Sherlock Holmes for Dummies by Steven Doyle and David A. Crowder. Wiley Publishing Inc. 2009. xviii + 360 pp. £14.99

Starting with IT subjects some twenty years ago, the Dummies books have diversified into every imaginable subject where one could want a guide for the layman. Now comes Sherlock Holmes, no doubt aiming for the hosts of neophytes resulting from the Guy Ritchie film. The series is American, which is a little more obvious in here than in the world of IT. The style is very conversational, and the book does its utmost to dispel the myths that have grown up - Holmes as an older man with an even older, bumbling friend; the stories as stuffy, locked in the Victorian period and irrelevant to the modern reader. The book follows the standard house style: you can dive in anywhere and do not have to read cover to cover, it is well indexed, and the tables of contents (overview and detailed) are clearly structured. Readers are drawn in by the aspect that interests them, be it the films or the original stories, and then introduced to the wider subject. There are icons to highlight facts and points being made, "sidebars" to illuminate a particular topic and a cartoon by Rich Tennant heading each chapter. As with all Dummies books, there is an accompanying website section, or "cheatsheet", listing the stories by collection and links to other sites about Conan Doyle, places to buy DVDs and so forth. Steven Doyle is eminently fitted to write this book, being publisher of The Baker Street Journal, cofounder of the Wessex Press, which specialises in Sherlock Holmes, and prolific Sherlockian author and editor. David Crowder has a solid background in Dummies and similar books.

The book's coverage is wide: the original stories, themes, the characters, Conan Doyle's background and other works, plays and films, detectives inspired by Holmes, the societies (sadly almost exclusively American), Victorian London, mysteries such as Watson's wound, and places to visit. Story plots are not summarised but given teasers to entice readers to go and read them for themselves. All this is excellent and the book does fill a gap in the market, particularly for the American reader. Unfortunately there are a lot of mistakes in the non-core Sherlock Holmes aspects of the book (several of the contacts named in the list of societies have been dead for quite some time). Some errors stem from a non-appreciation of the finer points of British life, and, sadly, the book is most unreliable on Baker Street itself. "Baker Street addresses only went to 100" - in Holmes' day the highest number was 85. "Sometime in the 1930s, the entire place was renamed Baker Street, and all the addresses were renumbered" - York Place was renamed Baker Street on 1st January 1921 and Upper Baker Street renamed on 28th March 1930. The Museum's street number is 239 (its requests to be renumbered 221B have been turned down for very good reasons) and it is not the same building as the actual modern 221B, which is part of Abbey House, former headquarters of Abbey National. The blue plaque on the Museum is not an official English Heritage plaque: no fictional location would satisfy the very strict guidelines used in deciding the location of plaques. A number of illustrations by Frank Wiles and Howard Elcock are wrongly attributed to Sidney Paget in the captions, even where the accompanying text correctly attributes them. One could go on. The book gives the feel of having been rushed out.

As a light-hearted look at the world of Sherlock Holmes for the general reader, it has some value, but it could, with a little more care, have been so much better.

CC

Young Sherlock Holmes Ð Death Cloudby Andrew Lane. Macmillan Childrens' Books. 2010. 312 pp. £6.99 (pbk)

In March, I attended a fascinating session at the Oxford Literary Festival, devoted to books bringing the world of Sherlock Holmes to younger readers. It involved the authors Andrew Lane and Tim Pigott-Smith in talking about their works and taking questions from the audience. Tim has written a series about the Baker Street Irregulars (which I have already reviewed in these pages). Andrew I had not previously heard of, but he is known for his original novels based on such huge TV successes as Doctor Who and Torchwood. Death Cloud, the first of a minimum three books on Holmes as a boy, student and young adult (i.e. before the advent of Watson) is well-paced and chock full of action as fourteen-year-old Sherlock is taken from his school and sent to live with his uncle Sherrinford near Farnham while father Siger is away on foreign business. A strange moving cloud unlike any other has been spotted by a town lad, Matthew Arnatt, leaving death behind it. Soon the two of them, plus Virginia - the rather attractive daughter of Holmes's tutor - are on the track of "the Baron" and attempting to work out why a quantity of yellow dust is so dangerous. The book is fun, with apt forward-looking allusions to later Sherlockian matters and a feel of the film script about it (and none the worse for that.)

