The World’s Greatest Detective
Fun Fact: Holmes never actually uttered the ubiquitous phrase, “Elementary, my dear Watson.” On more than one occasion, he does refer to Watson as “my dear Watson.” When pressed to reveal how he solved the case, Holmes often tells Watson that his deductions were, “elementary.” But the most famous phrase in the Holmes universe— “Elementary, my dear Watson,” is one that was never written by Arthur Conan Doyle, and never spoken as such by Holmes.
* * *
In the over 125 years since he was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, arguably the “world’s greatest detective,” has been established as one of the most canonical characters of Western culture. The sleuth has been played by over 75 actors in over 200 adaptations of the stories. There’s a Sherlock for everyone—whether you favor Robert Downey’s steampunk Sherlock, or the razor-sharp hipster of the BBC series as portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch—myself, I favor the Jeremy Brett interpretation that I grew up on, watching PBS Mystery! with my mother as a child. If you, like me, are a fan of procedurals—like House, M.D., Psych, The Mentalist or Bones—then you can thank Sherlock Holmes, the template for the character archetype: a near obsessive attention to the most minute of details, interpersonal social awkwardness that’s oddly interspersed with moments of dashing charm and charisma, and a slavish devotion to solving the puzzle. Nearly every crime procedural television show owes its existence in part to Holmes; it’s no coincidence that these shows often tip their hat, overtly or covertly, to the Victorian hero who made their series possible.
* * *
Why do we—as readers, writers, and editors— find Holmes so intriguing? Is it his flawed dichotomies? The man is a cocaine addict, and is on the OCD side about his hygiene. He doesn’t like or trust women, except (arguably) Irene Adler, who he simply calls, “the woman.” He likes to play dress-up a little too much. He’s a slob, which makes the compulsive personal hygiene sort of creepy. He’s rude to people, he’s arrogant, and he’s willing to manipulate innocent people in order to solve the case—so why is it that we like him so much? Why can’t we seem to get our fill of reinventions, re-interpretations, reboots and non-canonical works exploring the character, from every possible angle? As we curated this issue of NonBinary Review, one of the things I noted from submission to submission was the archetype of our collective unconscious that Holmes taps into: the rational, logical mind. Sherlock Holmes embodies the quality which separates humans from other animals: the ability to use reason, deductive logic, science and rational—rather than emotive—thought processes to solve crimes. Holmes’s reasons are not exactly noble. He’s not solving the cases for his clients’ the peace of mind, or even for their money. Holmes solves the cases because he loves their puzzle; he loves seeing how all the minutiae fit together to form a cohesive picture. To Holmes, justice is the upshot of logic and rationality. The human, emotional, aspect of justice seems to escape him, which is one of the deeper flaws of the character that I believe endears him to his equally deeply flawed, human fans. We long for reason and logic to take over when emotion has caused our world to stop making sense.
* * *
We weren’t sure what we’d end up with as we began the curation of this issue. We chose A Study in Scarlet because it’s one of the meatier installments of the Holmes series and provides entry points to most of the Holmesian world. We present to you a collection where “You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive?” takes on a very different—yet altogether familiar—meaning for readers. We meet a very different Sherlock in Scarlet, California. We discover a fond, intimate letter scripted by Watson, that reveals a more human, tender Sherlock than we’ve previously encountered. We explore the world of the Baker Street Irregulars, and how their work with Holmes directed the course of their lives. We hear first-hand from Lucy Ferrier, the central figure in A Study in Scarlet, who has never been provided her own platform. We learn about the world of poisoners and the apothecary’s codebook—the world that exists beyond the two pills of the story. There’s even a crossover fan-fic story where the world of My Little Pony meets the Holmsian realm. In this 9th issue of NonBinary Review, our authors and poets dismantled the source text to create found poetry, letters to Holmes’s beloved Strand Magazine from characters whose motivations have never before been revealed, and telling us stories only hinted at in the lines of Conan Doyle’s fiction.
* * *
But how did we curate this issue for you, Intrepid Readers?
It was, after all, quite elementary.
Allie Marini

A Study in Scarlet (cover)
MANDEM is the art name shared by Maize Arendsee (MFA, Studio Art) and their life-partner, Moco. MANDEM’s work has been widely exhibited and published. In 2016, Maize taught art at a university in Florence, Italy, where MANDEM had a concurrent artist residency at the Associazione Culturale Il Palmerino and multiple European art exhibitions in the works.

