The first of Basil Copper‘s Solar Pons collections is The Dossier of Solar Pons.
By the way, The Solar Pons Companion, published by PS Publishing, gives the story of how Copper came to write the additional Pons stories picking up from August Derleth, the plans for it, and how things went awry.
Dossier was first published by Pinnacle in 1979 as Vol. 8 in the Solar Pons series, so I debated if I should number this one as Vol. 9, picking up from the Belanger Books series or keep it Vol. 1 of the Copper works.
While there were plans for Mycroft & Moran to reprint it in hardcover, this never happened. This volume would be reprinted once or twice before PS reprinted it in hardcover and paperback. For these reviews, I will be reading the PS edition, which are the definitive versions. These make use of the Solar Pons logo created by Pinnacle, along with nice cover art from a variety of sources. David Marcum‘s article in the recent Pontine Dossier explains the sources for them, because sadly while the artists are noted, where they were used is not.
One thing I wish had been done is that series editor Stephen Jones had provided an intro for each volume, similar to what David Marcum did in the Belanger series. Thus we could have gotten a brief intro on how the series came about, and commentary on that volumes series. Instead you’ll have to wait to read the Companion to get that information.
As with the review of the Derleth stories, I will give a brief story synopsis, but won’t reveal the conclusion of it. The Copper stories are longer than Derleth’s. Most of the Derleth collections, being about the same in length have twice as many stories. So we’ve get volumes with four to six stories versus 10 to 12 for Derleth.
In “The Adventure of the Perplexed Photographer,” a photographer comes to Pons with a problem. In the last few days, someone seems to be destroying his glass negatives. He doesn’t know why, as he mainly photographs sporting events, and a few homes. But Jamison shows up in regards to a murder that occured at a home where the owner was speared by a javelin. Will Pons be able to get to the bottom of the murder, as well as figure out what is going on with the photographer?
A rural churchman approaches Pons with a strange problem in “The Adventure of the Sealed Spire.” He has been plagued with strange and embarassing events where items are moved, or are replaced in his briefcase. He is also annoyed by a church member who demands that the locked storeroom in the church spire be opened, but it has nothing but old furniture. Can Pons figure out what is going on and put a stop to it before things go too far?
The murder of a blackmailer brings Pons to “The Adventure of the Six Gold Doubloons.” But this murder has political aspects, as it appears this blackmailer had targeted several important people in government, thus Bancroft Pons brings in Solar Pons to look into it. Some of his recent targets have taken matters in hand, stabbing the blackmailer 24 times. But who did it, and what will be the ramifications of this case?
In “The Adventure of the Ipi Idol,” a retired colonial commissioner approachs Pons with a strange case. His uncle and cousin had died under mysterious circumstances. His uncle thought he was cured by an Ipi idol from Africa, but the commissioner, who had served there, thinks it’s bunk. He has inherited his uncle’s estate and is about to be married, and thinks he is also a target, though of more prosaic causes. A deadly tarantula almost killed him. So someone is trying to kill him, but who and why? Can Pons solve this case — inspired by one of the most well-known Holmes stories — before anyone else is killed?
An accountant is plagued by ghosts in “The Adventure of Buffington Old Grange.” He and his wife bought and have been renovating an old house. It appears to be haunted, but only they see the ghosts. He is hoping Pons can get to the bottom of things. Ghosts don’t exist, right? So what is going on?
A strange case is given in “The Adventure of the Hammer of Hate.” A young apprentice architect comes to Pons for help. He is being accused of killing a builder by dropping a hammer on his head. The young man’s fiance had left him to become the fiance of the builder, but then had left him. So was jealousy the cause?
Now, how do the Copper stories compare to the Derleth ones? Yes, they are longer, but I think this is more about their style than Copper padding them out. Some things seem a little drawn out, such as the early scenes where Pons quizes Parker on potential clients. Only one story here has Parker make references to other cases. But it’s hard to see how these could be shortened. While the banter back and forth between the two often has them note each other’s names, I don’t find it too bothersome.
Now to move on to the second Derleth collection.