NU

Back to the Drawing Board Ð The Memoirs of a Backbencher by Sir Sydney Chapman. Absolute. 2010. 520pp. £15.00 (Available from T M Ernest, 88 Lexham Gardens, London W8 5JB at £15.00 plus £3.00 p&p [UK]; cheques payable to T M Ernest.)

He trained as an architect, but Sydney Chapman's profession was politics; he was Conservative MP for Handsworth from 1970 to 1974, and then for Chipping Barnet from 1979 until he retired in 2005. He says that he "refuses to take himself too seriously", but it would be wrong to think of Sir Sydney as not committed to his chosen causes. He instigated the "Plant a Tree" initiative in 1973, for seven years he was a Government Whip, and he became Vice-Chamberlain of Her Majesty's Household, writing a daily report to the Queen on the day's House of Commons Proceedings. Sir Sydney is best known to us as the first Sponsoring Member for our Annual Dinners at the House of Commons. After attending a dinner at the Charing Cross Hotel as Philip Porter's guest, he offered to sponsor us at the House, and that splendid venue has been the venue for most of our Annual Dinners for over twenty years. To Holmesians of course, mention of the word "Politician" goes with "Lighthouse" and "Trained Cormorant", so when in 1996 he was asked to be our Guest Speaker, that was the subject of his speech. He says: "I took it upon myself to provide É a flight of fancy which owed much to my warped imagination but did little to advance Holmesian research." Sir Sydney has written a most enjoyable book of political memoirs, and with wit and humour brings vividly to life the experiences of a backbencher in the last third of the twentieth century. Recommended.

GM

"A Golden Day": Arthur Conan Doyle at the Langham Hotel, Friday 30th August 1889 by Nicholas Utechin. The Sherlock Holmes Society of London. 2010. ii + 26 pp. UK £5.00; Europe £5.50 or Û6.50; elsewhere £6.00 or US$12.00

Nick Utechin presents, clearly and elegantly, all the relevant information about the remarkable meeting, whose outcome was The Sign of the Four and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Gyles Brandreth explains why the meeting of Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle is so important, in both literary and personal terms. Bob Ellis ensures that the booklet is one of the most attractive that the Society has published. Only two hundred copies were printed, so get your order in now. You won't regret it.

RJ

Murder at Oakwood Grangeby Avril Field-Taylor. New Generation (www.newgenerationpublishing.info/home/buy-new-generation-publishing-books.html). 2009. 192 pp. £7.99

In the summer of 1889, Laurence Applegarth, MP and his daughter Celia are accused of murdering the vile Sir Walter Hardwick at his country house, but Sherlock Holmes, assisted by Dr Watson and the Baker Street irregulars, uncovers a plot that threatens the very highest in the land. Only one man is capable of such villainy: ex-Professor Moriarty, whose weapon, smuggled into the Royal household, is ingenious and deadly. Holmes and Watson need all their intelligence, courage and stamina to defeat him. In fairness I should mention that the book contains a few disconcerting inconsistencies. We're first told that Mr Applegarth's constituency is in Devon, and then that it's near Winchester. At one stage Holmes recognises Moriarty, but later he claims not to know what Moriarty looks like. Well, these matters are easily put right. Meanwhile, the period setting, the characters and the language all strike the authentic note. Murder at Oakwood Grange is a real page-turner.

RJ

Sherlock Holmes's London by David Sinclair. Robert Hale Ltd.2009. 224pp. £17.99

Mr Sinclair knows his London and his Sherlock Holmes, and his book is a handsome addition to the select library of topographical studies of the Canon. He's delved into the street directories of the period and studied the large-scale maps. He's tramped the streets of London, comparing and contrasting. The result is a fresh and attractive look at the city in which Holmes lived and worked. He traces the journey that Holmes, Watson and Miss Morstan took from the Lyceum Theatre to Norwood, observing sites of interest and noting Holmes's, or Watson's, lapses. (He can't place Thaddeus Sholto's house or Pondicherry Lodge precisely, but then it took Bernard Davies forty years to identify them.) From Norwood, he follows Holmes, Watson and Toby on the trail of the wooden-legged man. Devoting the first chapter to this longest detailed trek through London sets the scene very nicely. Much of the charm of the book is in the incidental detail. Is it coincidence that in 1877, when Holmes was lodging in Montague Street, a Dr John Watson had rooms nearby in what is now Southampton Place? Pretty much all the metropolitan locations are covered, and the final chapter, "Following the Trails", directs the reader to some of the surviving locations from the Canon.

