Crossover Cover: Whistle Up the Devil

 

Are you a Golden Age of Mystery fan?

Then you'll love this novel, the first of two featuring amateur sleuth Algy Lawrence, which has references to Wilkie Collins' Sergeant Cuff, Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin, Clayton Rawson's Merlini, John Dickson Carr's Dr. Gideon Fell, Freeman Wills Crofts' Inspector French, and Rupert Penny's Chief Inspector Beale!

For more information, be sure to pick up a copy of my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3 when Meteor House publishes it! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!

Crossover Cover: The Moonstone's Curse

 

Are you a Sherlock Holmes fan?

Then you may enjoy this pastiche, which also serves as a sequel to Wilkie Collins' novel The Moonstone!

For more information, check out the appendix on alternate universes in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3 when it is published by Meteor House! Like its predecessors, this volume is an AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!

Crossover of the Week

February 1944

THE CURSE OF KUKULKAN 

In Mexico, the Avenger battles his old foe Sun Koh, who is impersonating the Mayan god Kukulkan, and the Sons of the Feathered Serpent, who are trying to get their hands on the Aztec gold that finances Benson’s crimefighting activities. Cole Wilson drives an open-topped Hirondel Roadster. Cole’s fiancée Heather is headed to Hollywood to talk to producers about starring in a remake of a Rhonda Terry jungle movie. General Leslie Groves, impressed by Benson’s imposture of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, says “I don’t think even Basil Karlo or Lon Chaney, Sr. could have fooled my men.” Benson names others capable of remarkable disguises, such as a Japanese criminal called Kaijin Niju Menso. Smitty asks if he should contact “the usual archaeology types”: Smith, Jones, and Littlejohn. In Central Asia, Benson once met an elderly Norwegian explorer named Sigerson, who had a brilliant deductive mind. The archaeologists connect Rosabel Newton with a retired criminologist in New Jersey named de Grandin, who says the Sons of the Feathered Serpent are strongest in Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Hidalgo, and Nicaragua, and that they were united in the nineteenth century by a revolutionary named Don Ignatio. There was a string of feathered serpent killings in London in the '20s, and a “Quetzal” spy ring in the States a few years ago. Rosabel also contacted a friend of Professor Smith’s, Sir Lionel Barton, as well as Professor Rolfe at the University of Arizona, who told her about a series of Yaqui uprisings in the 1820s instigated by an individual called Don del Oro. Don Manuel Garcia, brother of Juan, tells Benson that Satan, Iblis, Mara, Erlik Khan, Ravana, Loki, Angra Mainyu, Tezcatlipoca, and many more are all reflections of the first evil figure, Kathulos of Atlantis, also known as Baal Seepa, the Lord of the Dark Face. He also claims that Mithras, Jesus, Horus, and Buddha are all pale shadows of Assurah, the Phoenix. Besides Uxmal and the cache used by Benson and discovered by Nellie Gray’s father, the Seven Cities of Gold include Cibola in Arizona, near the Lake of Fire, Omoxotl in Guatemala, el Valle de los que desaparecieron in Hidalgo, and Tucumai in Brazil. The Plumed Serpent cult was revived in 1923 by a wealthy landowner named Don Ramón and his compatriot General Viedma. Sun Koh’s aide Dr. Peters, the inventor of the katascope, refers to vril rods. Garcia says Sun Koh knows all the hidden places built by the Atlanteans, including Uxmal, Opar, Thule, and the realms of Prester John. Hal Mervin is another of Sun Koh’s aides. Inspector Madero works with Justice, Inc. on this case. 

