Through the 'net's mysterious ways I came accross this short story, by
Gaiman. There isn't too much to say about him, since he is a well-known monster in terms of creativity.
This time he delivers a short story about an incredibly smart detective, much in the way of
Chesterton, another one of my favourite writers. But with a twist, of course. In the cover of the book that originally contains this story says "Sherlock Holmes enters the dark, nightmare world of H. P. Lovecraft". Almost. I'd rather say "
Father Brown meets Lovecraft".
By the way, this story was nominated for best short story in the
2004 Hugo Awards, and it won.
It's short, it's great, it's free and it's one click away:
http://www.neilgaiman.com/exclusive/StudyinEmerald.asp
Hint: you might find it interesting to navigate the rest of his site.