RJ

The Norwood Author: Arthur Conan Doyle & the Norwood Years (1891-1894) by Alistair Duncan. MX Publishing. 2010. 214pp. £9.99

There must be more biographical studies of Arthur Conan Doyle than of any other popular writer of his time - and by Ôpopular' I mean that people read his work because they want to, not because they have to. Besides fifteen or more biographies there are books devoted to his spiritualist mission, to his campaigns against injustice, and to specific periods of his life. His upbringing in Edinburgh, his years in Southsea, his connection with Devon have all merited volumes of more or less depth. Conan Doyle's three years in South Norwood have been largely neglected by the major biographers, even though it was then that he became famous, thanks to The Strand Magazine and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. He travelled extensively, but, as Alistair Duncan has discovered, he threw himself into local affairs as well, quickly becoming active in the Upper Norwood Literary & Scientific Society and Norwood Cricket Club. He also, no less significantly, joined the Society for Psychical Research. Mr Duncan is one of a distinguished little group whose work takes us just a little closer towards a complete portrait of the man who created Sherlock Holmes. He writes well, too!

RJ

Sherlock Holmes; The Painful Predicament of Alice Faulkner written and illustrated by Bret M Herholz. Alterna Comics (www.alternacomics.com). Unpaginated. $11.99

Mr Herholz has cleverly adapted William Gillette's play Sherlock Holmes, giving Mycroft Holmes a cameo, and, I think, introducing some dialogue from the 1939 film The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The lettering within the speech balloons could have been better placed, and the dialogue should have been more thoroughly proof-read, but these are minor matters. What makes the book outstanding is the quality of the illustrations. The black and white line drawings, with lots of hatching and grey wash, are strikingly reminiscent of Edward Gorey's work. The thin figures with their suspicious sidelong glances add to the indefinable atmosphere of foreboding. At the end, I confess, I find myself wondering whether this Holmes and this Alice Faulkner, both disturbed and damaged creatures, could truly be happy together - and that, to me, indicates an unusual depth in a graphic novel.

RJ

Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle and The Bookman edited by S E Dahlinger and Leslie Klinger. Gasogene Books. 2010. xvi + 272pp. $29.95

H L Mencken called The Bookman "the best literary monthly the United States has ever seen". From the start the editors, Harry Thurston Peck and Arthur Bartlett Maurice, were devotees of Holmes and Conan Doyle (Peck appears to have coined the word "Sherlockian" to describe himself) and their joyful enthusiasm resulted in the many reviews, comments, essays and parodies they published between 1895 and 1933. This wonderful collection features material by Stephen Vincent BenŽt, Valentine Williams, Vincent Starrett (the genesis of his book The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is here), Edmund Pearson ("Sherlock Holmes Among the Illustrators" is an invaluable early survey of the subject), Hugh Kingsmill and other luminaries of early twentieth century literature - including Arthur Conan Doyle, with a 1927 article, "The Alleged Posthumous Writings of Known Authors". It's fascinating to read the comments of scholars who read the chronicles of Sherlock Holmes as they were first published. Highly recommended!

RJ

Papers at an Exhibition - Arthur Conan Doyle: A Sesquicentennial Assessment edited by Peter X Accardo, John Bergquist and Dan Posnansky. The Baker Street Irregulars. 2009. xiii + 254pp. $35.00

These fourteen papers were delivered last year at a symposium held at Harvard University, in conjunction with an exhibition, "Ever Westward: Arthur Conan Doyle and American Culture". They embody a judicious range of subject and approach, and help to increase our understanding of Arthur Conan Doyle and his greatest literary legacy. We have, for instance, Eve Mayer on Conan Doyle's depiction of the Mormons; Charles J Rzepka on a Homeric influence in the Canon, echoed in Conan Doyle's own life; John Bergquist on the process of publishing a Conan Doyle manuscript in facsimile; Andrew Lycett on life as a biographer; Daniel Stashower on the influence of Poe; Randall Stock on compiling a census of Holmesian manuscripts and incunabula; Steven Rothman and Peter Accardo on two fathers of the Sherlockian movement, Christopher Morley and H W Bell; Leslie Klinger on the correspondence between Dr Watson and Dr Conan DoyleÉ

