Review - Amazing & Extraordinary Facts: Sherlock Holmes

Nick Utechin’s book is, essentially, a comprehensive beginners’ guide to the world of Sherlock Holmes and, to a lesser extent, Arthur Conan Doyle. It discusses the origin of Holmes, the background to Conan Doyle’s life as an author, the illustrators of the stories, the significant characters and eventually moves into the depiction of Holmes in the modern media.

Now we have seen this sort of book quite recently in the form of the Sherlock Holmes Miscellany by Roger Johnson and Jean Upton. Both books inevitably overlap. Where they vary, and this is a slight variation, is in their target audience. I personally feel that Utechin’s book is ever so slightly more tilted towards the beginner than Johnson & Upton’s book. Utechin’s scope is similar but slightly less in-depth. The style of his book is also a little less serious and it is delivered in bite sized chunks which results in a work that is a bit more accessible to the novice Sherlockian. It is also somewhat shorter which adds to that sense of accessibility.

If you want an all-round guide to the world of Holmes that is easy to digest quickly. This is definitely a book you should consider.

For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .

The Norwood Author is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.

Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.

Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.