The news that Karl and other authors were present at the book signing soon aroused enthusiastic attention on the Internet.
After all, it is very rare to see the characters in the novels cosplayed by Karl and others.
Indeed, it has played a promotional role to a certain extent, and it has also made the popularity of the "Sherlock Holmes" series, which has just been released in this world, even more intense.
The autograph session lasted until nightfall and was not over yet. The on-site bookstore was the world of fans.
However, outside the bookstore, there are more book fans who are attentively opening the title pages of the physical books and immersing themselves in the new mystery stories.
Or you may have finished reading early and started sharing your analysis and evaluation of the stories in the book on reasoning forums or other social media platforms.
Especially the novella "Uncanny Valley", which opens the second part of the detective collection, has been the most discussed.
Unlike other previous works, most mystery fans first focus on the quality of the work and evaluate it.
With the support of the Golden Dagger Award and the popularity of the first part of the detective series, as soon as the second part was published, the discussion threads opened were basically analyzing the progress of the plot.
For example, what is the purpose of a certain paragraph in the book, who appears on the scene may be the introduction of the story, key clues in the plot, and even a specific sentence can become a point of discussion and analysis.
The popularity of the novel is evident.
At home and abroad, there are also many book critics or related practitioners who are also reading the second part of this detective collection for the first time.
Among them is Barry. As one of the judges of the Golden Dagger Award, Barry has been paying close attention to subsequent works after he voted for Omega in the final selection and witnessed the other party winning the award.
The publication of the first volume of "The Sherlock Holmes" gave Barry a huge surprise. It once made Barry feel like he was returning to his youth when he was reading detective novels.
The characters and cases in the book, even though a relatively long time has passed since the previous reading, still make Barry feel vivid.
When checking related reasoning information on the Internet through his mobile phone, Barry also saw a group photo of Carl and others cosplaying, and then he slowly remembered that among a bunch of packages sent by the publishing house, there seemed to be the second part of the detective series.
The presence.
This reminder also made Barry quickly find the place where the package was placed and start rummaging around.
Although he is nearly eighty years old, he keeps exercising all year round and has the habit of reading mystery novels, so Barry does not look like his peers at this age.
After unpacking a few packages, Barry found the physical form of the second part of the detective series.
As a well-known figure in the industry, the publisher also sent Barry a large gift package in one go.
A copy of the package was sent to Barry along with the signed and gold-edged limited edition.
He selected one of the books and opened it with great interest. It was rare for Barry to open a catalog with a bit of impatient mood.
The layout of the entire book is the same as what Jiang Yuan introduced before the book signing, but this is the first time Barry has seen it.
I nodded subconsciously when I saw the article "Uncanny Valley", thinking that it should be similar to the first part of the detective series.
But after noticing the section on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Barry's eyes suddenly lit up.
Obviously, I didn't expect that this volume actually included so many short stories.
Rubbing the letters and symbols on the page with his fingertips, Barry began to think subconsciously.
At this age, in addition to serving as a judge for the Golden Dagger Award, Barry still has some goals he wants to achieve in the editing industry.
For example, starting a mystery magazine of his own was an idea that Barry had conceived when Omega won the Golden Dagger Award.
If Omega can be invited, with his reputation and traffic, coupled with the quality of his works, and the contacts he has accumulated over the years, Barry feels that he is more likely to start a magazine.
But the reason why I haven't taken any action is partly because I'm not very familiar with Jiang Yuan, and also because I haven't read any of Omega's short stories.
Although it is not impossible to launch a serialization, according to Barry's assumptions and considering his age group, it is estimated that such a magazine will be one less than one.
So the first issue of the magazine, Barry had already made up his mind to make it the last one.
Up to now, Barry has received several high-quality short stories. Now that he saw the catalog of the second part of the detective collection, Barry once again had the urge to invite Jiang Yuan for contributions.
However, after thinking about it for a while, Barry suppressed his excitement for the time being, gently opened the pages of the book, and decided to read the story first before thinking about it.
According to his reading habits, although he wanted to jump directly to the short stories, Barry felt that the arrangement of the book should be logical, so he started reading the first story called "Uncanny Valley" in order.
【The Valley of Fear(uncanny valley)】
The story still starts with the conversation between Holmes and Watson, and goes straight to the topic. Holmes receives a letter from Pollock.
It doesn't matter who Pollock's true identity is. According to the introduction, Pollock was an undercover agent developed by Holmes in the criminal organization called Moriarty Criminals.
At the beginning of the story, Moriarty, the villain of the Sherlock Holmes series, was successfully introduced.
The title Moriarty was given to Moriarty through the dialogue between Holmes and Watson is similar to "famous criminal", "unprecedented conspirator", "chief leader of the evil forces" and other seemingly exaggerated code names.
.
This kind of arrangement is no less than telling everyone in the latest trailer that this is the most expensive card when a mobile card drawing game is updated.
It is not difficult for Barry to see that such a character should not be ordinary in subsequent stories.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! But the most curious thing right now is still the letter sent by Pollock. According to Holmes's description, receiving such a letter must mean that something big has happened.
The content of the letter was quickly revealed to readers.
【534 C2 13 127 36 31 4 17 21 41
Douglas 109 293 5 37 Birlstone
26 Birlstone 9 47 171]
The format of the coded letter made Barry's eyes light up. With the opening of a few conversations and such a letter, the mysterious and tense feeling of a detective novel was instantly created.
This is obviously a coded letter, and if you want to crack it, you must get the so-called codebook to get the key to the final answer.
Making inferences based on the clues of the password obviously did not trouble Holmes, and he quickly deduced the corresponding codebook based on the password.
