Book(s) You May Have Missed (#8)

Solar Pons stories by August Derleth

Plagiarism or homage? The covers indicate the former; the content the latter. 

If you enjoy the Arthur Conan Doyle stories of Sherlock Holmes but don’t regard them as some sort of sacred text, then you might enjoy prolific American author August Derleth’s pastiches involving his 1920’s English detective Solar Pons of Praed Street, London as told by his friend Dr Parker.

I think it may be a measure of how good these stories are that in 1946 Doyle’s Estate tried legal action to get Derleth from issuing any more of Pons’ adventures.

The Derleth written Solar Pons series of books are –

The Adventures of Solar Pons

The Memoirs of Solar Pons

Three Problems for Solar Pons

The Return of Solar Pons

The Reminiscences of Solar Pons

The Casebook of Solar Pons

Well worth looking out for.

After August Derleth’s death, British author Basil Copper took over the Solar Pons character and produced several more collection –

The Dossier of Solar Pons

The Further Adventures of Solar Pons

The Secret Files of Solar Pons

The Uncollected Cases of Solar Pons

The Exploits of Solar Pons

The Recollections of Solar Pons

I haven’t read any of these so can’t comment on their quality.