Extract of brown, Extract of red
Ivy’s second poetry collection is Disturbance (Seren, 2013). She is the author of several collections, including Hollywood Starlet (Chicago: dancing girl press, 2015) and The Everyday English Dictionary (London: Paekakariki Press, 2016). A recipient of writing fellowships from MacDowell Colony, Hawthornden Castle and Fundacion Valparaiso, her work appears in journals and anthologies in many countries and online, with selected poems translated into Russian, Spanish, Japanese and Korean.

A Dreamy, Vacant Expression
Brian has been published in New Realm, Nebula Rift, Under the Bed, Queer Sci Fi’s Discovery, NonBinary Review, Dark Chapter Press’s Kill for a Copy, and Mantid Magazine. Brian collaborates with Chuck Amadori and Marcelo Salaza on the comic book series Empress. His novel, Carolina Daemonic, Book 1: Confederate Shadows, was published by J. Ellington Ashton Press in 2015.

In which Lucy dying from a broken heart explains why she didn’t leave behind her shadow near the boulder
Shinjini’s work has been published in Cimarron Review, DecomP, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, Red Paint Hills Poetry and elsewhere. Her chapbook There is No Way to Alter the Gravity for a Doll is forthcoming from dancing girl press. She is also the founding editor of Hermeneutic Chaos Literary Journal and Press.

The Clue, Eye Spy
Karen is a writer and visual artist published internationally here and there.

Our First Draft
Jenna aspires to be an inspiring story-teller via page and screen. She also dreams of living in London and owning a cat- whichever comes first.

Pinker’s Study
Jenn’s poems and stories have appeared in America, Parabola, and Mars Hill Review. She currently lives in Paris.

Moriarty’s Music Hall Memories
Gregg has had work in Daily Science Fiction, and NonBinary Review, anthologies like 100 Great Fantasy Short-Short Stories and the Alternative Hilarities series from Strange Musings Press, and magazines like Apex and Weirdbook.

A Monograph on the Identifying Characteristics of Cigarette Ashes
Felipe was born and raised in Tempe, Arizona. He writes fiction, essays and the occasional humorous poem.

Rache
Kristen teaches at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Her work has appeared in Dunes Review, The Gateway Review, Puerto del Sol, Sleet Magazine, and Hermeneutic Chaos, and is forthcoming from The Whale Road Review. Her first chapbook, A Narrow Line of Light, is available from Boneset Books and her debut novel Nesting is forthcoming in 2017 from ELJ Publications.

Rache
Emma is Noble / Gas Qtrly’s EIC and a writer of all trades. She has been referred to as “f*cking multimedia”, which is probably the greatest compliment she’s ever received.

A Letter to the Editors of Strand Magazine
Adri literary criticism has been praised in The Waste Land at 90: A Retrospective as “of some substance” and “less persuasive,” while she herself has gained a reputation as “the de facto headmistress of this small town’s coven.”

Scarlet in the Study
Diane’s work has been published in CALYX and sparkle + blink. She is an award-winning photographer and freelance writer.

Extracts from the Diary of Lucy Ferrier in the Days of Her Captivity
Resa, writer and Sherlockian, has been published in the Baker Street Journal and the Proceedings of the Pondicherry Lodge (poetry). She will have an essay in the upcoming anthology, About Sixty: Why Every Sherlock Holmes Story Is the Best.

The Haunting of Sherlock Holmes
Justine has a BLS degree from The University of Iowa, and she will pursue a graduate degree in literature through Northern Arizona University. She hopes to one day publish her novels and teach creative writing.

Sleuth-Hound
Deborah has been published in Silver Birch Press’ Half New Year and Noir Erasure anthologies, Silver Apples Magazine, Vallum, and Existere. She has also written for The Baker Street Journal, a quarterly of Sherlockiana.

He Paints for Dilettantes and a Single Connoisseur
David is a practicing physician for whom writing is his second career. He’s had work published in Horrified Press, Zoetic Press/NonBinary Review, Drunk Monkeys Literary, Dark Chapter Press, Elder Signs Press, and Nebula Rift Magazine. He continues to work on his first novel. Slowly.

The Baker Street Irregulars: Thirty Years After
David’s fiction has appeared in Silver Blade, Fiction on the Web, and Nebula Rift. A novella, The Sorceress of Time, is in production at Eternal Press.

Millenial John and Sherlock Meet Via Craigslist
Janna’s poetry and fiction have been published in Menacing Hedge, Caesura, Zone 3, Literary Bohemian, and Up the Staircase Quarterly.

