Sherlock Holmes Archives - Mostly Mysteries

September 30, 2024September 22, 2024

Redacted Sherlock Holmes

The six stories in Orlando Pearson’s The Redacted Sherlock Holmes Volume III are a mixed bag. In some stories, such as and “The Book-Thief and the Blitz,” Holmes seems slow and withdrawn. In fact, Watson reports at one point,” Holmes spent the time we had in a daze.”

The stories range from good (“Some Parisian Hot-Desking”) to dull (“The Book-Thief and the Blitz”) to outright strange (“The Sussex Factotum”).

“Some Parisian Hot-Desking” has Watson and Holmes cornering and catching Sebastian Moran. Moran was second-in-command to Professor James Moriarty in the original Holmes canon. This story is well done.

In “A Christmas Carol” Homes makes good use of his propensity for disguises to woo a maid and thus get access to a house and solve his case.

“The Book-Thief and the Blitz” had Holmes and Watson away from London to help decode German messages during World War II. Holmes is not at his best in this story. As noted before, Watson even remarks that Holmes seems “in a daze.” A good portion of this story delves rather more deeply into breaking the German codes than necessary.

“The Sussex Factotum” deals with implications of the aberrant sexual proclivities of Eric Gill, a prosperous sculptor. This story is an instance where Holmes agrees with his brother, Mycroft, that doing nothing is probably the best option.

“The Doctor and the Demon” has the game of cricket at its center. Granted, we Americans may not be apprised of all the rules of this inimitable English sport. However, having Dr. Watson describe the game to Holmes slows the story down.

Enjoyable Read

All in all, I enjoyed the stories in The Redacted Sherlock Holmes Volume III well enough. But, in my opinion, Holmes could have been sharpened up a bit. He seemed sluggish in a few of the stories as mentioned above. Dr. Watson’s narration of the stories was well done.

September 23, 2024September 18, 2024

Death in the Harem

Martha Hudson helps Sherlock Holmes detect something amiss in the harem of Sultan Abdul Hamid in Susan Knight’s Death in the Harem: A Mrs. Hudson/Sherlock Holmes Mystery. There have been strange and mysterious deaths among the sultan’s wives, concubines and female slaves. She, Holmes, and Watson pay a visit to Turkey via the Orient Express. Mrs. Hudson, used to plainer things, doesn’t see the need to stay in the poshest hotel in Paris and have a new wardrobe outfitted for her. But, ah, well, the sultan insisted, and was paying.

Much is made of the train trip from Paris to Constantinople (present day Istanbul). Too much, it seems. Although there are some interesting characters on the train, most are stereotypical. for example, the Russian actress, Valentina Muratova. A “vision in silks and furs, of indeterminate age, thin as a needle, pale skinned and black-haired, her face exquisitely painted on.” She prances around, acting histrionically, and expecting everyone to recognize her. There’s also Eliza Dodds, traveling with Cecelia, supposedly her sister, although Holmes has his doubts. Miss Dodds is a “stout, florid person…with crinkly curls,” and a dress that “was plain and serviceable.” She is “on [her] way to be governess to a little boy in Constantinople.” Holmes’ thoughts on Eliza Dodds tend towards her being a spy sent to watch them.

Slow-moving, but Successful Overall

The bulk of this novel entails Martha Hudson’s visit to the sultan’s palace at Yildiz, which sits on a hill overlooking Constantinople. Mrs. Hudson makes little headway as she is treated as the outsider that she is by most of the harem members. They are pleasant to her, but quite noncommunicative. Only one, Naime, befriends her and helps as best she can. Madeleine, a French orphan hired by Holmes to be Mrs. Hudson’s ‘slave’ while they were in Constantinople, also helps. She eavesdrops among the servants as she speaks Turkish, although she keeps that fact to herself.

Overall, I enjoyed Susan Knight’s portrayal of Mrs. Hudson. Hudson has gumption, curiosity and quick wits to deal with the treachery of the court and deal with clues that come her way. She is a welcome addition to older women detectives such as Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. Somewhat less time could have been spent describing the train trip and the mundane days in the harem. Otherwise, Death in the Harem: A Mrs. Hudson/Sherlock Holmes Mystery is an enjoyable read.

