Mr Symons has written additional stories about the lives and cases of seven famous (but fictional) detectives; Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe, Miss Marple, Philip Marlowe, Hercule Poirot, Maigret and Ellery Queen. He ingeniously links them in a manner which doesn't contradict what we think we already know or have deduced about them. The illustrations help the stories along by contributing well-researched backgrounds. ( )