Retirement, dear Watson, is not for to be taken lightly. Great characters of literature don’t always die, they survive beyond the life of their creators, regenerated. With the new series of TV adventures underway, it’s no surprise that the greatest detective of all is given a new breath of life in a new library reprinting novels by contemporary writers who maintain the spirit of the original tales whilst adding new ingredients.

In these first two adventures, Holmes enters a world of psychics and the undead where murder seems to come beyond the grave. Seance for a Vampire (originally published in 1994) finds him investigating two seemingly fraudulent spiritualists who have been called in by Ambrose Attamount to make contact with his recently deceased daughter. A murder in the mansion only adds to the mystery, whether supernatural or not. But it means that Holmes can only solve the mystery with the help of his cousin, Count Dracula, encountering an undead Russian pirate and the mad monk himself, Rasputin. Fred Saberhagen, best known for his fantasy and science fiction tales such as The Swords and Berserker series, pens this dark detective tale and unites two literary greats. Indeed he also penned a whole series of Dracula/vampire tales popularising the bloodsuckers long before Twilight and True Blood. Perhaps it’s not surprising then that he divides the narrative between Dr Watson and the Count himself, which helps maintain the sense of intrigue. However, it has the feel of a more conventional mystery adventure rather than an assimilation of our favourite detective’s familiar deductive skills.

In complete contrast, The Seventh Bullet (originally published in 1992) is set in that favourite murder-mystery environment, the quaint English village, as well as in the bigger realms of America. In this instance, gossip writer David Graham Phillips has been assassinated. Someone obviously didn’t like their affairs being spread about; such a muck-raking individual was bound to create enemies with his revelations. Holmes is forced to interrupt his peaceful rural vacation as he solves the clues which reveal the motives for the murder and explain how seven bullets were fired from a gun that held only six. Could that mean the killer was silenced by another gunman rather than committing suicide? This volume is penned by David D. Victor and right from the start he’s determined to show an ageing sleuth who still lives with his extraordinary powers of perception. An enjoyably affectionate celebration of those original adventures.

Two very contrasting tales with equally varied styles, both proving that you can’t keep a good detective down.

Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Seance for a Vampire by Fred Saberhagen and The Seventh Bullet by Daniel D. Victor, Titan Books, pb, rrp £7.99 each. Rating: ***½

A story of fate, passion, jealousy, suicide, bullfighting and translation from 1950, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman takes place twenty years earlier in Esperanza, on the coast of Spain, but its story begins centuries before that. On trial for an appalling crime, Hendrick van der Zee blasphemes most dreadfully and is cursed by God to wander the seas of the earth until judgment day. There's a way out: every seven years he gets to spend half a year among men, to find a woman who could redeem him, a woman willing to give up her life for him.

Pandora Reynolds understands unreasonable demands, since she makes them of others: she tells one suitor that she will not consider his advances unless he pushes his car off a cliff, but considers their deal broken when he recovers it from the ocean. She's a drama queen, a vicarious thrill seeker who, unfulfilled by her life, chooses "fury and destruction", as the Dutchman says. Meeting, they are overwhelmed by their mutual need, though knowing what must result he resists as long as he is able.

For a restored print, it's a bit scratchy, and the colour is very variable – traces perhaps of why it required restoration in the first place. Despite that, the beauty of the film shines through: each shot resembles a carefully composed oil painting, often with symbolic intent – when Pandora and Hendrick kiss for the first time, and in other crucial scenes, his ship is visible in the distance, hanging over them, predicting their doom. The narration is sometimes rather on the nose, with the actors comically appearing to act in response to the narration, but the performances are otherwise excellent, James Mason and Ava Gardner in particular being quite wonderful as the Dutchman and Pandora.

Though Pandora's depiction in the film is unflattering, a feminist reading is possible, by which she is frustrated by the limitations of her times, and forced to live through the men in her life. "Happiness lies in the simple things," says Stephen Cameron, her rather aged suitor, but given his determination to break the land speed record it's clear the maxim is for wives rather than husbands. Given the opportunity, Pandora might have found fulfilment and drama behind the wheel of her own racing car, rather than in the arms of a tragic ghost of times past.

It's a remarkable film, and one whose re-release is well-timed to appeal to fans of modern films of supernatural romance – though given its tragic conclusion, and the way that conclusion is presented as heroic, beautiful and inevitable, it's perhaps the last thing maudlin, love-struck teenagers should be watching...

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, Albert Lewin (dir/wri), Park Circus, DVD/BluRay, 1hr58.

Count Marechal would see the Mirkarvian empire restored, but the emperor died three hours ago – before a crucial speech could be given. Thus Johannes Cabal escapes execution for necromancy (and related book theft), but the episode ends badly, and Cabal escapes on an aeroship – the Princess Hortense, on her maiden cruise – in the guise of Herr Gerhard Meissner, docket clerk first class, Department of Administrative Coordination. There are murders; Cabal investigates.

This was very enjoyable. Both narrator and character are quietly funny, and there's a touch of the Stainless Steel Rat about Johannes, both in his humour and his disdain for the law (and at one point it is said of him that you should "set a monster to catch a monster"), though he does not share his science fictional counterpart's regard for human life – having defeated an enemy, he thinks it best to kill them while they are "handy and vulnerable".

Nor does he share the Rat's interest in women. Indeed, he "usually carried a faint scent of formaldehyde around with him, which had the effect of depressing any amorous intent of any woman with a working nose", so the attention he attracts from femmes fatales during the voyage (enforced absence from his laboratory having done much for his odour) comes as a surprise and a challenge.

There are also echoes of Keith Laumer's Retief tales: Cabal is a capable man on a world of militaristic idiots, sadists and popinjays, a world with one foot stuck in the 19th century. Unlike Retief, Cabal has a capable, intelligent woman to deal with: Leonie Barrow, a criminologist from his past with the uncanny, infuriating ability to awaken his "feelings" and "conscience". Their uneasy unfriendship provides many of the novel's best moments.

Special mention must go to the wonderful cover, a striking piece of art and design by Michael Windsor. The back cover reproduces the first three paragraphs of the novel, showing a classy and I think justified confidence in the author's writing, which is sparky, amusing and dramatic.

The last thirty pages of the book offer a bonus feature: "The Tomb of Umtak Ktharl", an entertaining novella which succeeds the events of the novel.

Johannes Cabal the Detective, Jonathan L. Howard, Headline, hb, 380pp.

The Imperial Fists space marines are recruiting. Instead of a major leafleting campaign and some adverts on the telly, the Imperial Fists land in a war zone and grab some likely lads, asking for volunteers before drugging them and taking them aboard ship. Three recruits, one from each side in the war, conveniently, end up being trained together and going off to guard a planet that has been attacked by the forces of Chaos. It all goes pear shaped of course, and the lads are thrown in at the deep end.

It’s competent enough, well written and very workman like. The characters are well formed and three dimensional, the plot all works and mostly makes sense. It’s good enough to take its place among others of its kind where it will fit in nicely.

Unfortunately it won’t stand out in any way. There’s no spark of originality here, no angle or spice to make you take notice. It’s just another Warhammer novel.

To sum up, and in my opinion, you won’t think you’ve wasted your money, if you’re a fan of the Black Library, but I challenge you to pick it out from a line up after about three months.

Sons of Dorn, Chris Roberson, The Black Library, £6.99.