Sherlock-Inspired Mysteries To Read Now

“I think most of my inspirations for most of my books boil down to ‘I want to do this but like this.’ So, ‘I want to do Sherlock Holmes, but she’s a pansexual sorceress in a fantasy world,…’” —Interview with Alexis Hall, Author of “Boyfriend Material”

In a multiverse that gives Victorian steampunk vibes, Captain John Wyndham narrates in memoir form (think Watson recounting his adventures with Sherlock) as he rents a room from Ms. Shaharazad Hass, a sorceress. Wyndham and Hass’ first case is The Mysterious Letter which starts with a friend/ex/enemy of Hass being blackmailed! It’s a fun, queer fantasy homage to Sherlock—that includes pirates and vampires!

“I loved the BBC Sherlock. As soon as I got done with Season 1, the writer in me said, ‘What a great adaptation. Hmm, wonder how it would be if, instead of moving the story forward in time 125 years, they’d made Sherlock a woman instead.’” —Sherry Thomas Interview – A Study in Scarlet Women

Sherry Thomas has written my favorite Sherlock, which is a gender-bent reimagining where Charlotte Holmes wants nothing to do with the life of a society woman. So she blows up her standing in society and ends up working under the name Sherlock Holmes, in partnership with Mrs. Watson, investigating mysteries. She’s brilliant, of course, bucks at all of the time period’s restrictions on women, finds love on her terms, and goes on great adventures, all while solving mysteries.

“The manga inspired five musicals, two stage plays and an anime television series adaptation…” —Moriarty the Patriot

Here’s a fun twist to the Sherlock story: it’s a prequel that instead of focusing on Sherlock and Watson centers Moriarty, Albert James Moriarty, as a young noble when he started fighting to dismantle the class system. Manga fans can read Moriarty’s untold story in 19 published volumes!

“Sherlock Holmes adaptations are catnip for me, and trying to figure out why was part of what pushed me to write this book.” —Get Ready for Sapphic Sherlock in Space With ‘The Mimicking of Known Successes’ by Malka Older

While Alexis Hall took his love of Sherlock into a fantasy world, Malka Older (Infomocracy) took her love to space, where humans had to move after Earth became uninhabitable! The novella series blends cozy mystery, sci-fi, and romance together as it follows Investigator Mossa and her ex, Scholar Pleiti who team up to solve mysteries, including missing persons and academic plagiarism!