In 1928, a nineteen-year-old Wisconsin college student named August Derleth (1909-1971) audaciously wrote to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, asking if there would be any more Sherlock Holmes stories. The response from Dr. Watson's Literary Agent was a terse "No." Then, Derleth ambitiously countered: Could he write some? The reply? Another "No."Derleth, unsatisfied with that answer, resolved to produce Sherlockian-style stories of his own. Flipping ahead on his calendar, he famously wrote on an upcoming date, In Re: Sherlock Holmes. When that date arrived, he duly sat down and recorded "The Adventure of the Black Narcissus" - but not about Holmes. Rather, he transcribed (from the notes of Dr. Lyndon Parker) the first narrative introducing the world to Solar Pons - "The Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street".The world knows of Sherlock Holmes. For those who haven't yet been lucky enough to yet meet Mr. Pons, one should know that he is a Great Detective in the Holmesian Mold: He models himself after Holmes, wearing the expected deerstalker and Inverness. He investigates using ratiocination, observation, and deduction. His adventures, set in the 1920's and 1930's, are transcribed by his friend, Dr. Parker. He lives in London, working closely with Scotland Yard, and he helps to fill the vacuum left when Sherlock Holmes retired to Sussex.Throughout the Pontine Canon, there are references to Sherlock Holmes. For long decades, Pons fans and scholars have speculated on the connection between the two. Now, after all this time - nearly one-hundred years since the last Canonical Holmes story was published and Derleth recorded the first Pons tale - Belanger Books proudly presents the stories that provide answers - The Meeting of the Minds . . . . These companion volumes contain eighteen new adventures in two companion volumes by some of today's best Holmesian and Ponsian authors. Join us again at 7B Praed Street, where The Game is Afoot!
