Sherlock Holmes: Pursuit of the House-Boat

By John Kendrick Bangs

Sherlock Holmes: The Pursuit of the House-Boat is the sequel to A House-Boat on the Styx. The novel opens with the Associated Shades taking stock of their situation. Captain Kidd has hijacked the House-Boat and they must find a way to get it back, the group decides to hire the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, who, at the time had just been killed off by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle gave his blessings for Bangs to use his character making this an authorized Sherlock Holmes adventure. Rollicking good fun!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
• Release date: Aug 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781627933476

John Kendrick Bangs

John Kendrick Bangs (1862–1922) was an American writer and editor best known for his works in the fantasy genre. Bangs began his writing career in the 1880s when he worked for a literary magazine at Columbia College. Later, he held positions at various publications such as Life, Harper's Bazaar and Munsey’s Magazine. Throughout his career he published many novels and short stories including The Lorgnette (1886), Olympian Nights (1902) and Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream (1907).

Reviews for Sherlock Holmes

[datrappert · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

While The House-Boat on the Styx provided a good deal of pleasure, this continuation of the story is, for the most part, tedious. The "clever" banter grows old after a short time and the novelty of the set of historical characters, including Napoleon, Cleopatra, Samuel Johnson, and many many (too many) others wears out its welcome. Most problematic is the inclusion of fictional characters, such as Noah (from the Bible) or Portia (from Shakespeare). This book features Sherlock Holmes, who arrives to track down the villains who have made off with the house-boat and all the ladies on it. But, despite having Doyle's permission to use the character, Bangs completely wastes him. At first, Holmes says a few clever things and makes an interesting deduction or two, but after that he isn't even a pale shadow of the Holmes we know. He acts more like a befuddled Holmes impersonator. (BTW, how can we have Holmes without Watson?)Definitely NOT recommended.

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I actually liked this better than the original Houseboat on the Styx, as it has a more coherent plot --the houseboat is missing and the shades are pursuig it under the leadership of Sherlock Holmes (during the period when he was presumed dead)