While browsing the Akron-Summit County Public Library’s extensive collection of ebooks I happened upon a short story collection that seemed ideal for summer reading. Somehow I had missed A Study in Sherlock – Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon when it was published in 2011. Edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger, the book features short takes on Sherlock Holmes by eighteen well-known authors, including Neal Gaiman, Lee Child, Dana Stabenow and Jan Burke. From Stabenow’s classroom assigned blog (complete with comments) to Thomas Perry’s release of John Watson’s manuscript of the events that transpired when Holmes was summoned to meet with President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, each piece is enthralling.

Rather than part ways when the library loan ended, I purchased a copy and learned that the graphic story by Colin Cotterill was not included in the library’s Kindle version. As his tale opens, Sticky Cotterill, writer of The Mysterious Case of the Unwritten Short Story, mistakes Laurie King for Larry King. Much silliness ensues amid delightful pen and ink drawings, rounding out a wonderful tribute to Sherlock Holmes.