Story by Matthew Baugh in The Avenger: Double Feature 2, Moonstone Books, 2020. Sun Koh appeared in the German pulp magazine Sun Koh – Die Erbe von Atlantis, written by Paul Alfred Müller. Don Manuel Garcia, his brother Juan, Dr. Peters, his katascope, and Hal Mervin are from the Sun Koh novels. The Sons of the Feathered Serpent are from the first Doc Savage novel, The Man of Bronze. Littlejohn is one of Doc’s aides. The country of Hidalgo and el Valle de los que desaparecieron (a Spanish translation of its English name) are also from the Doc Savage novels. The Hirondel is the car driven by Leslie Charteris’ character Simon Templar, the Saint. Ms. Terry is from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan and the Lion Man. Heather’s offered role is also referenced in Win Scott Eckert’s novel Hunt the Avenger. Opar is from the Tarzan novels. Actor Basil Karlo is better known as Batman’s foe Clayface. “Kaijin Niju Menso” is Japanese for “The Fiend with Twenty Faces,” the alias used by the archenemy of Edogawa Rampo’s detective Kogoro Akechi. Professor Horatio Smith is from the movie Pimpernel Smith. Jones is Indiana Jones. Sigerson is an alias used by Sherlock Holmes during the Great Hiatus, as revealed in Doyle and Watson’s “The Adventure of the Empty House.” Jules de Grandin is Seabury Quinn’s occult detective. Don Ignatio is from H. Rider Haggard’s novel Heart of the World. The feathered serpent killings in London in the 1920s are a reference to Edgar Wallace’s novel The Feathered Serpent. The Quetzal spy ring is from the Shadow novel Quetzal. Omoxotl is the home of the Xinca Indians who served the shadowy vigilante. Sir Lionel Barton is from Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu novels. Professor Rolfe is meant to be the adopted son of Dr. James Rolfe and Paviva from the movie The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold. Cibola is the eponymous city in that film. Don del Oro is the villain of the movie serial Zorro’s Fighting Legion. Kathulos is from Robert E. Howard’s “Skull Face.” Baal Seepa is from Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Maracot Deep. Assurah, the Phoenix is from Henry Kuttner’s Elak of Atlantis story “Beyond the Phoenix.” Tucumai is from Fritz Leiber’s novelization of the movie Tarzan and the Valley of Gold, which has been declared canon by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Don Ramón and General Viedma are from D. H. Lawrence’s novel The Plumed Serpent. The vril is from Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s The Coming Race. Inspector Madero is José Manuel Madero, the protagonist of “Geoffrey Homes’” (Daniel Mainwaring) mystery novels The Case of the Mexican Knife (aka The Street of the Crying Woman) and The Hill of the Terrified Monk (aka Dead as a Dummy). 

This writeup is one of hundreds included in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, which will be published by Meteor House! Like the first two, this volume is an AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!

Crossover Cover: The Deeds of the Disturber

 

In 1896, Amelia Peabody and her husband Radcliffe Emerson investigate the case of a supposedly cursed mummy in the British Museum alongside Inspector Cuff, who plans to retire and grow roses like his eminent grandfather before him. Cuff's grandfather is Sergeant Cuff from Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone.

This crossover is one of hundreds covered in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, which will be published by Meteor House! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!

Crossover of the Week

April 17, 1922

THE COVENTRY STREET TERROR 

Charles St. Cyprian and his assistant Ebe Gallowglass are called in by Special Branch to investigate a series of apparent vampire attacks. Inspector Boothroyd thinks it might be poison, “like that business in Brichester last year.” Vampires are, save for that brief, unpleasant incident during Victoria’s reign so inventively described in Stoker’s book, mostly extinct in England. St. Cyprian says maybe Thibaut de Castries was right when he said, in Megapolisomancy: A New Science of Cities, that cities were the new dark forest of man’s fear. St. Cyprian considered placing a call to the Westenra Fund but decided against it. Edwin Drood helped the fund’s founding members kill a frisky Wallachian. The head of the fund is Lord Godalming. St. Cyprian tells Gallowglass, “Trout isn’t the most imaginative sort, but he and Cuff know the score. They were involved in that Myrdstone business, a few years back.” They are helped against the vampire by Baron Palman Vordenburg, who mentions a certain theater in the Boulevard du Temple where the undead congregate at times. He identifies the vampire as Lothar Karnstein, who was the lover of Countess Dolingen of Graz. St. Cyprian tells Trout and Cuff that Lothar is not exactly Raffles, running about in disguise. 

