While reading The Casebook of Esho St. Claire by Scott Roche, I couldn’t help but imagine it as series on PBS, like Masterpiece Theatre, in the style of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett. The flavour of these two stories is akin to the famed detective’s tales, only with a fantastic, supernatural twist. An occult consulting detective, the polite and brave, Esho St. Claire, possesses just the right skills to deal with the arcane cases brought to him by varied clients. Whether a Lovecraftian threat growing beneath Manhattan in the Undercity or a ghost crying for justice against a potential death-ray, Esho is the man with the knowledge and spectral connections to solve the mystery. Roche has created a thoroughly engaging character, dropping just the right amount of background to have you wondering what Esho might be capable of next. My only issue is I wished for a little more of that history to further flesh him out. However, that’s due to my liking for extended novels over short stories. Yet, the two adventures do get me wishing for more. Now, about that series …