Breen
The Adventure of the Second Violin by  Daniel Stashower
The Human Mystery by  Tanith Lee

 
GUY DEEL's first Sherlock Holmes covers were actually produced back in the 1970s, for paperback editions published by Berkley. These books represented Doyle's entire Holmes canon, eight volumes worth (Doyle's stories were first written and published between 1887 and 1927). They were sold individually of course but also at Christmastime in box sets labeled as "The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Novels and Stories in 8 Volumes" (just prior in this same period Berkley had published editions and box sets that had cover art by William Teason). Initially, the first paperbacks had Deel's art constricted by both large font and wide borders. But then a few years later they were reissued (circa 1975), this time with Deel's art stretched nicely from corner to corner. This is the set I sought and have reproduced in chronological order below:

A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four:    "You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive." These words from A STUDY IN SCARLET, are the first words ever spoken by Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson. This volume also contains the second of the Holmes stories, THE SIGN OF FOUR. If you are reading Holmes for the first time, you will soon be under the spell. If you are an old fan, you will welcome an opportunity to renew acquaintance with the great man--witty, eternally fascinating, unique!'

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes:    "To Sherlock Holmes she is always the 'woman'." With this provocative remark, Dr. Watson launches A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA, the first story in this famous group. He then sweeps the reader on through some of the very best detective stories ever written, including A CASE OF IDENTITY, THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS, and THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES, in the company of one whom many feel to be the most satisfactory detective ever created--Sherlock Holmes.'

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes:    'Included are an account of Holmes' very first case, THE "GLORIA SCOTT," the famous story, THE GREEK INTERPRETER, in which we finally meet the dazzling Holmes' more cerebral brother, Mycroft; and SILVER BLAZE, which contains "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, which so baffled Dr. Watson.'

The Hound of the Baskervilles:    "... It's an ugly business, Watson, an ugly, dangerous business, and the more I see of it the less I like it..." Holmes is referring to the recent death of Sir Charles Baskerville. for the "luminous, ghastly, and spectral" hound of family legend has been seen roaming the moors at night, and it appears that the new baronet, Sir Henry, has inherited, along with the ancient home and vast wealth of his family, a dreadful destiny...'

The Return of Sherlock Holmes:    'Dr. Watson herewith provides his lucky public with accounts of thirteen of Sherlock Holmes' most unusual cases. The first story in the collection, THE ADVENTURE OF THE EMPTY HOUSE, is one in which Holmes gives poor Watson the shock of his life; in another, the great man solves the mystery of a "solitary cyclist" who has been pursuing one Miss Violet Smith; and a third begins at Baker Street, on an icy winter morning, with Holmes uttering the unforgettable call to action, "Come, Watson, come!... The game is afoot..."

The Valley of Fear:    'Even Sherlock Holmes, well-accustomed to the bizarre, finds the elements of this case unusual: the scene of the crime, a moated English country house; the weapon, a very American sawed-off-shotgun; the bereaved, strangely dry-eyed; and the solution, backward in time and deep in a VALLEY OF FEAR...'

His Last Bow:    'Among the puzzles here unraveled by the great detective are THE ADVENTURE OF WISTERIA LODGE (a most unflowery bower); and THE DISAPPEARANCE OF LADY FRANCES CARFAX. Holmes sends Watson to Switzerland on this case, with the memorable comment, "... it is best that I should not leave the country. Scotland Yard feels lonely without me, and it causes an unhealthy excitement among the criminal classes."

The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes:    'Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in a preface to this final collectioon of Sherlock Holmes stories, remarked that his detective "must go the way of all flesh, material or imaginary." But Holmes's vitality is felt at once by anyone sampling the stories in THE CASE BOOK, which includes THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUSSEX VAMPIRE, with its tantalizing reference to "the giant rat of Sumatra," and THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLANCHED SOLDIER, a case which Holmes must tell us about himself because, as he says, "The good Watson had at that time deserted me for a wife, the only selfish action which I can recall in our association."

GUY DEEL also produced cover art for two Sherlock Holmes linked pastiche novels, both written by British author John Gardner, he of the semi-famous James Bond spy novel continuations. They are shown below.

In The Return of Moriarty, Holmes makes merely a perfunctory appearance; Moriarty, the master-criminal, is the story's entire focus.

In The Revenge of Moriarty, Holmes becomes a bit more involved, but isn't really impactful until the climax; the primary detective in pursuit is actually Inspector Angus Crow of Scotland Yard, who was also featured in the first book.

Both novels were originally published in the United Kingdom in hardback in 1974 and 1975. Deel's artistic interpretations were produced for the 1981 Berkley US paperback reprints only (seen above are its 1986 printings). A third novel, simply titled Moriarty, was published posthumously in 2008, but Deel, like its author Gardner, had passed away by then.

In 1988, Berkley reprinted The Return of Moriarty, with Deel supplying new cover art to enhance a new font design. This, in my opinion, is one of top images in the entire illustrated oeuvre of Sherlock Holmes-- though I don't believe "Revenge" got reprinted at the same time to coincide with this new look-- at least I've yet to find any evidence of it online.

'London is in terror. The streets are filled with dippers, macers and bullies of every description, all collecting "contributions for the Professor." But Holmes saw Professor Moriarty swept over a waterfall in Switzerland! Could it be that Europe's Master Criminal somehow survived, and has returned to battle Holmes again in the greatest crime duel of all time? It could indeed.'

Guy Deel (1933-2005) was recognized more for his Western paintings than for any other genre work, but when he was called upon, like here with his cover assignments to depict the Victorian Age of Sherlock Holmes, he could oblige as well as anyone. But probably his greatest accomplishment during his fifty year career, besides the abundance of advertising art, poster art, magazine covers, animation art, television and film work, and the approximately 250 illustrations he produced for book covers, was the 130-foot mural he painted in the Gene Autry Museum in Los Angeles, California, at the behest of his good friend Gene Autry. It depicts the "Spirits of the West" and is spread across three walls.

CENTER SECTION CROP OF GENE AUTRY MUSEUM MURAL BY GUY DEEL

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, SHERLOCKIANS, AND STAY SAFE.

[© December, 2020 (updated in 2025), Jeffersen]