A Bloody Dim Harlot
Jenna is the author of Six Rivers (NYQ Books, 2011) and A History of the Cetacean American Diaspora (Anchor and Plume Press, 2016). Her poems appear in AGNI Online, Bellevue Literary Review, The Best of the Raintown Review, The Los Angeles Review, Massachusetts Review, The Village Voice, and elsewhere.

The Study
James is a graphic and motion designer based in England.

Gallery
Kristie’s poems and short stories have been published in The Massachusetts Review, The North Dakota Quarterly, Washington Square, Passages North, Pangolin Papers and The Southern Humanities Review (among others.) Her novel, Snow and White, was just picked up by KT Literary.

Murdering a Mad Dog
Judith is an artist, writer, and monologist whose first publication, Read It Back, was published by Dancing Girl Press in 2014. She has contributed previous work to NonBinary Review as well as Unbroken and 100 Word Story.

A Study in Scarlet, CA
Christina is a novelist, television writer and professor of English. She teaches at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California, and lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Rubicund
Jennifer is the author of two forthcoming full length poetry collections. Her chapbook Clown Machine is forthcoming from Grey Book Press. Recent work can be seen at Jet Fuel Review, Pith, Freezeray, The Birds We Piled Loosely, Queen Mob’s Teahouse, Inter/rupture, and decomP.

A Study in Watson, or (You Have Been in Afghanistan, I Perceive)
Mack is a Forward Prize nominated poet, playwright, and author. His work had appeared in various literary magazines including Neon, New Myths, and The Pedestal Magazine. His poem “and then the stars…” was featured in The 2016 Rhysling Anthology.

Clue
Diane’s poems have appeared in Kenyon Review, Field, Zyzzyva, Harvard Review, Narrative, New England Review, and other journals and anthologies. Her first collection, Conjugated Visits (Dream Horse Press, 2010) was a National Poetry Series finalist. Her newest manuscript, Hue and Cry, is seeking a publisher.

i think i need a friend
Erica is a freelance writer and traveling poet. Her poetry has appeared in The Indie Lounge at the Sundance Film Festival, the HIV Here & Now project, and is forthcoming in Found Poetry Review.

Pantoum in B Minor
Jennifer’s poetry has appeared in Gulf Stream, Zone 3, Apeiron Review, Moon City Review, Juked, Sleet Magazine, Weirderary, and many other journals. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize, she’s Assistant Poetry Editor for the Indianola Review.

69 Inches of Thread, Scarlet and Otherwise
Randon is an essayist whose work has appeared in the Modern Love column of The New York Times, The Georgia Review, The Rumpus, Brevity, Fourth Genre and elsewhere. She is a nonfiction editor at r.kv.r.y quarterly, Reviews Editor at Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and a reviewer for The A.V. Club.

In the Centre of the Black
Amanda has poetry forthcoming in Whirlwind and has appeared in The Montreal Review and other publications. Fiction has appeared in Two Thirds North, The First Line, and elsewhere.

A Study in Sorrel
Michael’s stories have appeared in the Sword & Sorceress anthology. His novels The Blood Jaguar and Rat’s Reputation are available from Sofawolf Press, and he helps curate fanfiction for Equestria Daily and the Royal Canterlot Library websites.

How Hope Learned the Trick
Robert is an avid Sherlockian and pastiche artist whose recent works have included “The Canaries of Clee Hills Mine” for An Improbable Truth and “For King and Country” for The Science of Deduction.

A Seduction in Scarlet
Joy is the author of seven novels for young adults, including last year’s Finding Paris, and the forthcoming, It Wasn’t Always Like This. She enjoys guacamole, clever cocktails, a large-ball of twine, and quirky travel.

The Apothecary’s Handbook
Effie is a fantasy and science fiction writer. Her most recent short stories can be found in Analog, Fireside Fiction, and Galaxy’s Edge. She likes to make sculpted cakes and bad puns.

Of Deduction
Shloka’s work has recently appeared in Failed Haiku, Thank You For Swallowing, Poetry WTF?!, Right Hand Pointing, Otoliths, and elsewhere. She is the founding editor of Sonic Boom.

Rache
Amanda’s work has appeared in Threepenny Review, Hayden Review, caketrain, Redivider, and The Georgia Review. She teaches writing from her online schoolhouse.

Read the Editor's Letter

Subscribe to our Newsletter