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David has written five Sherlock Holmes novels – pastiches if you like – but in each one he has added extra ingredients to the potent mix so that they do not slavishly follow Conan Doyle’s template.
Some samples of David's Holmesian work can be found in the DSDownloads area (found on the Contact page) |
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The Veiled Detective
Hale Crime 2004  It is 1880 and a young Sherlock Holmes arrives in London to pursue a career as a private detective. He soon attracts the attention of criminal mastermind, Professor James Moriarty, who decides that he must control this fledgling genius. What happens next is both shocking and thrilling. The Veiled Detective takes a fresh, exciting and controversial look at the relationship between the great detective Sherlock Holmes, his friend and chronicler Doctor John H. Watson and Professor Moriarty. The novel deconstructs the myth of Sherlock Holmes and reveals a fascinating and excitingly dramatic alternative view of the man and his career. The novel will amaze and thrill both fans and readers of crime fiction as the truth is finally revealed about the world’s most famous detective. ’I have to admit that I am sometimes a bit put-off by the lengths to which some book reviewers go to express their opinions. It has also been my observation that the length of the review tends to be negatively correlated with quality of the book! In that light, David Stuart Davies' new The Veiled Detective merits an exceedingly short review. It is simply a very good yarn; a well plotted mystery story with familiar characters (e.g., Holmes and Watson, et al) presented from provocative new vantage points. The book takes the reader from Afghanistan through A Study in Scarlet to the smashing finale at Reichenbach. I will refrain from delving into the plot (except to say that it is very well done) for fear of ruining the clever twist at the end for the reader, but I won't refrain from saying that I found it to be a most absorbing story - one of those hard-to-put-down books. Although not strictly a pastiche, it is the best Sherlockian mystery novel I have seen all year and it just might well be David Stuart Davies's best novel yet. I do not hesitate to recommend it.’ Robert Lindvall Classic Specialties' Chief Book Reviewer Shadow of the Rat Calabash Press 1999  ‘Perhaps you will understand a little better.’ So saying, Holmes pulled a revolver from his overcoat pocket and aimed the barrel at my heart.’ ‘One false move, Watson, and I shoot you. It is as simple as that.’ When Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson accidentally meet up with an old acquaintance, they do not immediately realise that this innocent encounter will draw them into a vast conspiracy. A body found floating in the Thames – a body which has been deliberately infected with plague virus – is the first warning; and soon Holmes and Watson find themselves seeking answers at The Bridge of Dreams, a club where a person’s darkest wish can be gratified – for a price. In this twilight world of depravity and corruption, the great detective finds himself in the grip of a will stronger than his own; a grip which turns him against his closest friend and threatens to leave the Government of Britain – indeed Britain itself – open to a deadly threat. It is left to Dr Watson to fund help for his friend, in time for the pair to face up to the most monstrous opponent they have encountered – the Giant Rat of Sumatra – in an exciting tale for which the world is finally prepared! ‘Davies is prepared to put his own inventive stamp on a traditional Holmes story in order to raise it above the usual expectations to provide a different perspective and yet remain true to the spirit of the original.’ Sleuthing the Shelves ‘David Stuart Davies… has a style so similar to Conan Doyle that the reader could be fooled.’ The Library Association Record The Scroll of the Dead Calabash Press 1998
The Tangled Skein  It is the autumn of 1888. Following the successful conclusion of the investigation into the affair of the Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson have returned from Dartmoor, little realising that fate will see them back in Devon before the year is out. Holmes receives a mysterious and potentially lethal package, the first strand in the tangled skein which he will need to unravel before this exciting adventure is resolved. A threat to Holmes’ life, murders on Hampstead Heath, and a strange phantom lady lead Holmes and Watson into the most dangerous investigation they have ever undertaken – an encounter which brings them face to face with evil itself, embodied in Count Dracula, the Lord of the Undead. ‘A tale… skilfully crafted… The style is so reminiscent of Watson’s style that I was certain that Davies had discovered the tin box.’ Baker Street Journal ‘If I hadn’t known [the novel] was the work of a contemporary writer, I’d have sworn it was a long lost manuscript of the Master Story-Teller which had been unearthed.’ Peter Cushing The Tangled Skein is also available in an unabridged reading by David Ian Davies (no relation believe it or not!) on One Voice Recordings 2003 The novel is now being considered for a TV movie. We will keep you posted on that in the Newsroom. Sherlock Holmes & The Hentzau Affair Ian Henry Publications 1991  In The Prisoner of Zenda, Anthony Hope told of the happenings in Ruritania when Prince Rudolf was abducted just before his coronation and an Englishman, Rudolf Rassendyll was substituted to impersonate the absent monarch by the Royalists to the frustrated rage of Rudolf’s brother and his henchman, Rupert of Hentzau. Three years later, King Rudolf has fallen ill and Colonel Sapt of the Ruritania Court comes to England to ask Rassendyll to step in for the King once more. However, Sapt discovers that Rassendyll has mysteriously disappeared and his relatives appear to be lying when they claim to have no knowledge of his whereabouts. Sapt turns to the consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, who with Watson discovers the reason for Rassendyll’s disappearance, a reason that causes the detective to journey to Ruritania where he plays an unexpectedly dramatic part in thwarting Rupert of Hentzau in his bid for the throne. ‘A wonderful blend of Ruritanian adventure and cunning detective story.’ The Journal of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London Short Sherlock Holmes stories by David Stuart Davies
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