Short story by Josh Reynolds in Casefiles of the Royal Occultist Volume Two: Hochmuller’s Hound, 18thWall Productions, 2020. Brichester is a town in the Severn Valley in Ramsey Campbell’s Cthulhu Mythos stories. The brief, unpleasant incident during Victoria’s reign is a reference to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The Westenra Fund is named after the late Lucy Westenra, who was turned into a vampire by Dracula and subsequently staked by Van Helsing and company, including her fiancé, Arthur Holmwood, Lord Godalming. Countess Dolingen of Graz is from Stoker’s “Dracula’s Guest.” Thibaut de Castries and his book Megapolisomancy: A New Science of Cities are from Fritz Leiber’s novel Our Lady of Darkness. Edwin Drood is from Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Inspector Trout is from the movies The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again. Cuff may be a descendant of Sergeant Cuff from Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone. “The Myrdstone witch-cult” is mentioned in Lin Carter’s Anton Zarnak story “Curse of the Black Pharaoh.” Baron Palman Vordenburg is a descendant of Baron Vordenburg from J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla.” The Karnsteins are Carmilla’s family. The theater in the Boulevard du Temple is the Théâtre des Vampires from Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles. A. J. Raffles needs no introduction now. 

For many more crossover writeups like this, check out my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, to be published by Meteor House! Much like the first two volumes, this book is an AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!

Crossover Cover: Sharpe's Tiger

Private Richard Sharpe infiltrates the army of Tippoo Sultan. One of the jewels the Sultan wears is a dagger with a large yellow-white diamond. The French colonel that advises the Sultan says the diamond is called the Moonstone, and supposedly brings misfortune to anyone who steals it. Sharpe does just that. The appearance of the Moonstone (from Wilkie Collins’ novel of the same name) reinforces Sharpe’s presence in the CU.

Crossover Cover: Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook

This anthology consists of stories featuring Holmes meeting other historical and fictional characters. One story, "Sherlock Holmes in the Lost World" by Martin Powell, originally appeared in the anthology Gaslight Grimoire, and was included in Volume 1 by Win. It's worth noting that this story references Farmer's theory that Lord John Roxton was the Spider's father. I covered Win's contribution, "The Adventure of the Fallen Stone," in a previous post. Here are the other stories that have Holmes meeting other characters from fiction. In Matthew Baugh's "The Adventure of the Ethical Assassin," Holmes is hired by the King of Bohemia once again, this time to protect him from an assassin. After preventing one such attempt, Holmes discovers the would-be assassin is a member of the Assassination Bureau, Ltd., led by Ivan Dragomilov. The assassin’s weapon is a device invented by the Russian hunter Zaroff. The Bureau and Dragomilov (originally Dragomiloff) are from Jack London’s novel The Assassination Bureau, Ltd., completed posthumously by Robert L. Fish. Zaroff is from Richard Connell’s short story "The Most Dangerous Game." In Christopher Sequeira's "The Scion of Fear," Holmes and Dr. Watson work with Inspector Athelney Jones and Jonathan Small to investigate a pair of attacks apparently committed by an Andaman Islands native like Small’s late confederate Tonga. Watson reveals to Mycroft Holmes the box which once held the Agra treasure has a hidden panel which opens to reveal three yellow diamonds. Mycroft says they are part of a series of four “moonstones” that adorned temple idols in India. He adds the fourth diamond was recovered years ago after much drama. Inspector Jones, Jonathan Small, and Tonga are from the Sherlock Holmes novel The Sign of Four. The diamonds are from Wilkie Collins’ novel The Moonstone. In Barbara Hambly's "The Adventure of the Sinister Chinaman," Watson, recovering from an illness, accompanies Holmes to San Francisco, where they become embroiled in an investigation of a Chinese-American magician who has been accused of kidnapping a young girl who was helping him perform a trick. They are aided by another stage magician, Professor Oscar Zoroaster Diggs, who is also a balloonist. Diggs claims to have spent the last forty years in a magical realm, and built a City of Emeralds and done battle with the Wicked Witch of the East and her minions. After the resolution of the case, Watson learns Professor Diggs looked exactly the same when he returned as when he disappeared forty years ago, and concludes the Professor that he and Holmes met was an impostor. He notes the alleged Professor disappeared a year later on another ballooning expedition. Professor O. Z. Diggs is better known as the Wizard of Oz. Of course, the Diggs who disappeared in the 1860s and the one who encountered Holmes and Watson are one and the same. In Matthew Mayo's "The Folly of Flight," Arsène Lupin recruits Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to help him apprehend the murderer of a French aeronaut who has invented a remarkable airship. In Don Roff's "The House on Moreau Street," Holmes is abducted by Augustus Moreau, nephew of the notorious Dr. Moreau, whose beast-men have committed a series of murders in the course of robberies to finance Augustus’ experiments. Edward Prendick brought the elder Moreau’s predations to the public’s attention. Dr. John Thorndyke and Christopher Jervis, investigating the crimes independently from Holmes, wind up working with Dr. Watson to save Holmes. Thorndyke has Nathaniel Polton examine hair samples found at one of the crime scenes. Dr. Moreau and Edward Prendick are from H. G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau. Thorndyke, Jervis, and Polton appear in a series of books by R. Austin Freeman. In Joe Gentile's "The Secret of Grant's Tomb," Holmes and Watson, visiting Inspector Lestrade, are drawn into Professor Van Dusen and his sidekick Hutchinson Hatch’s investigation of the murder of a friend and fellow reporter of Hatch’s. The quartet, along with Lestrade and Inspector Conway, apprehend the culprit, master thief Bradlee Cunnyngham Leighton. Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen and Hutchinson Hatch are featured in the Thinking Machine stories by Jacques Futrelle. Cunnyngham and Conway appear in the Thinking Machine story "Problem of the Missing Necklace." In Martin Gately's "The Petrifying Well," Holmes accepts T. E. “Ned” Lawrence’s request to investigate the bizarre death of a friend’s brother. The planned Maracot expedition to the deep Atlantic is mentioned several times. The Maracot expedition is a reference to Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Maracot Deep, which takes place in 1926. Gately’s story "Rouletabille and the New World Order" explains why the expedition seen in this story (set two years after "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane," which Baring-Gould place in 1909) failed. Christopher Sequeira's other story, "The Adventure of the Lost Specialist," must be an AU. Holmes and Watson do battle with Professor Moriarty, who identifies himself as the stationmaster, and reveals both the Moriarty who Holmes dueled with at Reichenbach and Colonel Moriarty were actually his alternate reality counterparts. Moriarty than unleashes alternate versions of Holmes and Watson on the duo; one pair are meant to be Batman’s foes the Joker and the Penguin, while another pair are Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster. Watson mentions Holmes’ actions in the affair of the depraved Herbert West and the grave-robberies in Essex County, Massachusetts, and also refers to Victor Savage’s uncle, the famous American doctor and adventurer. Given the story takes place in 1903, this most likely refers to the father of a certain bronze-skinned adventurer.

