Sherlock Holmes is dead—or so most of the world thinks. His fatal plunge over the Reichenbach Falls as he struggled with his archenemy, Moriarty, has been widely reported. But Holmes has escaped and is alive. In his immediate circle, only Holmes's brother, the lethargic genius Mycroft, knows of his survival. Even Dr. Watson thinks that the great detective is dead. Among his enemies, Sebastian Moran, Moriarty's chief henchman, knows of Holmes's probable escape and waits for their inevitable meeting.
From 1891 to 1894, Holmes wanders through Asia. He is alone, without Watson, without Scotland Yard, armed only with his physical strength and endurance and his revered cold logic and rationality. The adventures recounted in The Oriental Casebook of Sherlock Holmes range from Lhasa to Katmandu, from the East Indies to the deserts of Rajasthan. In Tibet and throughout the Orient, Holmes is caught up in the diplomatic machinations of British imperialism that Rudyard Kipling dubbed "the Great Game." He confronts the tsarist agent Dorjiloff, the great art thief Anton Furer, and the mysterious Captain Fant├┤me. And here, written in Holmes's own words, is the account of "The Giant Rat of Sumatra," for which until now he so famously thought the world unprepared.
For Holmes's fans throughout the world, the stories in The Oriental Casebook of Sherlock Holmes fill in an enigmatic gap, the cause of so much speculation in the great detective's career.
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"Riccardi does well at keeping a similar tone to Doyle's writing, while offering the reader a well-described new setting in which to showcase Holmes' brilliance. A fun, satisfactory read."
— Pkelsay (4 out of 5 stars)
" fun! very much Doyle-ish, though imitated not tritely so. would enjoy further adventures by Riccardi. "
— K, 10/4/2013" An interesting take on Holmes' years after the falls. "
— Carolyn, 7/22/2013" For the most part I enjoyed the stories and the style in which they were written. However, the author departed rather seriously from Conan Doyle a number of times, particularly when he put so much romance in the stories. There were also some seriously improbable bits, too. "
— Patty, 11/4/2012" Great book as Watson evaluates Holmes cases as he hides out in the orient. "
— Anita, 10/1/2012" An OK rendering of Sherlock Holmes stories. Learned a lot about India. "
— Maurice, 5/20/2012" The tone of voice and style were off. Someone used a thesaurus too much and the stories were not particularly interesting. I really *wanted* to like this book, but just didn't. "
— Meaghan, 3/14/2012Ted Riccardi is professor emeritus in the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University, New York. Among his special interests are the history and cultures of India and Nepal, where he has lived and traveled widely and about which he has written extensively. Riccardi lives in New York City with his wife, Ellen Coon, and their family.
Simon Prebble, a British-born performer, is a stage and television actor and veteran narrator of some three hundred audiobooks. As one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices, he has received thirty-seven Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie in 2010. He lives in New York.