Now we have The Casebook of Solar Pons, the fifth collection of Solar Pons stories from August Derleth. Like all the other collections, it takes its name from the fifth, and final, Sherlock Holmes collection.
It was first published by Mycroft & Moran in 1965, then reprinted by Pinnacle as their fourth volume. As before, I am reading the Belanger Books edition. Of these stories, nine had previously appeared in various mystery digests of the time.
As before, we get two new intros from David Marcum and Derrick Belangar. Both give a good intro to this collection.
Then we get the “Foreword” by Vincent Starrett from the original edition. Next is a piece on “(Cuthbert) Lyndon Parker” by Michael Harrison, also from the original edition. This provides a bio of Dr. Parker, giving his background and life, and explaning his “Americanisms.” Though, I noticed no mention of his membership in the Diogenes Club.
With “The Adventure of the Sussex Archers,” Pons looks into a recent murder and tries to see how and if it’s connected with an event from years past. We learn that around 1907, a club called the Sussex Archers existed with seven members, all avid archers. But during a match, one of them is killed by an arrow to his back. It’s ruled an accident, but it’s clearly a murder, but committed by whom? None of the other archers had a reason to kill the victim. And the club is disbanded. Now, one of them is killed in the same manner, and all are sent a warning. Is it revenge, or something else? Can Pons solve the case, or is it cases, before anyone else is killed?
In “The Adventure of the Haunted Library,” Pons is sent someone by Thomas Carnacki, the occult detective created by William Hope Hodgson. It was interesting that Parker thought him a fraud, but Pons defended him. I’ve posted on Carnacki before. A young lady who has purchased a large furnished home has seen a ghost in her library. The home was owned by a man who passed away recently due to a heart attack. His nephew, who has lived with him, inherited, but also recently passed away due to heart attack. Carnacki felt there was nothing supernatural. So Pons is called in. Can he figure out what is going on? Is it connected to the recent deaths of both prior owners?
While on holiday, Pons and Parker are asked to look into “The Adventure of the Fatal Glance” by the local constable, facing his first murder. The local squire, a man who frequently quarrels with others, has been found murdered. How, is most bizarre: a pair of binoculars was delivered and when adjusted, two spikes came out and killed him. But with so many who disliked him, there must be many potential suspects. Can Pons figure it all out?
A young lady rushes to Pons’ quarters in the early morning in “The Adventure of the Intarsia Box.” She brings the box in question, a finely carved box that contains a mummified hand! Her uncle received it the previous day, and it appeared as a warning. He had been a colonial leader in Malay, but won’t say anything about it. Returning with her, they find that her uncle had been savagly murdered, and his hand cut off the night before. The police think she has some involvement. Can Pons figure out who is the murderer, and why it was done?
A bookseller brings to Pons a rare book he has found in his barrow that he knows wasn’t there before. This starts “The Adventure of the Spurious Tamerlaine,” which deals with a rare book, the first collection of Edgar Allan Poe‘s poetry which was published anonymously. Pons examines it and discovers it’s a clever fake. But why was it created? As there is only one legitamite copy in London, this leads Pons on discovering the reason behind the fake. Which is what?
Bancroft Pons brings us the “The Adventure of the China Cottage.” One of their cryptography experts has been found dead while examining correspondence between Germany and Russia. Keep in mind these stories are set between the wars, so this would have most likely been correspondence between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. The only clue is an incense burner that the victim was known to use. There is the smell of almond, even though the incense nearby is all lilac. Is this a foreign office incident, or something else?
Pons is in search of a stolen broach in “The Adventure of the Ascot Scandal.” What makes this story interesting are his clients: Lord and Lady Gresham. The Lord is a bit of a milquetoast, and his wife is clearly an American. So most likely the phenomenon of nouveau riche Americans marrying into British nobility. The broach in question is an expensive, one-of-kind made by the Lady’s father. A man enters their box at Ascot under false pretense, and in an altercation, the broach goes missing. Clearly he stole it. But is that all it’s about?
Murder and the curse of King Tut are in “The Adventure of the Crouching Dog.” Pons and Parker are returning to London from another case, when they are asked to help with a murder. The man was part of the recent Tut expedition, of which three others have already died. He was killed by an apparent large dog! Shades of The Hound of the Baskervilles!?! Can Pons figure out the human agent behind it and why?
Someone dead and someone missing is at the heart of “The Adventure of the Missing Huntsman,” which is centered around fox hunting. The wife of a hunt master comes to Pons with a problem. A man was killed when he entered a horse’s stall. But their lead huntsman has gone missing. Is it the same man? But those involved in the hunt seem on edge for some reason. Pons and Parker join the hunt when another man is accidentally killed. It seems some stranger came into the fields and was accidentally kicked by a horse. Is it all connected? And what does the failed kidnap attempt by the IRA have to do with any of this?
In “The Adventure of the Amateur Philologist,” a philologist — a specialist in linguistics — is found dead with a strange note. What does the message mean? Can Pons work it out, and what possible crime it’s linked to?
Ancient rituals, burial chambers, and mummery are all in “The Adventure of the Whispering Knights.” An old man, dressed in is old mummer’s outfit, is found murdered in an ancient burial chamber. He was killed in the manner of warlocks! Something sinister is going on, and can Pons understand it all?
A more classic-style mystery is “The Adventure of the Innkeeper’s Clerk.” The night clerk at the hotel Pons and Parker are staying at is found strangled. The man in question kept to himself and accepted the low pay of the position, though somehow could afford his own sailing boat. But when a ring appeared, it upset him. When searching his room, Pons finds an envelope of items that included newspaper clippings of several burglaries, all unsolved, and about a daring crime of theft of jewelery from a French chateau. Can Pons solve this one?
Wrapping things up is the afterword from the the original edition by Derleth, giving an overview of Pons up to this point. And we get a reproduction of the endpaper by Luthor Norris, which gives Pons’s London and the locations of several cases. Sadly, I was disappointed in the size of the reproduction, as it took up but part of one page. I really wish this work has been reproduced in a larger size for easy of reading.
Some of my favorits here are the “Haunted Library.” While we don’t meet Carnacki (maybe in a future Pons adventure?), his use is interesting. “The Amateur Philologist” and its use of obscure English terms was fun. In fact, I enjoyed all of these stories.
With that, I move to the fifth Solar Pons collection from Basil Copper.
