Author Archives: mxpublishing

To many people the name ‘Jeremy Brett’ is synonymous with Sherlock Holmes.  His performance as the Great Detective in the Granada production made him a household name around the world.  But there was much more to Jeremy than Sherlock Holmes, and Maureen Whittaker in her monumental undertaking “Jeremy Brett: Playing a Part” demonstrates that at great length.

From Jeremy’s childhood in Warwickshire, to his years on the stage, his sojourn in Hollywood, to Sherlock Holmes, and to his final cameo role in “Moll Flanders”, Maureen gives us a wonderful in depth look at the life and career of this fabulously talented actor.

The book is large and packed with many photos that have not been seen before.  A beautiful foreword by Jeremy’s first Watson, David Burke, just adds to the delight.

Published by MX Publishing, Maureen Whittaker’s magnum opus is a testament to both the talent of Jeremy Brett and…

One of the greatest gifts Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave to pastiche writers was a list of unrecorded cases, such as Merridew of the Abominable Memory, and the Case of the Politician, the Lighthouse and the Trained Cormorant. All ideas that pastiche writers have latched on to and given their take on Doyle’s carelessly chucked out gems.

In “Sherlock Holmes and the House of Pain”, by Stephen Seitz, the case in question is arguably the most famous: The Giant Rat of Sumatra.

A female missionary goes missing in London’s notorious East End, where rats of unusual size have been spotted. When Watson persuades Holmes to take on the case, the scene is set for an interesting story indeed.

Stephen Seitz’s use of H. G. Wells’ Dr. Moreau, as well as Arthur Conan Doyle’s other well known character, Professor Challenger, creates a nightmarish story of science gone mad.

The relationship between…

The Yellow Face

Racism: The late Peter Wood, a previous discussion leader in my Sherlock Holmes group, asked if this story, taken together with the derogatory depiction of the black boxer Steve Dixie in “The Three Gables,” indicated that Conan Doyle was a racist. A strange way to put it, because this story is typically contrasted with “The Three Gables” as one that is quite liberal on matters of race. But how then do we square this circle of the liberal Doyle in “The Yellow Face” and the indulger of stereotypes in the later story? Perhaps it is simply a matter of time: in this story and the next (“The Stockbroker’s Clerk”) a young author subverts conventional racist (or in the Stockbroker story, anti-Semitic) attitudes, whereas at the end of his career a more curmudgeonly author indulged in them.

Perhaps:

A comprehensive performance biography of the incomparable Shakespearean actor, Jeremy Brett, by Maureen Whittaker. It covers the years 1954 – 1995 and is a singular view of the history of theatre, film and TV of this time period. For the fan it is chock full of hundreds of rarely seen and exclusive photographs. For the researcher, it is a treasure trove of knowledge.

For millions of viewers Jeremy Brett was, and remains, the quintessential Sherlock Holmes. The star of the number one Granada TV series, a co-production with WGBH Mystery for Independent Television Network and PBS for its ten year run. One of the shows that built the “delicate bridge” between UK and US TV. Following a spectacular thirty year career in Film, TV, and Theatre, this was the role that brought Mr. Brett to a much deserved international stardom. His outstanding success as the remarkable genius detective would forever…

As many of my readers know, I love Benedict Cumberbatch’s 21st century portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. But what you don’t know (though many of you have guessed), is that when I write, the Holmes who speaks and lives in my fiction is that of the late, remarkable Jeremy Brett.

My stories are set in the late Victorian, early Edwardian era, mostly in London, and try to remain faithful to the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It helps to have a real face and voice to inform my character. In my opinion, while many talented actors have tried to embody the great detective, no one succeeded as well as Brett.

Now comes a new book about the man, his life, and his Holmes. With a foreword by the charming David Burke (Brett’s first Watson), this is a superb account of the late actor’s life. (I’m currently reading a review copy…

When I was a child, I had a habit of making a fort out of books. I’d stack them up to make walls, and then climb inside and build a roof from whatever storybooks were left over. Living in London during the 1950s could be scary, and my book-fort was the place I felt safest.

Fast-forward to the 2020s and the entire world seems to be on the cusp of annihilation. Though I no longer live in London or in the US, as an adult I realise the impact those two places have on the rest of the globe, and, right now, I find their current climates terrifying. I feel deep anxiety and concern for my friends around the world, and for all people of good will who march for their rights and for justice. I grew up in the age of Kennedy and King, Selma and Birmingham, Vietnam and…

Usually, I open a review of a new MX collection by waxing lyrical about the stories and the calibre of the authors. This new collection of three volumes — XIX, XX, and XX — certainly contain jewels, but before I tell you about my favourites, I want to beg and plead that before you delve into these, you first take the time to read the foreword by editor David Marcum.

Not Just “Always 1895” — a Hero for Now, is a masterclass in all things Sherlock Holmes. If you’re new to the Great Detective, or even if you can recite The Hound of theBaskervilles almost by heart, ahem, you will find that Mr Marcum’s precise examination of the Holmes and Watson legend puts the character and stories into a context that can only enhance your enjoyment of reading the stories that follow, as well as the original Conan…

The Priory School

Musings of Dr. Sheldon Goldfarb, BA, MA, MAS, PhD, etc.

Priory? First of all, what is a Priory School? I’ve looked up “priory,” and it means monastery or convent, but that can’t be what we have here in Victorian England. Perhaps it means there used to be a monastery on the spot? And it is a boys’ school, so a bit monastic perhaps: and with lurid goings-on as in an old Gothic, like for instance The Monk. But still.

And who is the Priory Schoolmaster? A question of moment to me since I have assumed the title for the Stormy Petrels in our monthly discussions of things Sherlockian. In the story both Thorneycroft Huxtable, that pompous fool, and the German master who gets murdered have the title of schoolmaster applied to them. Not…