Mxpublishing's Blog

“Sherlock Cat and the Missing Mousie”, written by Heather Edwards, illustrated by Amanda Downs, and published by MX Publishing, is not my usual choice of reading material. When I saw the cover illustration on Kickstarter I was captivated and knew that it was one book that I just had to read and review.

It turned out to be an absolutely sweet little book. Spot the cat has decided that he will be Sherlock Holmes the cat detective with his long suffering friend Fluffy as John Watson.

Join the two cats, their humans , and assorted other creatures in a joyous Sherlockian romp.

The book is well written, and while clearly for children, there is much to enjoy for the adult as well. There are so many lovely little Sherlockian in-jokes.

The illustrations by Amanda Downs are charming. My only complaint is that there wasn’t enough of them.

This is the…

“The Adventure of the Coal-Tar Derivative” is written by Steven Philip Jones and published by MX Publishing. It is a collection of short stories and novellas that take place during the Great Hiatus.

The stories are all of equal caliber, but my personal favourite was the first one “Mea Gloria Fides”.

The collection may not be to everyone’s taste, as the stories include letters and journal entries from participating characters. It put me in mind of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” which has long been a favourite of mine.

An interesting edition to the world of Sherlock Holmes.

The book is available directly from MX Publishing

This year, The Baskerville Pups have been given the opportunity to share our thoughts on the works published by MX Publishing. To start, I chose Maureen Whittaker’s Jeremy Brett: Playing a Part. Some of you may be familiar with her first Jeremy Brett biography, Jeremy Brett IS Sherlock Holmes, which is a mere sample of what is inside of the larger biography encompassing more than his career portraying Sherlock Holmes.

Quite like many Sherlockians, JB’s Holmes is close to my heart. “His persona and accurate portrayal of Holmes is most admirable. Just as Sir Arthur allows us to sharply envision Holmes thanks to his wonderfully descriptive writing, the quirkiness and physicality that JB dedicated to his Sherlock Holmes could snatch viewers of all ages, taking them to a world of adventure and thrill. Etched into my brain, his laugh and smile is unforgettably lovable” (Boodram, 2021).

I haven’t…

“The Adventure of the Bloody Duck and other tales of Sherlock Holmes” is the title of my anthology of six short stories due for publication by MX Publishing on 19th June 2022.

There are a couple of offers going on to help celebrate this.

The first is a Kickstarter with a number of rewards on offer, including autographed copies of the anthology, and, if you are interested, the chance to be a character in a forthcoming story.

The second is a ‘3 for 2’ offer from MX Publishing on books by their Australian authors.

Why not check them out?

“The Improbable Casebook of Sherlock Holmes” is an anthology of seven short stories written by Nick Cardillo and published by MX Publishing.

It is an excellent volume. Every story swings along nicely, with suitably exciting denouements.

Three stories really stood out for me: The Scholar of Silchester Court, A Ghost from the Past, and The Adventure of the Weeping stone. A Ghost from the Past would have to be my favourite, as we rarely get to see the fallout from Holmes’s cases.

Nick Cardillo is spot on with his characterizations. Both Holmes and Watson are canonically sound and their friendship is solid.

It is one of the best single author anthologies I have read. Highly recommended.

“The Improbable Casebook of Sherlock Holmes” is available directly from MX Publishing

Sherlock Book Reviews – Sherlock Holmes and The Eye of Heka – Sherlock Holmes Books by MX Publishing

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Sherlock Holmes Society of London

David Marcum is a very prolific writer of Holmesian pastiche, and needs no further introduction. This is a full-length novel of depth and subtlety. The plot blends together classic detection, Watson’s personal life, some high ideals, and a lot of the usual skulduggery; in other words, there is something for everyone. The narrative moves seamlessly between authentic extracts from the Canon and Mr Marcum’s own inventions and interpretations, and, because it is so delightfully well written, it all makes perfect sense. As well as the sound Canonical links, there are some nice touches of late-Victorian life.As seems to be sadly inevitable in pastiches, there are occasional outbreaks of twenty-first century attitudes and values which do sound odd coming from Watson and his contemporaries, but these lapses…