Crossover of the Week

Autumn 1888

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SIX MALEDICTIONS

Professor Moriarty and Colonel Moran are hired by Major Humphrey “Mad” Carew to protect him from the mi-go, which seek to retrieve the gem known as the Green Eye of the Little Yellow God from him. Moriarty’s plan involves hiring a group of master thieves to steal similar cursed items. Appearing or mentioned are: Ted Baldwin; the Vermissa Valley Scowrers; Birdy Edwards, aka John McMurdo and John Douglas; Birlstone Manor; the Assassination Bureau, Ltd.; “that Limehouse Chinese with the marmoset”; the Moonstone; the Eye of Klesh; the All-Seeing Eye of the Goddess of Light; the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak; the Pink Diamond of Lugash; Lukundoo; a Zuni fetish; “a naked Porroh man”; the Barlow rubies; the Rosenthall diamonds; the Mirror of Portugal; the Agra treasure; Azathoth; Tabanga; St. Custard’s; Amaryllis Framington; Giles Conover; the Ingestre Necklace; Mrs. Lovett’s Fleet Street pie shop; the Herncastle Heirloom; the Black Pearl of the Borgias; the Hoxton Creeper; “the cricketing ponce”; the Falcon of the Knights of St. John; the Jewels of the Madonna of Naples; the Jewel of Seven Stars; the Eye of Balor; Simon Carne; Fat Kaspar; the Grand Vampire; Les Vampires; Abel Trelawny; Margaret Trelawny; Gennaro; King Brian of the Leprechauns; Bianca Castafiore; Alf Bassick; Don Rafaele Corbucci; Irene Adler; “Dynamite” Desmond Mountmain and his son Tyrone; Malvoisin’s Mirror; the Monkey’s Paw; Cap’n Flint’s treasure; Sir Michael Sinclair’s Door; Marshall Alaric Molina de Marnac; Vokins; Malilella; Henry Wilcox; Queen Tera; Mrs. Sarah “The Black Widow of Lauder” Stewart; and Hagar “Thieving Pikey” Stanley.

