Strand Magazine is still published. It’s a slick magazine, and every issue contains at least one current Sherlock Holmes story. There are interviews with mystery writers, and lots (and lots) of advertisements for new mystery books and assorted fun things of interest to mystery fans.

Strand Magazine, Issue 25, 2008. There's lots in here and a little advert that led somewhere really fun.

Recently, my wife stumbled across a fascinating ad and took the next steps. Tonight I had several hours of Sherlock Holmes super fun on her account – and lucky for me!

A little advertisement followed by an enterprising Holmesian leads to an evening of Holmes detection.

“The Crimes of Dr. Watson” is an interactive Sherlock Holmes mystery written by Watson himself. Conan Doyle, Watson’s literary agent, had no apparent hand in this particular mystery. Therefore, this may be the only unedited story by Dr. Watson. This fascinating book is entertaining for this reason alone in addition to the challenges and rewards that it offers.

An heretofore unknown Holmes mystery written by Watson himself. There are clues in this volume - some shocking!

More importantly is that the producers of this excellent volume (published in 2007) include clues so that the reader can try to solve the case. Here is one of those clues. (Don’t worry, I won’t give anything away.)

One of the many fascinating clues in this interactive mystery book. You'll be surprised, or not, by some of the adverts in this catalog of Victorian products sent to Dr. Watson by an American friend.

When you open this little Victorian catalog you’ll be distracted for a few minutes by the products therein. Some you can still get, some you can’t and wouldn’t want. The ones still available are now known by other descriptors.

One of the many products available in the Victorian catalog clue sent to Dr. Watson. The product description on this one is fairly vague. I think the seller is trusting the imagination of the buyers, and no I did not photoshop this!

Much like the American Puritans not being as “Puritanical” as later generations have been mislead to believe, the Victorians weren’t as “Victorian” either. Now, this little product isn’t quite so … little. Nor has it gone out of fashion. These days, such things go by other names and serve similar purposes. However, “female hysteria” is no longer treated by physicians nor considered a clinical/medical problem as it was during Watson’s time. One can imagine the many “challenges” and “rewards” of the Victorian physician.

Medical terminology has certainly changed since Victorian times, though "afflictions" have not.

At the end of the book there is a sealed section which ties everything up. You can confirm your hunches and be all kinds of smug, or be annoyed that you missed the thread entirely. Either way, this is a really fun romp for Holmesian folks.

When you arrive at the end of Dr. Watson's narrative it is time to confirm that you are a detective in the Holmesian mode and all your theories are confirmed. In some cases the worst will happen and it will be confirmed much to your horror that you missed all the clues and remain a clueless mystery reader such as a certain blogger who will not be named! Open the sealed envelope to find the truth!

Not since “The Seven Percent Solution” (not the movie, but the novel) have I had such fun in reading a re-discovered Watson MS!

I recommend this volume to all dedicated Holmesians who need a “fix” and have run out of their 7% solution.