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NICK CARDILLO
The Novellas of Solar Pons
Edited by Derrick Belanger
Featuring "The Devil's Book"
By Nick Cardillo
In the 1920's, college student August Derleth wrote to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, asking if any more Sherlock Holmes adventures were going to be published. Upon receiving a negative reply, Derleth decided to provide some of his own. However, rather than relating more tales of Holmes and Dr. Watson, he ended up introducing the world to Solar Pons and Dr. Lyndon Parker, living in London during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Pons solved crimes using deduction and ratiocination, often referring to Holmes as “The Master” or “My illustrious predecessor”. Since his first appearance, Pons has been a favorite with Sherlockians.
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Now, for the first time ever, the estate of August Derleth has authorized an anthology of Solar Pons novellas! These new adventures range in length from about 15,000 words (longer than a short story) to 40,000 words (almost a novel). Each of them fully and traditionally falls within the Pontine Canon.
Join us again at 7B Praed Street where The Game is Afoot!
The Nefarious Villains of Sherlock Holmes - Volume I
Edited by David Marcum
Featuring "The Beast of the Baskervilles"
By Nick Cardillo
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson! The names of the world’s greatest detective and his stalwart friend conjure up images of Victorian London, gaslit streets, hansom cabs, and dense fogs.
But there was more to the story than these heroes. There were the villains who dared to stand against them, carrying out their vile plans and evil schemes.
Who were these sinners, malefactors, and criminals? We only know the barest details, as provided to us from Watson’s pen in the very few sixty stories of the original Sherlockian Canon. Now, with this new volume from Belanger Books, we investigate further – into the lives and deeds and motivations of these Nefarious Villains of Sherlock Holmes.
In these two volumes are twenty four stories examining the best known villains – Professor Moriarty, for instance, and Colonel Moran, and Dr. Grimesby Roylott – and some others who might not be quite as famous, but who were just as vexing to the Detective and Doctor . . . names like Culverton Smith, Baron Maupertuis, and Abe Slaney.
Discover their histories and find out the events behind the stories that you think you know. Settle back for an exceptional Holmes anthology, and a walk along the Dark Side of the Canon . . . .
After the East Wind Blows - Volume II
Edited by David Marcum
Featuring "The Curse of the Roaring Tiger"
By Nick Cardillo
Contained in this collection are 36 Canonical adventures in three companion volumes by many of today's best Sherlockian pasticheurs, relating some of Holmes and Watson's wartime adventures, and then telling us what happened afterwards during those years immediately following the Armistice, and on through the 1920's. Join Holmes and Watson as the thunderous Guns of War begin to fire, through the nightmarish years that followed, and then through the other side when the storm has cleared . . . . The game is afoot!
The Meeting of the Minds: The Cases of Sherlock Holmes and Solar Pons - Volume II
Edited by David Marcum
Featuring "The Adventure of the Perfect Murder"
By Nick Cardillo
In 1928, a nineteen-year-old Wisconsin college student named August Derleth (1909-1971) audaciously wrote to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, asking if there would be any more Sherlock Holmes stories. The response from Dr. Watson’s Literary Agent was a terse “No.” Then, Derleth ambitiously countered: Could he write some? The reply? Another “No.” Derleth, unsatisfied with that answer, resolved to produce Sherlockian-style stories of his own. Flipping ahead on his calendar, he famously wrote on an upcoming date, In Re: Sherlock Holmes. When that date arrived, he duly sat down and recorded “The Adventure of the Black Narcissus” – but not about Holmes. Rather, he transcribed (from the notes of Dr. Lyndon Parker) the first narrative introducing the world to Solar Pons – “The Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street”.
The world knows of Sherlock Holmes. For those who haven’t yet been lucky enough to yet meet Mr. Pons, one should know that he is a Great Detective in the Holmesian Mold: He models himself after Holmes, wearing the expected deerstalker and Inverness. He investigates using ratiocination, observation, and deduction. His adventures, set in the 1920’s and 1930’s, are transcribed by his friend, Dr. Parker. He lives in London, working closely with Scotland Yard, and he helps to fill the vacuum left when Sherlock Holmes retired to Sussex. Throughout the Pontine Canon, there are references to Sherlock Holmes.
For long decades, Pons fans and scholars have speculated on the connection between the two. Now, after all this time – nearly one-hundred years since the last Canonical Holmes story was published and Derleth recorded the first Pons tale – Belanger Books proudly presents the stories that provide answers – The Meeting of the Minds . . . . These companion volumes contain eighteen new adventures in two companion volumes by some of today’s best Holmesian and Ponsian authors. Join us again at 7B Praed Street, where The Game is Afoot!
The Necronomicon of Solar Pons
Edited by Derrick Belanger
Featuring "A Matter of Blood"
By Nick Cardillo
From Sherlock Holmes to the Cthulhu Mythos
August Derleth introduced the world to Solar Pons and Dr. Lyndon Parker in the 1920's. Pons, like Sherlock Holmes, solved crimes using deduction and ratiocination, often referring to Holmes as “The Master” or “My illustrious predecessor”. Since his first appearance, Pons has been a favorite with Sherlockians.
In the 1930's, Derleth coined the term "Cthulhu Mythos" to describe the weird fiction written by the writers in the Lovecraft circle. After Lovecraft died in 1937, Derleth created Arkham House Publishing to make certain Lovecraft and other writers of the Cthulhu mythos, himself included, remained in print. Derleth wrote a number of tales of the Cthulhu mythos including The Mask of Cthulhu, The Trail of Cthulhu, and The Watchers Out of Time (collaborating with Lovecraft).
Now, for the first time ever, the estate of August Derleth has authorized a one of a kind anthology combining Derleth's Solar Pons, the Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street, with his Cthulhu Mythos and horror tales.
Join us in the foggy streets of early 20th Century London where horror is lurking on the streets and also at the veil of reality.
Adventures Beyond the Canon - Volume III
Edited by David Marcum
Featuring "A Ghost From the Past"
By Nick Cardillo
Sherlock Holmes himself would have us believe that, once a case was finished, it – or the people involved – never crossed his mind again. “A client is to me a mere unit,” he once told Watson, “a factor in a problem.” And yet, in a career spanning multiple decades and thousands of cases, he must have occasionally re-crossed paths with previous clients – and the occasional villain as well!
This anthology, with twenty-nine brand new stories, spread over three volumes, reveals some of those sequel investigations. There are stories ranging from Holmes’s early days in Montague Street, through the legendary Baker Street years, and well into his retirement. We meet former clients with new problems, and former adversaries too. Sometimes we find that the published Canonical version of a story was only the beginning, while other tales in this collection reveal what was really going on during the original narratives. Join us as we return to Baker Street and discover more authentic adventures of Sherlock Holmes, described by the estimable Dr. Watson as “ . . . the best and wisest . . . whom I have ever known.” The game is afoot!