The Memoirs of Schlock Homes, A Bagel Street Dozen (with 11 stories)

The Incredible Schlock Homes, 12 Stories from Bagel Street

The Complete Bagel Street Saga

Author: Robert L. Fish

Review: These books contain thirty two tales of Schlock Homes and his companion, Dr. Watney written by Robert L. Fish and published in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine between 1960 and 1981. The first twelve stories published are included in The Incredible Schlock Homes and the next eleven were collected in The Memoirs of Schlock Homes. The final nine tales are included in The Complete Bagel Street Saga along with the earlier ones, to provide a complete set.

Schlock Homes is hard to describe to Holmesian fans. These tales contain all the elements that make up a typical tale from the Canon: brilliant deductions, an astonished amanuensis, dire villainies, distressed clients and bumbling police. The problem is that the deductions are not quite right, the villains keep turning up legitimate, the clients are a bit odd and the police seem to fumble into truth while Homes is oblivious to it all. The satire is slapstick on the surface, but many of the barbs have two and three levels of sting.

I hesitate to quote out of context because the charm of the tales lies in their entire submersion in the seriousness with which the author imitates the Canon. Things just seem to go wrong around Homes, but he and Watney soldier on, keeping the faith and battling evil with the clear vision and purpose of a detective genius saving the innocent from an evil world. If the genius seems to miss the forrest around him because the trees obscure his vision, that vision is, nonetheless, inspired by his superhuman powers of reasoning and observation.

I recommend reading these tales in small doses. A string of them quickly become an overdose. Save them for one of the rainy days that come to us all, because few of your troubles can survive a dose of schlock.

The introduction to The Incredible Schlock Homes by Anthony Boucher is a collectible item by itself. It provides a good summary of the history of Holmesian scholarship and parodies for those just entering the world of "Sherlockiana".

Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, 2003