Calling Simon Goodenough - the Sherlock Holmes Murder Dossiers

One of my favorite set of Sherlockian books are the "murder dossier" style books produced by Simon Goodenough in the early 1980s, and published by Webb and Bower UK. These books are not pastiches, they are created in the style of murder dossier books that were created by  (http://www.denniswheatley.info/crimedossiers.htm) J.G. Links and Dennis Wheatley in the 1930s. These dossiers are composed of a collation of case documents (police reports, interviews, photographs, and actual physical evidence), and traditionally acted as a presentation of evidence. At the rear of the dossier (bound in a cardboard folder and bound with string or ribbon) is a sealed section, and once the reader has decided "whodunnit", the section can be unsealed for a full explanation of the facts.

There were THREE such books created by Simon Goodenough and colleagues (including Malcolm Couch (dossier design), Matin Chambers (photography), Caroline Bidwell , Leslie Dominey) published in the early 1980s:

- A Study In Scarlet, 1983

- The Sign of Four, 1985

- The Hound of the Baskervilles, 1985

Webb & Bower also re-published the original Links/Wheatley books in the early 1980s, so they clearly saw an opportunity to re-launch the 'murder dossier' format.

The Webb & Bower catalog showing the reprints of the four J.G. Links murder dossiers (Murder Off Miami, The Malinsay Massacre, Who Killed Robert Prentice, and Herewith The Clues), and the three Simon Goodenough dossiers based on the Sherlock Holmes stories (The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Sign of Four, and Study in Scarlet).

I want to know more about this series was created - it's a wonderful Sherlockian effort ! 

I've been trying to track down Simon and speak to/interview him about creating these books. I wonder if he's connected to any Sherlockians out there? I have little information on Simon Goodenough but know he is British and was/is based in the UK. It appears his last publication credit was for 1997 ('Celtic Mythology') and he was active authoring/creating books in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.

Similarly, Webb & Bower (Exeter, Devon) were the originating publishing house for these books. The company was formed by Richard Webb, who has a website on the history of his organization: https://www.dartmouthbooks.co.uk/richardwebb.htm but I've been unable to make contact with Richard. Similarly, the second founder Delian Bower hasn't been able to be contacted: https://exeter.cylex-uk.co.uk/company/delian-bower-publishing-18785943.html 

And so - if anyone associated with the Sherlock Holmes murder dossiers sees this post, please get in touch! (cispt2 at gmail dot com). I'd dearly like to write a Sherlockian article about this unique set of books, and have many questions.

Below are photographs from two of the three publications, as examples of the construction, and inserts.

The cover of Hound of the Baskervilles and publication details. Note that the dossier is bound with the original red ribbon, and all documents are bound into the dossier by this ribbon.

An example of physical evidence recreated in the HOUN dossier: the envelope to Sir Henry Baskerville is inserted and can be opened, and inside the envelope is the warning note: "As you value your life or your reason, keep away from the MOOR". Actually pasting the words onto the paper was understandably a bridge too far - the note is photocopied from an original!

The cover of A Study in Scarlet, and publication details. In this case the dossier is inserted into a sleeve box from which it is removed.

The first page of the Study in Scarlet dossier is bound with the original red ribbon, and all documents are bound into the dossier by this ribbon. The covering page is a letter from Simon Goodenough to Webb & Bower offering the documents (perhaps from Watson's Tin Box) - "produced out of the rubble" of a London building in World War 2.

Example of a newspaper page, with the advertisement placed by Holmes, in Watson's name, of a plain gold ring "found in the Brixton road". Also shown (right) is the plain gold ring in question.

What better piece of evidence from the case? The calling card of Mr Sherlock Holmes (No degree mentioned).

A note of thanks to Catherine Cooke from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London for pointing me to the information on Webb and Bower.