Godspeed, Mr. Doyle!

Yet another reason to go on living: British screenwriter/novelist David Pirie reports at his Web site that there’s “new life” ahead for his acclaimed historical series featuring the investigative duo of Arthur Conan Doyle and his mentor, Dr. Joseph Bell. Since publishing three Doyle and Bell books--The Patient’s Eyes (2001), The Night Calls (2002), and The Dark Water (2004)--Pirie and his often touchy protagonists pretty much disappeared. Just at the time when the thrilling and often frightening yarn, which had been unfurling in those last two novels, seemed finally on its way to a conclusion. But the author now brings word that he has a new U.S. publisher, Pegasus, which will be bringing out The Dark Water in America come September; and that his next Doyle-Bell adventure, The Dead Time, should see print soon after that.

Meanwhile, a two-disk DVD set of Pirie’s 2000 British series featuring this pair of forensic crime-solvers in Edinburgh--who make brilliant stand-ins for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, it should be noted--is scheduled for release in the States at the end of June. Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes, starring Ian Richardson and Charles Edwards, comprises four delightfully atmospheric tales: “The Patient’s Eyes,” “The Photographer’s Chair,” “The Kingdom of Bones,” and “The White Knight Stratagem.” If you missed those episodes when they were originally broadcast, this is your second chance to see them. Unfortunately, the original Murder Rooms pilot, Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle, which had previously been released on DVD, isn’t included with this new set, and is currently unavailable.