WARNING: These are summaries, not reviews, and may contain story spoilers.

Click on these links for publication details of editions used for indexing:

short stories | novels | children's stories

Robert Quackenbush

Sherlock Chick and the Case of the Night Noises (1990)
Story Type: Children's Picturebook
Detective: Sherlock Chick
Other Characters: Animals; Mother Cow; Joe Horse; Calf; Putty Cat; Amy Goose; Goslings
Locations: The Barn; The Stable; The Tool Shed; The Corn Bin; The Hay Loft; The Spring House
Story: Loud noises in the barn wake Sherlock Chick and the other farmyard animals, but all they find is a milk pail on the floor and a rubber ball. The next night there are noises in the stable, spilled nails and a ball of yarn, and the third night cans and a ball of paper in the tool shed. Sherlock Chick makes some deductions and lays in wait for the noisemaker, who gets some good advice from Mother Cow.
Sherlock Chick and the Peekaboo Mystery (1987)
Story Type: Children's Picturebook
Detective: Sherlock Chick
Other Characters: Mother Mouse; Squeakins; Raccoon; Rabbit; Baby Fox; Cat; Puppy
Locations: The Farmyard; Mother Mouse's House; Raccoon's Tree; Rabbit's Hill; A Bush; A Basket; A Kennel; A Drainpipe
Story: Mother Mouse asks Sherlock Chick to find her lost child who was scared away by a cat. Sherlock Chick knows mice live in holes, so he searches all the holes in the farmyard for the missing mouse.

Ellery Queen

"The Disappearance of Mr. James Phillimore" (1944)
Included in: The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes (Ellery Queen)
Story Type: Homage / Untold Story / Script
Canonical Characters: James Phillimore
Fictional Characters: Nikki Porter; Ellery Queen; Inspector Queen; Sergeant Velie
Story: Ellery Queen, in bed with a cold, receives a visit from his father who is about to "close the book on the career of a bird who should have been in jail years ago". As Sgt. Velie & Insp. Queen lie in wait outside the fraudster, James "Little Jim" Phillimore's house, they see him come out, then go back inside for his umbrella. When he does not come out, they search the house, finding only Phillimore's man, Jonathan Biggs, inside. After several false starts, Ellery solves the mystery from his sick-bed.
A Study in Terror (1966)
Included in: Jack the Ripper (Martin Greenberg) and as a novel in its own right
Story Type: Homage / Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr Watson; Mary Morstan; Mrs Hudson; Baker Street Irregulars; Inspector Lestrade; Mycroft Holmes; (Wiggins)
Fictional Characters: Ellery Queen; Inspector Queen; Grant Ames III
Historical Characters: Jack the Ripper; Annie Chapman; Polly Nichols
Other Characters: Scot on Train; Shires Butler; Kenneth Osbourne, Duke of Shires; Lord Carfax; Deborah Osbourne; Joseph Beck; Dr Murray; Pierre; Derelicts; Sally's Patient; Sally Young; Two Toughs; Butch; Lamplighter; Bookkeeper; Michael Osbourne; Madge Short; Angel & Crown Clientele; Waiter; Max Klein; Butcher's Boy; Timothy Wentworth; Pimply Messenger; Rachel Hager; Page-boy; Urchin; Cabman; Opium Addicts; Prostitutes; Jenny; Leona; western Union Messenger; Murray's Patient; Angela Osbourne; Rudyard; (Aunt Agatha; Katherine Lambert; Lita; Pagan Kelly; Tommy; Alfred Dobbs; Genealogist)
Date: Present & Autumn, 1888
Locations: New York: Ellery's Residence; Madge's Upper East Side Apartment; New Rochelle; Rachel's Backyard; Westchester; Deborah's Cottage
England: 221B, Baker Street; Watson's Paddington Residence; Express Train; Devonshire; Shires Castle; Whitechapel; Great Heapton Street; Beck's Pawnbrokers Shop; Montague Street; Mortuary; Montague Street Hostel; A Hansom Cab; The Diogenes Club; The Angel & Crown; Abattoir; Opium Den; Brothel; The Pacquin; (Paris)
Story: Ellery receives an envelope containing a manuscript by Watson: Having announced his reluctance to investigate the Ripper killings, Holmes receives a case of surgical instruments bearing the crest of the Duke of Shires.
Grant Ames challenges Ellery to confirm the manuscripts authenticity: Holmes and Watson travel to the Shires Estate in Devonshire, where the Duke identifies the case as belonging to his son, Michael, who he says is dead, but Holmes later learns is disgraced and disowned after marrying against his father's wishes.
Ellery sends Ames to try to track down the woman who addressed the envelope the manuscript came in: The Irregulars trace the shop the case was pawned at, and Holmes learns that it was redeemed by a woman with a disfigured face. He also traces the woman who originally pledged the case. They encounter Lestrade and another Ripper victim at a mortuary on their way to find the women. At the Montague Street Hostel they learn the mysterious origins of the instrument case and of Dr Murray's simpleton assistant, Pierre. They re-encounter the Duke's eldest son, and are set upon by three toughs.
Ellery tells his father about the manuscript: Holmes and Watson visit Mycroft and true identities are revealed.
Ames begins his search with Madge Short: Watson follows a man he believes is the Ripper, but is attacked himself. He and Holmes fail to prevent another murder. They learn more of the Osbourne family's links to the Hostel.
Ames continues his search, but Ellery has already deduced the manuscript's source: Holmes and Watson are visted by Wentworth who tells them of Michael Osbourne's life in Paris.
Ames realises he has fallen in love: Holmes discovers the Ripper's lair, and a note from Mycroft puts him on the trail of the man himself.
Ellery receives a phone call from an old lady: A meeting with the scarred woman fills in the gaps in the case, and a fire brings it to a close.
Ellery provides an alternative solution to Holmes's.