No one familiar with mysteries needs an introduction to Anthony Boucher. To be thorough however, quoting from Wikipedia: “William Anthony Parker White (1911–1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher, was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dramas…. Bouchercon, the “Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Convention”, was named in his honor, as are their annual Anthony Awards.” 

Boucher was an early member of the Baker Street Irregulars, the pre-eminent Sherlockian literary society which began meeting in 1934. Boucher had his friends and the Canon firmly in mind as he undertook to write his third mystery, The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars (Simon and Schuster, 1940). The sister of his detective Fergus O’Breen from his previous book plays a significant role here. Maureen is executive assistant to Felix Weinberger, head of Metropolis Pictures in Hollywood. Weinberger has decided to film the Holmes story The Speckled Band and has hired well-known pulp writer Stephen Worth to write the script. Worth’s aversion to the works and the followers of Holmes is well known, as he has not lost an opportunity to denigrate them in every possible forum. His selection to commit the immortal detective to screen enraged the Irregulars who promptly sent a barrage of protests to Weinberger. Overwhelmed by the tsunami of complaints, Weinberger tries to fire Worth, who points out an interesting clause in his contract, naming him as the only person who can write the script for Metropolis. Severing Worth’s association with the project means that Metropolis has to give it up altogether. And Weinberger has bought the rights to the Holmes stories.

To placate the Irregulars, Weinberger invites them to join him in Hollywood at his expense to serve as advisors to the film. Some half dozen of them accept his invitation. Maureen hires a housekeeper named Mrs. Hudson to manage Weinberger’s mansion during their stay. (Weinberger has managed to have his house number changed to 221; he tried to get his street name changed to Baker but was unsuccessful.)

On the day of the press reception, which is the day all of the Irregulars were to arrive, an envelope with five small seeds addressed to Worth appears at Weinberger’s mansion, someone drops off a note for Worth consisting of multiple stick figures, a stranger with a foreign accent appears on the doorstep and asks for Worth, telling Maureen he wants to talk to Worth about Amy Gray. In short, someone is invoking elements of the Canon. Maureen is not familiar enough with the stories to recognize the pattern.

Worth was not invited to the reception but he appeared anyway, causing no end of disruption and he’s later found shot to death upstairs. The Irregulars jump at the opportunity to investigate a case using Holmesian methods. Lieutenant A. Jackson, who worked with Fergus O’Breen on his earlier case, is assigned this one because his brother Paul is an actor with Metropolis. He has his hands full with eager wannabe investigators and a crowd of people who held grudges against Worth.

Boucher clearly had great fun writing this book. In one fell swoop he drops names of his colleagues, Holmesian elements, and film studio background into a competently constructed mystery. A must-read for followers of Sherlock Holmes.