The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: A Collection of Victorian-Era Detective Stories (Dover Mystery Classics)

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes is a well curated collection of 16 well curated classic detective stories from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries. Released 18th Dec 2019 by Dover, it's 352 pages and available in paperback format.These are classics and many will already be familiar to connoisseurs of detective fiction. The anthology contains stories by Baroness Orczy, R. Austin Freeman, G. K. Chesterton, Maurice Leblanc and 12 others, all strong writers; there's not a stinker in the bunch. One aspect of this collection which I liked a lot was that usually the selected stories are linked more tightly geographically; American, British, Antipodean, or what have you. These stories are selected from all regions and backgrounds, including a new-to-me Uncle Abner story by Melvin Post.This would make a superlative rainy day read, or a good source of further reading for fans of the genre who might not be familiar with all the Victorian detective authors. It's great that these stories are being preserved and presented to new generations of fans.Four stars.Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This is an excellent book with 16 clever short stories by 16 different Victorian authors inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Authors include Arthur Morrison, Grant Allen, L.T. Meade and Robert Eustace, Fergus Hume, Guy Boothby, Headon Hill, and Melville Post. Four of the authors were new to me. Although I had read four of the stories before, the rest were new to me. Three actually had a female detective, Pirkis' Loveday, Baroness Orczy's Lady Molly, and Hugh Weir's Cinderella's Slipper.Some of the familiar male detectives include Barr's Eugene Valmont, Leblanc's Arsene Lupin, Chesterton's Father Brown, Futrelle's The Thinking Man, Freeman's Thorndyke, and Bramah's blind hero Max Corrados. Many of the stories have surprise endings. Freeman's story was unusual for a detective story because the murder is fully described at the beginning of the story, and then Thorndyke "discovers" the murder after a science lecture on sea worms.Anyone who likes classic crime stories will enjoy this book.

You’ve heard of Sherlock Holmes the incomparable private consulting detective, but have you heard of his equally astute colleagues, the blind Max Carrados, the priest Father Brown, the Protestant Uncle Abner, the scientific Dr. Thorndyke, or the aristocratic Lady Molly? Those heroes and many others from the golden age detective fiction are showcased in this wonderful collection.The variety in these stories makes it a very enjoyable read. Each story has its own unique flavor and hero. There are stories written from the first and third-person perspectives and even a crooks perspective. There are proud infallible detectives, humble lucky detectives, and even a few unlucky ones. Both men and women get a crack at solving some truly baffling mysteries. They must solve thefts, cons, disappearances, frames, and open murder. That gives us stories that range in feel from almost amusing to the rather gruesome.Overall, it is a wonderful collection of mysteries that I highly enjoyed and would recommend to any mystery lover. There were a few curse words but otherwise is a wonderfully clean book.I received this as a free ARC through NetGalley and Dover Publications. No favorable review was required, and it was my pleasure to provide my honest opinion.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Dover House Publications, in return for an honest review. This is a short story collection from the Victorian era by contemporaries of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous creation, Sherlock Holmes. The stories are set mainly in the United Kingdom but also in other parts of Europe and in the United States. You may recognize some of the authors, like G. K. Chesteron or Baroness Orczy, if you’ve previously read mysteries from that era. Hopefully, others will be a fun surprise. As usual in a mystery collection, you’ll figure out some, while other endings will be a surprise. I appreciated the editor’s efforts to include the few female authors from the era, as well as one story with a female heroine. This is a good collection to read mysteries from that era.

This book is a collection of 16 short story mysteries that were originally written between 1892 and 1914. Each story contained one clever person – a detective, private investigator, thief or murderer, or even a servant. The stories were supposedly inspired by Sherlock Holmes, and some of the private investigators did have similarities with him. Most of the stories told the mystery in a way that you could guess whodunit from the clues. I didn't find most of the mysteries difficult to solve, though the stories were fun to read anyway. Some of the series detectives were interesting enough that I will look up other stories by that author. The stories came from writers from all over the world: England, France, America, Australia, etc. There was no sex. There was only a few uses of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this collection to people who enjoy old, clue based mysteries.I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. For those of us who are avid readers of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries this book will be a struggle to enjoy. 16 stories are presented here that, while not necessarily rivals of Holmes, one cannot help but be compared to that writting style. These stories are quite varied in what the mystery is but also varied in quality, as with most anthologies.