RJ

The Case of the Missing Stradivarius by Emanual E Garcia. Irregular Special Press. 2009. 160pp. £15.99)

It's actually not too hard to work out who stole Donato Del Nero's priceless violin, once the property of Paganini himself. The real revelation is not who or how, but why, and the answer to that question is intellectually and psychologically satisfying. As fascinating as the narrative is the information about music and musicians - but not all the "facts" in the story are reliable, which is why a quarter of this attractive hardback is taken up with notes on the text. Holmes's violin is as integral to his image as the pipe and the magnifying lens, so it's rather surprising that this novel is the first Holmes fiction to concentrate on this aspect of his character. For that alone it would deserve our attention, but it's a jolly good read as well!

RJ

The Strange Return of Sherlock Holmes by Barry Grant. Severn House. 2010. 183pp. £18.99

Film-makers have imagined what might happen if Holmes were to awake in our time from a cryogenic sleep. Barry Grant may be the first to write a novel with that premise, and he does it with great skill. James Wilson, looking for a quiet life after his experiences as a war correspondent in Afghanistan, is perhaps a little slow to realise that his new friend Cedric Coombes looks like Sherlock Holmes, and he's understandably reluctant to believe that Coombes actually is Sherlock Holmes... The tale of the detective's apparent death while on a mission from George V to his cousin the Kaiser is a top-notch thriller in itself, but the main thread of the novel concerns Holmes and Wilson's first investigation together. A stranger came to Hay-on-Wye looking for a woman who doesn't exist. He is found dead in an empty house, his throat cut. Nearby is a newly published book, Abu Ghraib: Torture and BetrayalÉ I'm impressed by the way Mr Grant's narrative parallels that of A Study in Scarlet without actually imitating it. James Wilson is likable, trustworthy and intelligent. Holmes is, well - Holmes. Barry Grant promises more exploits of this engaging partnership, and I'm looking forward to reading them.

RJ

Sherlock Holmes and the Lyme Regis Horror by David Ruffle. FastPrint Publishing. 2009. vi + 170pp. £8.99

Re-creating Dr Watson's style is harder than it may seem: one can easily (I speak from experience) become stilted or florid or verbose. Mr Ruffle's story is exciting, and all in all he does pretty well. His punctuation is sloppy, but it didn't stop me enjoying the story, which, in essence, relocates the plot of a famous late Victorian thriller to the Dorset resort of Lyme Regis. The development isn't identical, and the characters have different names, but if I mention a bloodless corpse, hypnotic seduction, and a nocturnal Transylvanian nobleman you'll get the idea. Mr Ruffle paints a vivid picture of Lyme and its harbour, and his characters are distinct individuals. Six short stories, varying in length and mood, complete the book.

RJ

The Carleton Hobbs Sherlock Holmes Collection BBC Audiobooks. 2010. 6 CDs. £30.00

In my 1950s childhood, my first Holmes and Watson were Messrs Hobbs and Shelley on BBC radio, a partnership that lasted for seventeen years. Hobbs's voice immediately indicates wisdom and an incisive mind; equally, Shelley's rich fruity tones tell of an educated, intelligent and utterly reliable friend. Today, perhaps, they appear just a touch staid, but vocally they set the standard by which I judge others, and in this set - which really should be called The Carleton Hobbs and Norman Shelley Sherlock Holmes Collection - they sound as fresh as when the plays were first broadcast. The admirable scripts, apart from Black Peter, which is by Alan Wilson, are the work of Michael Hardwick, and each play is engagingly introduced by Nicholas Utechin. (These are not the introductions you may have heard on BBC Radio 7, by the way.) If this superb set sells as well as it deserves to, I trust that more of Hobbs and Shelley will be released on CD.