Short story by Colonel Sebastian Moran, edited by Kim Newman in Gaslight Arcanum: Uncanny Tales of Sherlock Holmes, J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec, eds., EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, 2011; reprinted and revised in Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the d’Urbervilles, Titan Books, 2011. Professor Moriarty, Colonel Moran, and Irene Adler are from the Sherlock Holmes stories. Ted Baldwin, the Vermissa Valley Scowrers, Birdy Edwards, and Birlstone Manor are from the Holmes novel The Valley of Fear. The Agra treasure is from the Holmes novel The Sign of Four. The Black Pearl of the Borgias is from the Holmes story “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons.” In “The Adventure of the Empty House,” Holmes states “the death of Mrs. Stewart, of Lauder, in 1887” was likely perpetrated by Moran. Mad Carew, the Green Eye of the Little Yellow God and Amaryllis Framington are from J. Milton Hayes’ poem “The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God,” although in the poem Amaryllis is only identified as “the Colonel’s daughter.” Azathoth is one of the Great Old Ones from H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. The mi-go are also from the Mythos. The Assassination Bureau, Ltd. is a novel by Jack London, completed posthumously by Robert L. Fish. “That Limehouse Chinese with the marmoset” is Dr. Fu Manchu. The Moonstone (aka the Herncastle Heirloom) is the subject of a novel by Wilkie Collins. The Eye of Klesh is from Lord Dunsany’s one-act melodrama A Night at an Inn. The All-Seeing Eye of the Goddess of Light is from the 1940 film The Thief of Bagdad. The Crimson Gem of Cyttorak is from the exploits of Marvel Comics’ Doctor Strange. Although the gem is best known as the power source of the X-Men villain Juggernaut, it is unlikely it empowered Cain Marko in the CU. The Pink Diamond of Lugash is better known as the Pink Panther, from the film series of the same name. Lukundoo is from the short story of the same name by Edward Lucas White. The Zuni fetish is from Richard Matheson’s story “Prey,” later adapted as “Amelia,” the third segment of the made-for-television film Trilogy of Terror. The “naked Porroh man” is from H. G. Wells’ story “Pollock and the Porroh Man.” The Barlow rubies are from Patrick Hamilton’s play Gas Light. “The cricketing ponce” is E. W. Hornung’s Raffles. The Rosenthall diamonds are from the Raffles story “A Costume Piece.” Don Rafaele Corbucci is Raffles’ nemesis Count Corbucci from “The Fate of Faustina” and “The Last Laugh.” Rick Lai gives the Count the first name Salvatore in his own fiction. Perhaps his full name is Salvatore Rafaele Corbucci. The Mirror of Portugal is from Arthur Morrison’s story “The Case of ‘The Mirror of Portugal,’” found in the collection The Dorrington Deed Box. Tabanga is from the film From Hell It Came. St. Custard’s is the school attended by Nigel Molesworth in books written by Geoffrey Willans and illustrated by Ronald Searle. Giles Conover and the Hoxton Creeper are from the Sherlock Holmes film The Pearl of Death. The Creeper was played by Rondo Hatton, who also portrayed a character called the Creeper in the films House of Horrors and The Brute Man; perhaps the latter-day Creeper is a descendant of his Victorian namesake and look-alike. The Ingestre Necklace and Mrs. Lovett’s Fleet Street pie shop are from the penny dreadful story “The String of Pearls: A Romance,” which formed the basis for the stage musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The Falcon of the Knights of St. John is the titular statue from Dashiell Hammett’s novel The Maltese Falcon; Fat Kaspar is Casper Gutman. The Jewels of the Madonna of Naples, Genarro, and Malilella (usually spelled without the second “l”) are from Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s opera The Jewels of the Madonna. The Jewel of Seven Stars, Abel Trelawny, Margaret Trelawny, and Queen Tera are from the novel The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker. The Eye of Balor is from Celtic mythology. Simon Carne is from the collection A Prince of Swindlers by Guy Boothby. The Grand Vampire and Les Vampires are from Louis Feuillade’s serial named for the latter. King Brian of the Leprechauns is Brian Connors from the film Darby O’Gill and the Little People. Bianca Castafiore is from the Tintin comics by Hergé. Alf Bassick is from William Gillette’s play Sherlock Holmes. Desmond and Tyrone Mountmain are undoubtedly relatives of the Mountmain family which appears in Newman’s serial novel Seven Stars. Malvoisin’s Mirror is from a titular story by Chris Lowder and Brian Lewis in the British comic magazine Halls of Horror #12. The Monkey’s Paw is the subject of the short story of the same name by W. W. Jacobs. Cap’n Flint’s treasure is from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Sir Michael Sinclair’s Door is from “The Door,” a segment of the British horror anthology film From Beyond the Grave. Marshall Alaric Molina de Marnac is likely a descendant of Alaric de Marnac, the 15th century warlock played by Paul Naschy (née Jacinto Molina Álvarez) in the films Horror from the Tomb and Cries of Terror. Vokins is Charles Vokins from “The Horizontal Witness,” an episode of the television series Cribb, based on Peter Lovesey’s series of novels about a Victorian era Police Sergeant. Henry Wilcox is from E. M. Forster’s novel Howards End. Hagar Stanley is from the collection Hagar of the Pawn-Shop: The Gypsy Detective by Fergus Hume. The original version of this tale had references to the Emeralds of Suliman (from Edgar Wallace’s J. G. Reeder tale “The Green Mamba”) and Sylvia Marsh (from Ken Russell’s 1988 film version of Bram Stoker’s The Lair of the White Worm).

