John Hall Books In Order

Publication Order of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Books

Chronological Order of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

John Hall is an American author of mystery fiction best known for his pastiches of Sherlock Holmes. John was brought up in Brooklyn in New York City, where he lived with his brother and a coterie of more than twenty cousins. He was always a voracious reader and remembers that the first novel he ever read was “It Was Harry The Dirty Dog.” He was by then in the fifth grade and from that day he was hooked into reading and dreamt of one day becoming a professional author. The first novel Hall wrote was titled “The Mystery of the Leopard’s Eyes.” However, he never got to publish the novel though he still has the manuscript in his desk drawer. Hall would put the dream of publishing on hold for several years as he went on to work in the civil service. In 1973 he published the short story “Clouds of Daffodils” as well as another piece of short fiction that was published in the 1973 published anthology “Triangles.” His debut novel was “Sherlock Holmes and the Telephone Murder Mystery,” a pastiche of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries that he published in 1998. Since then, he has gone to make his pastiches into the Sherlock Holmes Mystery series. He has also written the single standing novels “The Ardagh Emeralds” and “Special Commission.” Hall publishes his works with the UK’s leading independent digital publisher Endeavour Press. He currently lives in New York City.

John Hall does a good job in the recreation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes characters. In the Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, he uses the readers’ knowledge of the characters to tell his story. The novels are pretty modern in their stories. They range from Sherlock and Watson investigating a murder that has to do with the installation of a new invention called the telephone, to trying to save the reputation of their friend Lestrade whose case had gone horribly wrong. The Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Hall deal with themes not usually written about during Doyle’s era. For instance, he writes of new inventions and technologies such as the telephone and vehicles which had yet to be invented. Moreover, he also writes on some themes such as pedophilia, the murder of children and anarchy which were not common during the time when Conan Doyle lived. Nonetheless, the novels still have the usual villains that Sherlock and his friend Watson have to investigate and then take out or neutralize in the classic way.

John Hall’s debut novel “Sherlock Holmes and the Telephone Murder Mystery” opens to Sherlock and Watson arguing over whether they need a telephone in the house. Sherlock does not like the new technology while his friend believes it is the future of communications. When Watson visits an old country house to check out some literature and art, he thinks there is something very sinister about the other patrons. Things get interesting when Benjamin Morgan one of the guests turns up dead, stabbed with a letter opener. The lead suspect is Mr. Gregson who had stumbled upon the body while trying to make a phone call. He is outraged that he is a suspect but the police can find no other suspects until; they call in Sherlock to investigate. The initial investigations conducted by Watson and Sherlock point to Gregson as the guilty party, particularly in the light of his blood-stained trousers and the fact that the letter opener belongs to him. However, a little bit of digging shows that Gregson might have been the targeted victim and Morgan had been killed in error. This line of thinking is reinforced when the man is found dead a few days into the investigation.

“Sherlock Holmes and the Boulevard Assassin” the second novel of the series opens to a doorman that makes what would seem like a simple mistake. He discloses too much information about the security of the bank to James Moriarty, who is posing as an ordinary customer. Moriarty then goes ahead to rob the bank which then calls in Sherlock and Watson to solve the mystery. But then the French president is assassinated and the investigators now have bigger fish to fry. They disguise themselves as traveling Frenchmen as they conduct their investigations and work with a bizarre group of detectives. They soon finger the assassins as dangerous anarchists led by a deranged man named Monsieur Constantine. Trying to expose or catch the anarchists, Holmes and Watson are taken and held hostage by a mysterious man who promises to let them go if they agree to dutifully work for him without question. They are in a difficult situation but they have to agree and work out how to get out of it once they are let go by the mystery man that might be the man they are looking for.

“John Hall’s Sherlock Holmes and the Disgraced Inspector” opens to Inspector Lestrade the Scotland Yard detective and an old rival of Sherlock paying him a visit. His reputation is on the line since he had a two-decade mystery of missing boys that has refused to go away. Under his watch, a man was arrested and sent to prison for the crime but he had appealed and been let out leaving Lestrade disgraced. Sherlock Holmes thinks he can help prove the man guilty and save his old friend’s reputation. But now that Lestrade has been forced out of the Yard and Holmes and Watson are retired, they will have to find other ways out resolving the mystery outside the legal channels. This one proves to be one of the most sordid case the three ever handled.