A horror-story writer from Wisconsin, August Derleth (1909-1971) had never been to London when he created Solar Pons of Praed Street out of frustration that there would be no more Sherlock Holmes stories. He ended up with a series of pastiches, starting in 1928, that are entertaining enough to be considered a palliative drug for the addict. The collections: Adventures (1945), Chronicles, Memoirs, Casebook, Reminiscences, Return, and Mr. Fairlie's Final Journey (a novel, 1968), followed by at least four continuations by Basil Copper. The stories are basically second-rate imitations but have their moments in filling one's Holmes addiction; they do get better the older and more experienced the author became, one of the best being "The Six Silver Spiders," which has amusing references to the author's connection with H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Another excellent one is "The Mosaic Cylinders" that takes place in the Cotswolds near Cheltenham, an area the author obviously visited.
Note several howlers, however, caused by the author's initial ignorance of Londom: e.g., the prevalence of one-story houses and the substitution of News of the World, a Sunday tabloid rife with sensation, for the London Times, with its agony column* -- and when did anybody ever read the Daily Mail for its financial pages? The use of Americanisms in the vocabulary and usage of the 'Watson', Dr Parker, is explained by the fact that he had spent many years in the US prior to WWI and his subsequent meeting up with Pons. Derleth, who was an expert small-press editor and a major player in the whole Lovecraft game, certainly became fond enough of his creation Pons to write several hundred pages about him (and as an author who had to be prolific to earn his living, found public response encouraging).
* Until about 60 (?) years ago, the Times did not have a headline page, but started out with personal ads of the sort Holmes utilized so much -- 'If so-and-so will apply to so-and-so about his missing hat...' --, remembrances, and announcements. It is odd to us now that a newspaper renowned for its reporting and magisterial 'leaders' and letters downplayed that so much by having its front page full of fine print items in columns without so much as a picture apart from the famous logo. But the crossword puzzle remains a staple for all fans, Murdoch notwithstanding.
If Pons is second-rate Holmes, he still had a lot of followers, including notable critics such as Anthony Boucher and Vincent Starrett. The following list of the Pons stories is derived from the front and back matter of the Pinnacle paperback editions, with a little help from a Pons web site; there are several discrepancies, as with the timing of many of the Holmes adventures. Most of the stories were originally published in hardcover under the imprint of Mycroft & Moran, which is a branch of Derleth's marvellously specialized Arkham House press. Note that the titles all begin with "The Adventure of the ..." except for the novel and a couple of Coppers.
1921
Sotheby Salesman [i]
Ricoletti of the Club Foot [iii]
Unique Dickensians [ii]
Haunted Library [iv]
Missing Tenants [ii]
Aluminium Crutch [ii]
1922
Circular Room [iii]
Purloined Periapt [i]
Lost Locomotive [iii]
Five Royal Coachmen [iii]
Frightened Baronet [i]
1923
Missing Huntsman [iv]
Amateur Philologist [iv]
Seven Sisters [ii]
Limping Man [i]
1924
Shaplow Millions [ii]
Innkeeper's Clerk [iv]
Crouching Dog [iv]
Perfect Husband [iii]
Dog in the Manger [iii]
1925
Swedenborg Signatures [vi]
Spurious Tamerlaine [iv]
Rydberg Numbers [vi]
1926
Praed Street Irregulars [v]
Penny Magenta [vi]
Remarkable Worm [vi]
Retired Novelist [i]
1927
Devil's Footprints [vi]
Sussex Archers [iv]
Cloverdale Kennels [v]
Lost Dutchman [vi]
Grice-Paterson Curse [vi]
1928
Dorrington Inheritance [vi]
Norcross Riddle [i]
Late Mr. Feversham [i]
Black Narcissus [i]
Three Red Dwarfs [i]
Broken Chessmen [iii]
China Cottage [iv]
1929
Hats of M. Dulac [v]
Little Hangman [vi]
Blind Clairaudient [v]
Man with the Broken Face [i]
Benin Bronze [ii]
1930
Whispering Knights [iv]
Intarsia Box [iv]
Six Silver Spiders [iii]
Seven Passengers [i]
Black Cardinal [v]
1931
Mazarine Blue [v]
Red Leech [ii]
Lost Holiday [i]
Troubled Magistrate [v]
1932
Proper Comma [iii]
Bishop's Companion [ii]
Ascot Scandal [iv]
"Triple Kent" [vi]
Paralytic Mendicant [iii]
Trained Cormorant [vi]
1933
Camberwell Beauty [vi]
1934
Tottenham Werewolf [iii]
Mosaic Cylinders [v]
Fatal Glance [iv]
1935
Stone of Scone [vi]
1938
Orient Express [ii]
Mr. Fairlie's Final Journey [vii]
1939
Golden Bracelet [ii]
Some Basil Copper sequels:
Note: If you are Pons aficionado, you can buy the complete series for $130 or so from Arkham House.