Barry nodded. Sometimes the beauty of detective novels is that watching the detective show his clever side can also bring pleasure to people.
After locking the codebook, Holmes quickly learned the true content of the coded letter.
After matching the corresponding words one-to-one with the names of the people in the letter, we finally got such a seemingly fragmented passage.
[There will be danger...that may soon come to someone, Douglas, rich...countryside...now Birlstone Village, Birlstone Manor, letter...urgent.
】
Although the information conveyed is scattered, the subject is obviously very specific and clear as long as the recipient thinks a little.
At this time, Detective McDonald of the Metropolitan Police Department appeared on the scene. Due to the timeline of the story, McDonald was not yet a nationally famous detective at this time.
Macdonald's arrival also brought some very dramatic news.
After seeing the information deduced by the two Holmes, the detective was shocked and explained that just the night before, Mr. Douglas of Birlstone Manor was murdered.
It was precisely for this reason that Holmes came to seek help.
The dramatic scene fits Barry's impression of detective novels very well.
At least this is a pattern where cases come to us on their own initiative, rather than where someone dies wherever the detective goes.
After learning the news, Holmes and others did not rush to the scene of the crime immediately.
Instead, they began to discuss Pollock who sent the warning letter and Moriarty behind it, and gave Mike and others some examples of Moriarty's criminal record.
Although it was told to Mike and others, in Barry's eyes, with just a few words, Moriarty had already created the impression that Moriarty was a resourceful and powerful genius criminal before he even appeared on the scene.
’s character.
After understanding the power of the villain, I subconsciously developed a certain curiosity about this character.
Macdonald was obviously no exception. He almost forgot about the business while listening. Fortunately, he brought the topic back to the subject in time, and they were about to set off to the scene of the crime, which was Birlstone Manor.
On the way, Mike also talked about the details of the case.
The need to invite a detective like Holmes to take action is obviously enough to show that the case is extraordinary.
The so-called details of the case are actually not very detailed.
It was just a local police detective friend who sent Macdonald a letter.
The letter described that Mr. Douglas was shot at around twelve o'clock the night before. He was hit in the head by a shotgun and needed the support of Holmes.
Other than that, there are no other clues yet.
For such clues, Holmes did not give any definite inferences.
The carriage continued to drive, as if it was heading for a gorgeous stage that had been set up, making people involuntarily look forward to witnessing this "performance".
After just flipping through a few pages, Barry was very happy when he realized this.
Suddenly I felt that such a plot was compelling. Even if I didn't read the short story, serializing it in my own magazine would be quite attractive content.
Thinking of this, Barry had secretly made up his mind to get Jiang Yuan to participate in his magazine.
Even if it is a novella, his magazine should at least be the one issue where the novella is serialized. Thinking of this, Barry's motivation suddenly burned brightly.
With this feeling, I continue to turn the pages of the story.
Like the first part, the story in this part is always told and recorded from Watson's perspective.
All records are events that have already occurred, so the next part is a further detailed description of the case.
Birlstone Manor, where the case occurred, is located in the countryside. It was established to meet the needs of the war, so a moat was built.
Because of the moat, there is only one way in and out of the manor - the suspension bridge. The suspension bridge is raised every night and lowered the next morning.
As a result, the location where the crime occurred formed a closed "isolated island" condition.
Barry raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw it. After all, the last movie "No Survival" that amazed him with a direct vote was also a typical island mode.
I immediately started reading with anticipation.
Now that the location of the case is known, the next step is the characters. There are only two people living in the manor, Douglas and his wife, in addition to the housekeeper Eames and the housekeeper Mrs. Allen.
According to local impressions, Douglas was a brave and friendly good man, about fifty years old, while his wife was twenty years younger. As for the other servants, they had no connection with the case that night.
According to friends, the two of them did not seem to trust each other, and Mrs. Douglas also had a small problem of appearing nervous from time to time.
In addition, the other person present that night, Buck, was Douglas's friend and occasionally stayed at the manor.
He was very friendly to Douglas and even Mrs. Douglas. According to the butler's description, sometimes he was so friendly that it often made Douglas jealous.
On the night of the incident, Buck went to the police station to report the incident.
Police detectives and forensic doctors also arrived at the crime scene immediately.
The situation at the scene was a bit complicated. Douglas was shot in the head with a modified shotgun and died. His head was no longer open. Almost the entire head was broken into pieces, and his death was tragic.
There was a bloody footprint on the window sill, and a mysterious card was left next to the deceased.
The card release reads "V.V.,314"
There was a fallen hammer on the ground, and there were several muddy footprints behind the curtains. The housekeeper testified that the deceased's wedding ring was also missing.
The situation at the scene was so complicated that people seemed confused, so they asked Holmes for help.
The complex scene is like a well-prepared stage, waiting for the protagonist to appear.
After the review of the case was completed, Holmes also arrived at the scene. After hearing such an introduction, he was amazed and very interested. The drama was about to begin. Barry watched intently and full of anticipation.
…
While Barry was immersed in reading, Jiang Yuan stretched for a long time at the autograph session.
The autograph signing, which took nearly half a day, finally came to an end.
The first day of autograph signing ended and the scene was still lively.
Many fans were still present, but Jiang Yuan stood up at the end and took photos with the audience again before leaving.
The signing lasted from day to night, and the fans understood Jiang Yuan's fatigue, so they didn't bother him too much.
When he arrived at the bookstore, he waved to the fans outside the venue again, and then Jiang Yuan got in the car and left to have dinner.
At the same time, after the signing, I picked up my phone and paid attention to the live reactions on the Internet.