RJ

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, volume 4. BBC Audiobooks. 2010. 4 CDs. £17.99

Since the conclusion of the Radio 4's monumental recording of the complete Canon, Clive Merrison, with Andrew Sachs as his Watson, has continued at intervals to play the great detective in new stories written by Bert Coules. This latest set comprises The Eyes of Horus and The Remarkable Performance of Mr Frederick Merridew from the third Radio 4 series, plus the recent two-part serial The Marlbourne Point Mystery, which takes Holmes and Watson to the Kent coast, at the request of Mycroft Holmes, to investigate a suicide and a murder - both with the same victim. They uncover exploitation of the innocent and corruption in high places. The script, as we've come to expect, is outstanding, and it's well served by producer and cast.

RJ

Sherlock Holmes - The Last Act! Big Finish. 2009. 2 CDs. £14.99. / Sherlock Holmes - The Death and Life. Big Finish. 2010. 2 CDs. £14.99

You've been gripped by Roger Llewellyn's performances in the two one-man plays written for him by David Stuart Davies. Now you can own those performances. They both work beautifully in sound alone, thanks to superlative writing and acting. Sherlock Holmes Ð The Last Act! is exciting, funny, tragic, and at times deeply poignant. Holmes returns to Baker Street after attending his old friend's funeral, and the memories well up, unbidden. It is 1916. The civilised world seems intent on destroying itself, and Holmes's own personality is more fragile than he knows. Just to listen to Roger Llewellyn speak is a pleasure, and the recording gives him the chance to create a dozen personalities through his voice alone - though, as he says in the interview that follows the play, it's not Roger Llewellyn playing these other characters, but Sherlock Holmes, recreating them as he reminisces.

The audio production of Sherlock Holmes Ð The Death and Life is every bit as good. This second play is less overtly realistic and more humorous than the first, but no less sharp. Arthur Conan Doyle, as we all know, created Professor Moriarty specifically to rid himself of Sherlock Holmes. But what if Moriarty had a mind of his own and refused to follow the author's intentions? What if he made Holmes aware of their situationÉ? Conan Doyle's experience with spiritualist mediums hasn't prepared him for this! The production is a tour de force for all concerned.

RJ

Holmes and the Ripper.Big Finish. 2010. 2 CDs. £14.99

Nicholas Briggs, who directed Roger Llewellyn's recordings, dons the deerstalker himself in this audio adaptation of Brian Clemens' play Holmes and the Ripper. Like the film Murder by Decree, it's based on Stephen Knight's book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution, and takes even greater liberties with the facts. Mr Clemens probably doesn't believe that the Whitechapel murders were orchestrated by Freemasons in a bizarre attempt to preserve the monarchy - but he knows how much we love a conspiracy theory, and by golly that's what he gives us! Nick Briggs has played the r™le on stage, including a season in Holmes and the Ripper at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, and he's clearly comfortable with the character. Richard Earl as Watson reminds me irresistibly of Colin Blakely in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. The two present a very credible partnership as the doctor and the detective. The third leading character is Katherine Mead, a comely clairvoyant, played by India Fisher - and, despite expectations, it's Holmes, not Watson, who falls for her. The cast also includes David Peart, who was Watson to Edward Petherbridge's Holmes in a good series of audio plays about twenty years ago, and Sam Clemens, son of Brian and a notable actor (yes, he is related to Mark Twain). Holmes and the Ripper is deliriously exciting entertainment. I'm delighted to know that Big Finish plans to record more Sherlock Holmes plays.

RJ

"The Man with the Watches" and "The Lost Special"The Sherlock Holmes Society of London / The Old Court Radio Theatre Company. 2009. 1 CD. UK £5.00; Europe £6.00 or Û9.00; elsewhere £9.00 or US$12.00

Cheers to the Old Court Company for finally giving us versions of these two Holmesian train riddles. The great American scriptwriter Edith Meiser did "The Lost Special" in 1934, but never had the chance to give listeners the timely watch tale. Now we can hear both of these Strand Magazine summer 1898 treats, thanks to new scripts by M J Elliott. The "well-known criminal investigator", subjected to Conan Doyle's jibes in the print versions, is none other than Holmes in the person of Jim Crozier, with Dave Hawkes as the faithful Watson. These two tales make an even dozen adventures for these performers of the Baker Street duo. "The Man with the Watches," a saga of conmen on the run, features Katherine Tokley as a most astute Mary Watson, Brian Adrian and James Crook as James and Edward Bassano, Jesse Powis as Sparrow MacCoy, Dean Hempstead as John Palmer, and Vince Webb as Inspector Vane.

