''The Metatemporal Detective'' is a collection of short fiction by British fantasy and literary writer

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...

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The stories chart the adventures of the Holmesian detective Sir Seaton Begg, his trusty sidekick Dr. Taffy Sinclair and his complex relationship with his cousin, nemesis, and occasional ally,

Monsieur Zenith Monsieur Zenith the Albino is an ambiguous villain created by writer Anthony Skene for the "Sexton Blake" series of detective pulp fiction. Zenith is an albino, world-weary gentleman thief, originally Romanian nobility but in exile for undetermine ...

. The stories are set in an eclectic range of times and places and were written over the course of Moorcock's long career. The book features characters from the Moorcock 'multiverse' including the ubiquitous

Una Persson Una Persson is a recurring character in many of Michael Moorcock's 'multiverse' novels. She has also been used as a character in stories by other writers. She was the character Moorcock chose to start a round-robin story in ''The Guardian''. Often ...

. Begg owes much to the character of

Sexton Blake Sexton Blake is a fictional character, a detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels and dramatic productions since 1893. Sexton Blake adventures were featured in a wide variety of British and international publications ...

, the ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' termed the stories rather too 'broad' in their parody of established detective trope

The stories were not, according to Moorcock, designed as literary parody. Begg makes other appearances in Moorcock's work, most recently in ''Zenith Lives!'' and ''The Immortal Seaton Begg'', both from

Obverse Books Obverse Books is a British publisher initially known for publishing books relating to the character Iris Wildthyme, and currently for the ''The Black Archive, Black Archive'' series of critical books on ''Doctor Who,'' and two sister series - t ...

* "The Affair of the Seven Virgins" * "Crimson Eyes" * "The Ghost Warriors" * "The Girl Who Killed Sylvia Blade" * "The Case of the Nazi Canary" * "Sir Milk-and-Blood" * "The Mystery of the Texas Twister" * "London Flesh" * "The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius" * "The Affair of Le Bassin des Hivers" * "The Flaneur des Arcades de l'Opera"

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Metatemporal Detective, The Books by Michael Moorcock Fantasy short story collections 2007 short story collections Pyr books

Contents

References