Crossover of the Week

1930

THE DEATH OF COUNTESS CAGLIOSTRO

            Faustine gives a young woman a letter from her deceased grandmother, Joséphine Balsamo, the Countess Cagliostro, which explains how she had an illegitimate child, Joseph, the girl’s father, by a circus contortionist, Alexandre “Sandre” Cascabel. The Countess says that if he had gone after the Moonstone, or the Hollow Needle, she could have saved Joseph from his fate, but he instead stole The Brigand’s Painting. The Countess was visited by the Master of the Black Coats (aka the Colonel-Who-Never-Died) and his executioner, the Marchef, who instructed her to kill Joseph. The Colonel says that Joseph is presently being kept in the caves of Palazzio Monteleone. If the Countess kills Joseph, the Colonel will have her taken to Sartene, near the Convent of La Merci, and she will live the rest of her life in peace. The Countess was later visited by her former second-in-command Marga.

            Short story by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier published as an epilogue in Arsène Lupin vs. Countess Cagliostro by Maurice Leblanc, adapted and translated by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, Black Coat Press, 2010. Joséphine Balsamo is from Leblanc’s Arsène Lupin novels The Countess of Cagliostro and Countess Cagliostro’s Revenge, both of which are collected in Arsène Lupin vs. Countess Cagliostro. Faustine is also from Countess Cagliostro’s Revenge. The Hollow Needle is from Leblanc’s Lupin novel of the same name. Alexandre “Sandre” Cascabel is from Jules Verne’s novel César Cascabel. Marga Sandorf, the niece of the title character of Verne’s novel Mathias Sandorf, was created by Rick Lai, and appears in his collection Sisters of the Shadows: The Cagliostro Curse. The Moonstone is from Wilkie Collins’ novel of the same name. The Brigand’s Painting, the Colonel-Who-Never-Died (Colonel Bozzo-Corona), the Marchef, the Palazzio Monteleone, and the Convent of La Merci are from the Black Coats novels by Paul Féval. The year is conjecture.

Crossover Cover: Sharpe's Escape

In this Richard Sharpe novel, Rifleman Matthew Dodd, a member of Sharpe's South Essex Light Regiment Company, Rifleman Matthew Dodd, is separated from the regiment at the Battle of Bussaco. Author Bernard Cornwell has confirmed that this is the same Matthew Dodd who appears as the title character of C.S. Forester's novel Death to the French. There are other crossovers involving Sharpe as well. In the TV movie Sharpe's Justice, Sharpe meets Captain George Wickham of the Yorkshire Militia, who chronologically must be the son of George Wickham and Lydia Bennet from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Also, in the book Sharpe's Tiger, Sharpe steals the supposedly cursed diamond known as the Moonstone (from Wilkie Collins' novel of the same name) from Tippoo Sultan. Patrick Lassan, one of the protagonist of Cornwell's Starbuck Chronicles series, is Sharpe's son. Finally, Sharpe has a cameo in Simon Scarrow's The Fields of Death (which I have yet to read and write up, but plan to eventually), part of Scarrow's Revolution Quartet, four books which portray the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars from the point of view of the future Duke of Wellington and Napoleon Bonaparte. In The Fields of Death, Sharpe is only referred to as Richard.