"The Lost Special" is the more exciting of the two adventures, with its disappearing train and its wonderful references to Carnacki and Dr Thorndyke, those celebrated rivals of our favourite sleuth of Baker Street. There's even a reference to that other Baker Street sleuth, Sexton Blake, as well as to the young stationmaster brother of the evil Moriarty. The last scene is especially well-done and fascinating. Vince Webb is the slimiest as de Lernac, while doubling as Potter Hood; Lindsay Lloyd is the charming Mrs. Hudson; Jesse Powis is James Bland; James Crook is Caratal; and Brian Adrian (alias director Roger Johnson) cameos as Mycroft Holmes.

The Old Court Company provides a great service by dramatising the lesser known exploits of Holmes and giving them a fresh airing for the twenty-first century. This reviewer eagerly awaits the next batch of adventures. Finally, a special tribute must be paid to M J Elliott, who by authoring Holmesian radio scripts aired on both sides of the Atlantic deserves a place alongside Edith Meiser, Michael Hardwick, and Bert Coules as one of the great radio purveyors of the Master Detective.

WN

In brief

The first edition of Christopher Redmond's Sherlock Holmes Handbook was something really special, covering the whole Holmes phenomenon with a light but authoritative touch. Seventeen years on, the new revised and expanded edition (Dundurn Press, Toronto; 2009. £19.00) is the finest overview of the world of Holmes and the Holmesian that we're ever likely to see. The Canon, the author, the background, the literary and social impact - it's all here. Highly recommended!

The Sherlock Holmes Handbook: The Methods and Mysteries of the World's Greatest Detective by Ransom Riggs (Quirk Books, $16.95) is a much more elementary affair, but a very clever and attractive one. Mr Riggs has compiled a sound basic guide to understanding why Holmes is a great detective and an immortal character, under such headings as "How to Question a Suspect'" "How to Fake Your Own Death", and "How to Stage a Dramatic Entrance". This very nice 220-page hardback is embellished with excellent black and white illustrations by Eugene Smith.

In The Chicago Silver Blaze 1960-2009 (The Watsonians, 16W603 3rd Avenue, Bensenville, IL 60106-2327, USA) Susan Z Diamond tells of the joys and frustrations of organising the world's oldest annual "Silver Blaze" still running. The history, the companion collection of congratulatory messages, and a commemorative pin cost $18.00 postpaid from the above address. The fiftieth race, held last October at Hawthorne racecourse, was also the BSI's Triennial Silver Blaze, and Candace Lewis has edited a very nicely produced sixty-eight-page paperback, Two Celebrations: The Fiftieth Annual Running of the Chicago Blaze and the Triennial Silver Blaze of the Baker Street Irregulars (The Baker Street Irregulars; £12.95), in which Art Levine recounts the history of the New York Silver Blaze, Roger Donway analyses the story that gave race its name, and Ms Lewis looks at flat-racing in nineteenth century art.

The Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual 2009: "Did You Notice Nothing Curious About That Advertisement?" by Peggy Perdue (The Baker Street Irregulars; 2009. $11.00 postpaid; elsewhere $12.00 postpaid) surveys the use of Holmes and Watson in advertising, which goes back at least to 1894. Remembering Robert Downey Jr's interpretation of Holmes, I was amused by Conan Doyle's comment on an early proposal: "The picture would never do. Holmes must preserve his dignity. He looks about five feet high, badly dressed, and with no brains or character, an actor out of a job."

In The Lost City of Z David Grann told of the search for the explorer, Colonel Fawcett, who may have inspired the creation of Professor Challenger. His new book, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness and Obsession (Simon & Schuster; 2010. £12.99) concerns other mysteries, each in its own way as curious as the disappearance of Percy Fawcett in the Amazon jungle. The title piece concerns the tragic death of Richard Lancelyn Green, former Chairman of our Society and the world's foremost authority on Arthur Conan Doyle. Eschewing the distasteful excesses of the British press, Mr Grann's article demolishes the myths and presents the established facts as clearly as possible. The other eleven pieces cover subjects as diverse as the hunt for the giant squid, and the abuse of capital punishment in Texas.

RJ