Selections from
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

tales of mystery and the imagination detailing the adventures
of the world's most famous detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is back!

Sherlock Holmes, the world's first—and most famous—consulting detective, came to the world's attention more than 120 years ago through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels and stories. But Conan Doyle didn't reveal all of the Great Detective's adventures . . .

Here are some of the best Holmes pastiches of the last 30 years, twenty-eight tales of mystery and the imagination detailing Holmes's further exploits, as told by many of today's greatest storytellers, including Stephen King, Anne Perry, Anthony Burgess, Neil Gaiman, Naomi Novik, Stephen Baxter, Tanith Lee, Michael Moorcock, and many more.

These are the improbable adventures of Sherlock Holmes, where nothing is impossible, and nothing can be ruled out. In these cases, Holmes investigates ghosts, curses, aliens, dinosaurs, shapeshifters, and evil gods. But is it the supernatural, or is there a perfectly rational explanation?

You won't be sure, and neither will Holmes and Watson as they match wits with pirates, assassins, con artists, and criminal masterminds of all stripes, including some familiar foes, such as their old nemesis, Professor Moriarty.

In these pages you'll also find our heroes crossing paths with H. G. Wells, Lewis Carroll, and even Arthur Conan Doyle himself, and you'll be astounded to learn the truth behind cases previously alluded to by Watson but never before documented until now.

These are tales that take us from the familiar quarters at 221B Baker Street to alternate realities, from the gaslit streets of London to the far future and beyond.

Whether it's mystery, fantasy, horror, or science fiction, no puzzle is too challenging for the Great Detective. The game is afoot!

This reprint anthology showcases the best Holmes short fiction from the last 30 years,
featuring stories by:

Cover Art by David Palumbo

Ebook
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, November 2009

Distributed by Night Shade Books
1423 33rd Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122

ISBN-13: 978-1-59780-160-7
ISBN-10: 1-59780-160-7

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes © 2009 by John Joseph Adams

This edition of Selections from The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes © 2009 by Night Shade Books

This sampler is licensed for individual use only.

Introduction © 2009 John Joseph Adams
Author Notes © 2009 John Joseph Adams and David Barr Kirtley

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

Cover art © 2009 by David Palumbo
Cover design by Michael Fusco
Interior layout and design by Ross E. Lockhart

Night Shade Books
1423 33rd Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122
http://www.nightshadebooks.com

Electronic version by Baen Books
http://www.baen.com

Other Anthologies by John Joseph Adams

By Blood We Live
Federations
Seeds of Change
The Living Dead
Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse

Forthcoming Anthologies

Brave New Worlds
The Living Dead 2
The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination
The Way of the Wizard

Acknowledgment is made for permission to print the following material:

"The Adventure of the Lost World" by Dominic Green. © 2004 Dominic Green. Originally published online in BBCi Cult Sherlock Holmes Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Horror of the Many Faces" by Tim Lebbon. © 2003 Tim Lebbon. Originally published in Shadows Over Baker Street: New Tales of Terror. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Dynamics of a Hanging" by Tony Pi. © 2005 Tony Pi. Originally published in Shred of Evidence. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Merridew of Abominable Memory" by Chris Roberson. © 2008 Monkeybrain, Inc. Originally published in Gaslight Grimoire. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"A Sherlockiana Primer" by Christopher Roden. © 2009 Christopher Roden. Original to this volume.

"The Adventure of the Pirates of Devil's Cape" by Rob Rogers. © 2009 Rob Rogers. Original to this volume.

"You See But You Do Not Observe" by Robert J. Sawyer. © 1995 Robert J. Sawyer. Originally published in Sherlock Holmes in Orbit. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Adventure of the Death-Fetch" by Darrell Schweitzer. © 1994 Darrell Schweitzer. Originally published in The Game is Afoot. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Adventure of the Green Skull" by Mark Valentine. © 2008 Mark Valentine. Originally published in Sherlock Holmes: The Game's Afoot. Reprinted by permission of the author.