Death in the Harem: A Mrs. Hudson/Sherlock Holmes Mystery
by Susan Knight
© 2024
MX Publishing

September 16, 2024September 8, 2024

Tales of Scotland Yard: Ratcliffe Highway

After reading Tales of Scotland Yard: Ratcliffe Highway, by Bianca Jenkins, one word comes to mind. More than one, actually. Wonderful, and an interesting take on the Sherlock Holmes milieu. This novel focuses on Giles Lestrade, one of the inspectors who interact with Holmes and Watson in Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories. Focusing on a minor character from the Holmes stories is a refreshing change.

As a newly appointed inspector, Lestrade is assigned a murder case. None of the other inspectors want it as it involves a young, impoverished woman living in one of the poorer sections of London. “Without the suit, Inspector Lestrade would have fit right in with some of the lower members of society passing by on the street.” With smart thinking and dogged footwork Lestrade solves the case.

Jenkins’ characters are well-rounded, especially Lestrade. Despite his tough upbringing, he can be tenderhearted. Smith and the other, more seasoned, inspectors kid Lestrade even as they take a collection to reimburse him for money he paid to feed the murder victim’s two children. Jenkins’ Lestrade is tenacious, as he is in the Doyle canon. Additionally, he is small and wiry in both this work and Doyle’s offerings. Using subtle similarities like this keep the new additions to the Holmes canon interesting to lovers of the original stories.

However, the plot was a bit transparent as to who committed the murder. I felt fairly certain about who was responsible about halfway through the book. This did not decrease my enjoyment of the story, though.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this offering. It is an entertaining addition to the many recent contributions to the Holmes and Watson world. Bianca Jenkins wrote another novel about Lestrade, which I will seek out. Future works in this series would be a welcome addition.

September 9, 2024September 2, 2024

Traitorous Templar

With The Traitorous Templar, Richard T. Ryan does a good job of displaying his knowledge about the Knights Templar (a Christian/Catholic military order that provided soldiers during the Crusades). Holmes, and Watson get involved in a case dealing with nightly disturbances at an art collection. Some of the displays of armor purportedly belonged to the Templars and Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Templars.

A visit from a woman who turns out not to be whom she claims she is, and other events set the detecting duo of Holmes and Watson on a trip to a few of the last-known outposts of the Templars in England: a cave thought to be used by the Templars; a small, dilapidated church; and a small island off the coast of Cornwall. What begins as a desultory investigation as to who was leaving tallow droppings at the art gallery leads to a stealthy search for a treasure of gold and gems supposedly hidden by the Templars as their Order was being disbanded, and they were being denigrated and killed in the early 14th century. All this while being followed by persons unknown, but armed and dangerous, who were also after the treasure.

Mixed Bag

The Traitorous Templar is a mixed bag for me. The novel begins slowly with Holmes discussing the Templars’ history with Watson. There is also a large section directly in the middle of the Holmes/Watson story that deals directly with the Templars. This section envisions how they supposedly were victimized by one of their own turning on them, necessitating the hiding of the treasure. This digression would be very interesting as part of a novel dealing directly with the Templars. But it totally drops the reader out of the Holmes/Watson realm for several chapters.

Especially irksome is that, when the story returns to the Holmes/Watson milieu, Holmes goes over much of the same ground in his discourse to Watson on research he’d done while in London and Watson was in Cornwall. In my opinion, the digress to the time of the Templars could have been omitted entirely. Holmes’ discussion of his research could be broadened to include more of the Templar information.

The final third of the novel was the best part of this somewhat slow rendering of the Holmes/Watson world. Although still slow at points, it quickens slightly and includes a short appearance of Inspectors Gregson and Lestrade. The thieves who were shadowing Holmes and Watson, and who tried to abscond with the treasure, are dealt with.

Ryan effectively portrayed Holmes and Watson in The Traitorous Templar, but the pacing of the story left me wanting more. Holmes is off stage quite a bit and, thus, the banter between him and Watson is missing, for example. But overall, I enjoyed this book. I may seek out other Holmes and Watson tales penned by Richard T. Ryan.