Showing results by narrator "J. T. McDaniel" in All Categories

Sherlock Holmes has been a beloved character from his first story, and his mystique endures to the modern age in print and on screen, but he has had a long life in the theater, as well. Where did it begin? What are the themes, stories, and characterizations that make his stage presence unique and just as enduring?

Christmas Eve, 1890. Thanks to the tireless pursuit of Sherlock Holmes, Professor Moriarty’s criminal empire stands on a knife edge. Still, three ghostly visitors may yet convince the Napoleon of Crime that his destiny lies in another direction.

The Sherlockian Canon, as prolific as it is, contains few accounts in which Mr. Holmes and his medical colleagues Doctors Watson and Verner solve cases involving frightening medical conditions. It strikes me that many more such cases were successfully solved by Mr. Holmes and his associates. It is unlikely that Doctors Watson and Verner would allow such mysteries remain unsolved.

In 1901, Arthur Conan Doyle "resurrected" Holmes for what turned out to be his most popular story, The Hound of the Baskervilles. It first appeared as nine episodes in the British edition of The Strand Magazine. The first episode was accompanied by a brief footnote that acknowledged the assistance provided by a young journalist called Bertram Fletcher Robinson. Almost immediately, there was speculation about the extent of Fletcher Robinson's contribution to the narrative of the story. Fletcher Robinson's early death did little to end such speculation.

The Keys of Death is Baker Street bedrock. In Gretchen Altabef’s 1880 novel, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson, and Mrs. Hudson begin something great in the world.

It is Christmas Day in York. A woman is found dead in her bed. A suicide note is found on her chest. It reads "I am so sorry Martin". Hours later, the police are called to a house a few miles away. A mother and her daughter have been brutally attacked; the mother is dead and the daughter is barely alive. The father is found shaking uncontrollably in the corner of the room. He is covered in blood but he is unharmed. His name is Martin Willow

Speedway, Indiana native Ricky Wills is a hotshot racecar driver with a chip on his shoulder. As one of the brightest rising stars in the racing world, Ricky competes for a chance to race in the legendary Indianapolis 500, and struggles to maintain his small-town identity as he is swept up by industry fame and the charms of big-city celebrities.

DS Jason Smith is dragged away from paternity leave when a woman is killed with her baby in the next room. When more women with children are brutally murdered, Smith discovers they all have something in common - they all share a secret. When he finds out the mother of his own child is on this list of "Unworthy" women, he finds himself in a race against time to stop the killer before his whole world comes crashing down around him.

The late 1890s saw Arthur Conan Doyle return to England after several years abroad. His new house, named Undershaw, represented a fresh start, but it was also the beginning of a dramatic decade that saw him fall in love, stand for parliament, fight injustice, and be awarded a knighthood. However, for his many admirers, the most important event of that decade was the resurrection of Sherlock Holmes—the character that he felt had cast a shadow over his life.

East meets West as one of the most talented British Sherlockian scholars, John Hall, and a Japanese member of the Baker Street Irregulars, Hirayama Yuichi, argue important Sherlockian questions. One offers the other three questions, and the other answers them with all their Sherlockian knowledge. They are serious Sherlockian battles between an English Knight and Japanese samurai! This volume also includes Hirayama's Sherlockian papers published in The Musgraves, The Baker Street Journal, The Canadian Holmes, and The Shoso-in Bulletin.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of the most written about men who ever lived but despite this, some parts of his life get little attention. One such period is between 1891 and 1894 when he lived in South Norwood in present day south east London. During this period, he wrote and published much of his best work including the first two series of Sherlock Holmes short stories. This book looks at his life during this period and, in contrast to other biographies, spends time looking at some of his input into local Norwood life.

Dragons, mythical beasts, mighty warriors, and perilous forests. This is England in AD 1066. The Anglo-Saxon king Harold is bound north to repel a strong force of Norsemen - unaware of the approaching threat upon the southern shores of his kingdom. Among his army of thousands, from noble thegns to battle-hardened housecarls and staunch fyrdmen, is the ambitious, loyal, and proud Leofwin.

Following his second marriage in 1907, Arthur Conan Doyle was looking to the future. The years ahead would see the birth of three children, fresh literary success and the discovery of his new faith. Those same years would also see the First World War, the final adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and ridicule from the religious and scientific communities for his beliefs.

The life and career of Mr. Sherlock Holmes has inspired the interest of many of the brightest intellects in the world. They have expended great efforts to penetrate beyond the glimpses afforded us in the 60 published adventures - to detect the real underlying character of "the best and the wisest man" Dr. Watson has ever known (The Final Problem by A. C. Doyle).

A tale set during the start of World War II that involves the passengers of a cruise ship on its maiden voyage from New Brunswick to Iceland to pick up some European refugees. Once the new passengers are on board a group of Nazis take over the ship with the hope of finding the inventor of a doomsday bomb. The noble captain uses a snowstorm to head the ship straight into an ice-field at the Arctic Circle, thus leaving them snowbound. Decisions have to be made as to staying with the ship or making a dangerous trek across the snow and ice to a remote village.

A master criminal known as The Voice has returned from retirement to mastermind a new crime. Unfortunately, Jerry finds he has several highly diverse matters on his hands: the protection of a visiting diplomat's headstrong daughter, a shipment of gold by rail, and a scientist who claims to have discovered the trick of creating gold in the laboratory. Is The Voice's planned caper connected with any of these events?

Soon, an entire British army will climb out of their trenches to attack the German lines, only a few deadly yards away. For Lieutenant Oliver Black, this will be his third attack. He's wondering if his luck will hold. Only five of the original 30 platoon members are still with him. The rest have been killed, or so badly wounded they'll never return to the line. The replacements are green, mostly untried. One of them manages to get himself shot in the head only hours before the attack.

When a man is found tucked up in bed with his throat sliced open two days after Christmas, DS Jason Smith and his team are baffled. It appears he has been drugged, killed, and carefully wrapped up in a duvet. The only evidence Smith finds are some strands of hair belonging to a woman. One month later, another man is killed in exactly the same manner but there appears to be no link whatsoever to the two men apart from the fact that they were both single, lonely, and middle-aged.

A collection of new one-act plays, on such subjects as the fate of Jack the Ripper, just why Claudius killed Hamlet's father, the motives of an obsessive-compulsive killer with a computer fixation, a brother and sister at their father's funeral, and a 45-year marriage starting to come apart as the husband begins to forget his life. Written by the author of Coming Out, these five plays are a wonderful addition to any night of one-acts.