B.A.B.A.E.L.

I must admit, I'm on a bit of a non-fiction kick right now, and coming off of the fabulous Hellhound on His Trail, the essay collection The Devil and Sherlock Holmes really seemed to fit the bill.

I first heard about this book when the author did a really great interview on NPR, made a mental note to check it out, and then -- as usual -- promptly forgot about it. Lucky for me, a conversation with someone brought to mind one of the stories in the book, The Chameleon, and since I had a computer nearby, I went ahead and snagged it from my library's collection of e-books.

For the most part, I'm glad I did.

The essays were divided into sections, and the first section, with its discussion of the possible murder of a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast and the aforementioned Chameleon of Nantes was engrossing. I ripped through theses fascinating tales of the mysterious and extremely weird.

There were some additional tales that caught my attention, like the case of the possibly innocent arsonist accused of killing his children in Texas,  or even the story of the really eccentric "Sandhogs" of NYC, tunneling under the earth.

However, by the end, tales of a dude who doesn't want to stop playing baseball, or the mafia in Youngstown Ohio really started to lose my interest. So much so that I never did read the last one or two stories in the book.

Overall, though, the material and the writing were solid, and a handful of bad essays in a book full of them isn't really a problem -- especially when they are all helpfully grouped together! I'd certainly recommend you give it a  look, and, by and large, prepare to be amazed!