A Taste for Honey
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 First edition | |
| Author | H. F. Heard |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Published | 1941 |
| Publisher | Cassell (UK) Vanguard Press (US) |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Followed by | Reply Paid |
A Taste for Honey is a 1941 mystery novel by H. F. Heard.
Background[edit]
A Taste for Honey was the first of three novels Heard wrote about a Mr. Mycroft, strongly implied to be an elderly Sherlock Holmes in retirement on the Sussex Downs.[1] The novel's two sequels are Reply Paid (1945) and The Notched Hairpin (1949).[1] Heard also wrote two short stories featuring the detective for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine: "Mr. Montalba, Obsequist"[2] (September 1945)[3] and "The Enchanted Garden" (March 1949).[3]
Reception[edit]
Christopher Morley called A Taste for Honey the only worthwhile Sherlock Holmes sequel, adding that it was "engaging and terrifying".[4] Raymond Chandler called the book "a very clever thriller".[5]
Vladimir Nabokov expressed enthusiasm for the novel, stating in a letter to his friend, the critic Edmund Wilson: "I was lying on my bed groaning … yearning for a good detective story—and at that very moment the Taste for Honey sailed in. … Mary [McCarthy] was right, I enjoyed it hugely." Nabokov, an expert in entomology, also noted that the author got facts about butterflies in the novel wrong.[6]
Adaptations[edit]
On 22 February 1955, the American Broadcasting Company presented "Sting of Death", an adaptation of the novel starring Boris Karloff as Mr. Mycroft, as an episode of The Elgin TV Hour.[7]
The novel was loosely adapted into a 1967 British horror film, The Deadly Bees, directed by Freddie Francis.[8] Robert Bloch, who admired the novel, kept closely to it in his original screenplay; however, before production began, the screenplay was heavily rewritten by Anthony Marriott, removing most connections with the book.[9]
See also[edit]
- The Final Solution, another novel whose detective is implied to be Holmes in retirement
References[edit]
- ^ a b DeAndrea, William L. (1994), Encyclopedia Mysteriosa, London: Macmillan, p. 159
- ^ Queen, Ellery (1946), To the Queen's Taste: The First Supplement to 101 Years' Entertainment: Consisting of the Best Stories Published in the First Four Years of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., p. 322
- ^ a b Kaye, Marvin (1995), The Game Is Afoot: Parodies, Pastiches, and Ponderings of Sherlock Holmes, New York: St. Martin's Press, p. 123, ISBN 9780312117979
- ^ Morley, Christopher; Rothman, Steven (1990), The Standard Doyle Company: Christopher Morley on Sherlock Holmes, New York: Fordham University Press, p. 112, ISBN 9780823212927
- ^ Chandler, Raymond; MacShane, Frank (1981), Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler, New York: Columbia University Press, p. 416, ISBN 9780231050807
- ^ Oklot, Michal; Walker, Matthew (2018), "Detective Fiction", in Bethea, David M.; Frank, Siggy (eds.), Vladimir Nabokov in Context, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 160, ISBN 9781108676175
- ^ Nollen, Scott Allen (1991), Boris Karloff: A Critical Account of His Screen, Stage, Radio, Television, and Recording Work, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., p. 338, ISBN 9780899505800
- ^ Francis, Freddie; Dalton, Tony (2013), Freddie Francis: The Straight Story from Moby Dick to Glory: A Memoir, Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, p. 142, ISBN 9780810892064
- ^ Schweitzer, Darrell; Mallett, Daryl F. (1994), Speaking of Horror: Interviews with Writers of the Supernatural, San Bernardino, CA: Borgo Press, pp. 14–15