Modern writers have reconsidered every subject under the sun through the lens of Sherlock Holmes. The overlooked subject is agency: the opportunities available to these women for independence and control. What we find all too often are the silences around them. And yet, these clients--villains, victims, and Violets--are pivotal in the world of Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps more enigmatic than Holmes’ methods is what Watson sees: the woman in the shadows. Whether lady or lady’s maid, if she does speak, it’s often not recorded in her words. That was life for half the population of Victorian England. A woman’s role was written before she was born; it merely required her to don the starched white apron of a maid, or the rough, stained skirts of a "char"--who did the dirtiest of household jobs—or the fine silk gowns of a lady. Enter Villains, Victims, and Violets to spy and report on these women in their darkest, most vulnerable moments. How does Irene Adler—pursued by a powerful king, and by Sherlock Holmes--outwit them both? Can Lady Hilda conceal the secret that only Holmes unravels? When Violet Hunter takes the last job offered before she loses everything, can Holmes free her and her doppelganger? To understand Holmes’ world is to gaze unsparingly into the lives of its women: the villains and what drives them astray; the victims Holmes races to rescue; and the Violets, who make up the strongest characters from Holmes’ unforgettable cases. The authors pull back the curtain on their private spaces, revealing their "proper" place in a man’s world at the dusk of the 19th century and the dawn of the 20th. Foreword by Nisi Shawl, noted Sherlockian and the James Tiptree Jr. Award-winning and Nebula-nominated author of the brilliant steampunk, feminist, Afrofuturist novel Everfair.

Examines both academic and popular assessments of Conan Doyle's work, giving pride of place to the Holmes stories and their adaptations, and also attending to the wide range of his published work. Twenty-first-century readers, television viewers, and moviegoers know Arthur Conan Doyle as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, the world's most recognizable fictional detective. Holmes's enduring popularity has kept Conan Doyle in the public eye. However, Holmes has taken on a life of his own, generating a steady stream of critical commentary, while Conan Doyle's other works are slighted or ignored. Yet the Holmes stories make up only a small portion of Conan Doyle's published work, which includes mainstream and historical fiction; history; drama; medical, spiritualist, and political tracts; and even essays on photography. When Doyle published - whatever the subject - his contemporaries took note. Yet, outside of the fiction featuring Sherlock Holmes, until recently relatively little has been done to analyze the reception Conan Doyle's work received during his lifetime and since his death. This book examines both academic and popular assessments of Conan Doyle's work, giving pride of place to the Holmes stories and their many adaptations for print, visual, and online media, but attending to his other contributions to turn-of-the-twentieth-century culture as well. The availability of periodicals and newspapers online makes it possible to develop an assessment of Conan Doyle's (and Sherlock Holmes's) reputation among a wider readership and viewership, thus allowing for development of a broader and more accurate portrait of Doyle's place in literary and cultural history.

Television is entering a unique era, in which women and minorities no longer serve under white captains but take the lead--and all the other roles as well. In a brilliant new universe where the intersectional values of fourth wave feminism are becoming more widespread, fantasy and science fiction are leading the charge. Shows from Star Wars to Doctor Who are rewriting their traditional storylines to include more well-rounded and racially diverse female characters. Steven Universe, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Orphan Black and Sense8 highlight queer characters and experiences. Dystopias like Marvel's Jessica Jones and The Handmaid's Tale show the female perspective entirely, guiding viewers from trauma to self-determination. In fantasy and horror, Wynonna Earp, Game of Thrones, Supergirl, Vikings, American Horror Story, Black Mirror, and The Walking Dead reveal how much the story changes with a spectrum of women reclaiming the text from white, straight, young, cisgender men. These new shows are intersectional, digital, global, critical, and political, with fan responses changing the content and cutting-edge platforms like Netflix and Hulu shaking up the format.

The seventh installment in a “fast, fun” cozy mystery series “full of Sherlockian lore” and starring “a charming, intelligent heroine as observant as The Great Detective Himself” (Carolyn Hart, New York Times–bestselling author) Sherlockian bookshop manager and frequent amateur sleuth Gemma Doyle is back on the case when a poisoned dart ends in demise . . . It’s a crisp, early October weekend, and business is slowing down as fall descends at the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium and adjacent Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room. Wealthy philanthropist and prominent Sherlockian David Masterson has rented Suffolk Gardens House, where he plans to entertain his friends in a traditional English country house weekend. As the chosen caterers, Jayne Wilson and Gemma Doyle get to work preparing lavish meals and setting up Sherlockian books and props for entertainment. Meanwhile, police detective Ryan Ashburton has taken time away from his duties to assist in the kitchen. It quickly becomes apparent that David’s guests don't like each other—or their host. Plus, some of them aren't even acquainted with the adventures of the Great Detective. Before Gemma can ponder their relationships a poisoned dart sails through the window of the library, presenting Gemma Doyle with a three-book problem.

