Review: The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

Synopsis: Enthralled by the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Victorian readers around the world developed a fascination with eccentric detectives and bizarre crimes. 

Featuring an international array of authors and characters, this compilation of 16 short stories showcases the best of the mysteries inspired by the Baker Street sleuth. Their heroes range from famous figures like G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown and Maurice Leblanc's Arsene Lupin to lesser-known but equally captivating characters. "The Problem of the Stolen Rubens," by Jacques Futrelle, centers on Professor Van Dusen, also known as The Thinking Machine, whose superior mental powers and dispassionate approach resemble Holmes'. Robert Barr's "The Absent Minded Coterie" presents French detective Eugène Valmont, a cultured and elegant gentleman . . . but a rather poor investigator. "The Murder at Troyte's Hill," by Catherine L. Pirkis, "The Ninescore Mystery," by The Scarlet Pimpernel author Baroness Orczy, and "Cinderella's Slipper," by Hugh C. Weir, feature a Victorian novelty—a detective heroine. Holmesians and other lovers of old-time mysteries will thrill to these tales of dark deeds and their discovery. 

I liked this foray into detective fiction set contemporaneously with that of Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes". It is hard for some to image that there were no other writers writing detective fiction at this time, and this small tome will introduce many to possibly new authors and protagonists. For those who are more widely read on the subject, it may be a more familiar - though still welcome - well-trodden path.