Sherlockian.Net: Holmes and the Ripper

A selected bibliography by Adrian Nebbett (laundrybag@pd.jaring.my)

Holmes investigates the Ripper murders

  • A Study in Terror by Ellery Queen, 1966
  • Murder by Decree by Robert Weverka, 1979 (both of these were adaptations of movies of the same name)
  • The Last Sherlock Holmes Story by Michael Dibdin, 1978
  • The Whitechapel Horrors by Edward B Hanna, 1992
  • The Mycroft Memoranda by Ray Walsh, 1984
  • Chapel Noir (2001) and Castle Rouge (2002) by Carole Nelson Douglas
  • Bloodguilty by Raymond Thor, 1997
  • Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street by William S Baring-Gould, 1962
  • The World of Sherlock Holmes by Michael Harrison, 1973
  • Sherlock Holmes: The Unauthorised Biography by Nick Rennison, 2005
  • "The Case of the Baker Street Dozen" by Arthur Douglas (in Crime Wave: World's Winning Crime Stories, 1981 Introduced by Desmond Bagley, 1981)
  • "Jack el Destripador" - a summary by Anthony Boucher of the anonymous Spanish language pastiche (in The Harlot Killer edited by Allan Barnard, 1953)

    . . . but turns down requests to take on the case

  • The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes by Michael and Mollie Hardwick, 1970 (again adapted from the movie, though this scene was cut from the released version)
  • Good Morning, Irene by Carole Nelson Douglas, 1990

    Other novels/stories linking Holmes and the Ripper, to a greater or lesser extent

  • The Strange Adventures of Charlotte Holmes by Hilary Bailey, 1994. (Holmes's sister takes on the Ripper case.)
  • An East Wind Coming by Arthur Byron Cover, 1979. (The Consulting Detective and the Good Doctor tackle the Ripper millions of years in the future.)
  • A Samba For Sherlock by Jo Soares, 1995 (The novel ends with the suggestion that Holmes's adversary in Brazil goes on to become the Ripper)
  • The Book Of Changes by R. H. W. Dillard, 1974. (A Sherlockian detective's life is changed by his discovery of Holmes's involvement in the Ripper affair.)
  • Druid's Blood by Esther M. Friesner, 1988. (Set in an alternate England: one of the Sherlockian detective's contacts becomes a victim of the Ripper.)
  • Moriarty by John Gardner, 1974. (Moriarty tracks down the Ripper.)
  • Dracula's Diary by Michael Geare and Michael Corby, 1982. (Dracula encounters Holmes and Watson during their Ripper investigations.)
  • I, Sherlock Holmes by Michael Harrison, 1977. (Harrison returns to his Ripper theories first put forward in The World Of Sherlock Holmes.)
  • Supping with Panthers by Tom Holland, 1996. (A villain inspired by a reading of A Study In Scarlet, and a hero -- a student of Joseph Bell's -- who becomes more closely involved with the Ripper than he'd like.)
  • Bloodline by Jill Jones, 2000. (A series of Ripper-like murders begins after a Sherlockian conference on Holmes and the Ripper.)
  • The Pandora Plague by Lee A. Matthias, 1981. (Dr Watson takes Harry Houdini on a tour of the Ripper murder sites.)
  • Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, 1992. (In an alternate London, ruled by Dracula, Holmes has been despatched to a prison camp. It is up to Lestrade to solve the Ripper murders, and Mycroft and the Diogenes Club to destroy Dracula.)
  • The Adventures of Inspector Lestrade by M. J. Trow, 1985. (Lestrade inadvertantly solves the Ripper case while working on another.)
  • Lestrade and the Ripper by M. J. Trow, 1988. (Lestrade works on the Ripper case and fails to solve it.)
  • A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny, 1993. (The dark gods are returning to the Earth, and Jack and The Great Detective are among those working to close -- or open -- the gateway.)
  • Sherlock Holmes and the Apocalypse Murders by Barry Day, 2001. (The Ripper returns to wreak his revenge on the population of London.)
  • The Night Mayor by Kim Newman, 1989. (In a city populated by a cast from the golden age of Hollywood, when the Ripper strikes he knows that Rathbone and Bruce will soon be on the case.)
  • "The Adventure Of The Pearly Gate" by Mike Resnick (in Sherlock Holmes in Orbit, Mike Resnick and Martin H Greenberg, 1995). (The Ripper has arrived in Heaven by mistake; St. Peter sets Holmes to track him down.)
  • "The Adventures of Young Stamford" (in "Dr. Watson, Mr. Sherlock Holmes" by Richard M. Caplan, M.D., 1996). (Young Stamford overhears a conversation between "Jack" and Moriarty.)
  • "The Adventure of the Ripper's Scrawl" (in The Adventures of the Second Mrs. Watson by Michael Mallory, 2000). (The Second Mrs Watson solves both the original and a new series of Ripper murders.)
  • "My Three Ripping Years at the Yard" (in The Unrelated Adventures of Clewlow Holmes by Douglas Moreton). (Sir Charles Warren's memoirs contain details of his encounters with Holmes and Watson and of his investigations into the Ripper murders.)
  • "The Adventure of the Other Detective" (in Dark and Stormy Nights by Bradley H. Sinor). (Finding himself in an alternate reality, Watson has to work with Moriarty to prevent Holmes and Moran from freeing the Ripper from the asylum where he has been imprisoned.)

    And the parodies

  • The Adventures Of The Five Puce Map Tacks by Paul Nizza
  • "The Whitechapel Murders: A Tale Of Sheerluck Holmes & Dr Witsend" (in The Morecambe & Wise Special by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, 1977)
  • "Jack the Ripper" (in I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, 1985)
  • "Shamus Homes: The Return Of the Ripper" (in The Mad Book Of Mysteries by Lou Silverstone and Jack Rickard, 1980)
  • "The Singularge Experience Of Miss Anne Duffield" by John Lennon (in The Misadventures Of Sherlock Holmes, edited by Sebastian Wolfe, 1989)
  • The Werewolf Club Meets Oliver Twit by Daniel & Jill Pinkwater, 2002. (A gang of time-travelling werewolves help Holmes prevent the theft of the Crown Jewels by 'Jack the Schlepper' in this children's story.)

    Articles on Holmes and the Ripper

  • The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes by Philip Weller, 1992 ("The Problem Of Sherlock Holmes & Jack The Ripper" by P L Anness)
  • The Baker Street Companion by Paul Lipari, 1996 (very brief)
  • The Sherlock Holmes Encyclopedia by Matthew Bunson, 1994 (also brief)

    Other notes

  • Conan Doyle's speculations on the Ripper can be read in The Real World of Sherlock Holmes by Peter Costello, 1991 and Joseph Bell's in Dr. Joe Bell: Model for Sherlock Holmes by Ely M Liebow, 1982.
  • A play "Holmes and the Ripper" with a script by Brian Clemens was produced in the UK in 1988 (premiered at The Grand Theatre, Swansea, Tuesday, June 7) with Francis Matthews as Sherlock Holmes, Frank Windsor as Dr Watson.
  • Dr Watson takes Sigmund Freud on a tour of the Ripper's murder sites in the BBC radio drama "The Singular Case of Sherlock H. and Sigmund F." by Cecil Jenkins. Broadcast on February 6, 1990, with Ronald Pickup as Holmes, Norman Rodway as Watson and Andrew Sachs as Freud.
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