It's up to Gemma and Jayne to root out the killer in national bestselling author Vicki Delany's sixth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery when the winner of a garden tour trophy is left pushing up daisies. "I am not a Consulting Detective," Gemma Doyle reluctantly tells 10-year-old Lauren Tierney, when the little girl comes to the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium to beg Gemma to find her missing cat, Snowball. Gemma might not be able to follow the clues to find the cat, but her dog Violet follows her nose to locate the missing kitten in a neighbor's garden shed. Gemma and Violet proudly return Snowball to her grateful owner, and Gemma basks in praise for a job well done. But a few days later Lauren is back with ten dollars in hand, wanting to once again hire a consulting detective, and this time for a far bigger job: Her mother has been accused of murdering her garden club rival. Sheila Tierney's garden, which everyone said was the one to beat for the West London Garden Club trophy, had been vandalized the night before the club's early summer tour. Sheila confronted her former friend and gardening partner Anna Wentworth in a towering rage, and the women nearly came to blows. Later that night, after having won the trophy for best garden, Anna is found murdered and Sheila Tierney is the police's prime suspect. Despite herself, and despite the disapproval of her police detective boyfriend Ryan Ashburton, the game is once again afoot, and Gemma finds herself and Jayne Wilson using their powers of deduction to ponder yet another curious incident.

It was a different world....streams and woods teeming with fish and game....peeping baby chicks in the U.S. mail....reading at night by kerosene lanterns before electricity came....swimming in the cold artesian rivers in the summertime....steamboats on the Mississippi!! It was the same world.... pop music and big bands....dance fads like the Jitterbug....scrimping and saving for college....a little moonshine now and then for one's friends....avoiding the revenuer....shrimping and crabbing at Mandeville on Lake Pontchartrain at dusk....winding the old Victrola and replacing the needles.... churning butter and ice cream, too! It was a wild world....floods and hurricanes. It was a hard world....the great depression followed by World War II....dear friends and relatives went to war and never came back....segregation—black wards and white wards at Charity Hospital....blank faced men riding the rails, looking for work, begging for food....lots of chores and homework. It was a loving world....full of relatives and friends, feasts and games, chasing fire engines with an aunt in New Orleans....exploring museums....boarding the steamship, "Robert E. Lee", borrowing flowers from the cemetery for Mom's birthday. It was a world of music....Mom singing the old songs....four sisters in the church choir and the glee clubs at school....listening to the big bands when electricity reached Abita Springs....the songs of the birds when exploring the woods. Come join her in these worlds. You'll laugh and you'll cry.

Detective Alex Cross must confront his most terrifying nemesis ever -- and his own deepest fears -- in this electrifying thriller from the world's #1 bestselling writer. D.C. Detective Alex Cross has seen a lot of crime scenes. But even he is appalled by the gruesome murders of two joggers in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park-killings that look more like the work of savage beasts than humans. Local police are horrified and even the FBI is baffled. Then, as Cross is called in to take on the case, the carnage takes off, leaving a trail of bodies across America and sweeping him to Savannah, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Los Angeles as his nemesis, the merciless criminal known as the Mastermind, stalks him, taunts him, and once again, threatens everything he holds dear...

In this “clever and scary” young adult mystery set in Victorian England, a charlatan’s daughter discovers a very real ability to communicate with ghosts (Kirkus Reviews). Having been raised by a fraudulent medium, Violet Willoughby doesn’t believe in ghosts. But they believe in her. Visited by a persistent spirit, one who suffered a gruesome death, Violet can no longer ignore her unique ability. She must figure out what this ghost is trying to communicate, and quickly, because the killer is still on the loose. The only person who can help her is Colin, her best friend since childhood. He understands the true Violet, and perhaps their friendship is growing into something more. But helping her with her mission could risk their chance at being together. Can Violet find a way to help this ghost and still have a future free of lies?