Thursday, June 30, 2016

Crossover Cover: In the Company of Sherlock Holmes

This anthology contains two crossovers. One is "The Curious Affair of the Italian Art Dealer" by Sara Paretsky, in which Holmes and Watson investigate the theft of a painting by Titian and the beating of the man who was planning to have the painting authenticated, but Miss Amelia Butterworth of Buffalo, New York solves the mystery before Holmes can. Amelia Butterworth appeared in three detective novels by Anna Katherine Green. The other crossover story is "By Any Other Name" by Michael Dirda. Arthur Conan Doyle’s relationship with Jean Leckie hits a rough spot when he admits all the books and stories attributed to him were ghost-written by other authors. "That Blue John Gap cave-monster" (from Doyle’s "The Terror of Blue John Gap"), Dr. Thorndyke, Sir Harry Flashman, the crime wave at Blandings (a reference to P. G. Wodehouse’s story of the same name), and the mystery of Lord Strathmorlick’s courtship (a reference to The Courtship of Lord Strathmorlick, a novel written by Rosie M. Banks in Wodehouse’s Jeeves story "No Wedding Bells for Bingo") are mentioned. I am inclined to treat this story as an AU.

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