This is a collection of "research papers," essays, poems, and reflections by ardent Sherlockians - Sherlock Holmes fans who enthusiastically embrace the pretense that Sherlock Holmes was an actual historical personage, with Watson playing Boswell and Conan Doyle - when mentioned at all - relegated to a minimal role as literary agent. Per the disclaimer at the opening of the collection: "The characters in this book are real persons. Any resemblance to fictional characters, living or dead, is purely accidental".

The authors of this collection of tongue-in-cheek tributes to the Great Detective include most of the "founding fathers" of the Baker Street Irregulars, a long-lived organization of Sherlockians: Vince Starrett, the Morley Bros, Anthony Boucher, Rex Stout, Dorothy Sayers, H.W. Bell, Alexander Woolcott, and Edgar W. Smith.

Between them, these "scholars" boldly tackle everything from major Canonical controversies to whimsical miscellany: was Holmes an international spy? A gentleman? A veteran? A drug addict? An imposter? Who were the actual historical personages represented by pseudonyms in the stories? What was Mrs. Hudson's true role in the adventures? Was Watson wounded once or twice? was he a better shot than Holmes? Just how many wives *did* the good doctor have ... or was he himself a woman?

Is an encyclopedic knowledge of the Sherlock Holmes canon (the original 54 stories) required to appreciate these works of "scholarship"? No - but I won't pretend it doesn't definitely help. Another potential obstacle: numerous literary and cultural allusions that, while topical back in the 1940s when these essays were penned, are definitely obscure now: like me, you may find yourself regularly resorting to Google to clarify some of the more arcane references.

Is it worth the work? If you're an aspiring Sherlockian, that's not up for debate: this is one of the top 10 "must reads", right up there with Starrett's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and H.W. Bell's Baker Street Studies.

As for the rest of us ... well, that depends on how you take your Sherlock Holmes: over easy (a fair-weather fan), in which case you'll probably want to give this a miss; hard boiled (worshipper at the alter), in which case some of the more controversial (read: preposterous) essays here may irk you; or soft boiled (respectful admirer), in which case I predict you'll thoroughly enjoy this witty and whimsical homage to a one of literature's greatest and most enduring creations ... unless, of course, Sherlock Holmes was real after all? ( )

illus by Julian Brazelton & Frederick Dorr Steele