Review: I Must Have REALLY Liked This One...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 5, 2013
...because I started reading it at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, finished it up at 9 that night and barely set it down once the whole time.I usually hesitate before buying a new and unreviewed book of Sherlock Holmes stories because I am distressed by the amount of tales whose authors think they know how to write a Sherlock Holmes story better than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They will change absolutely anything! They may have Holmes find the love of his life (most commonly, women writers do this). They could introduce their own series character into the stories, essentially shoving Watson to one side. They might have Holmes pensively mooning about what-might-have-been regarding his "relationship" with Irene Adler. (It is mostly male writers who cannot seem to resist doing this, as if they had never actually read "A Scandal in Bohemia.") They might introduce personality traits which are completely out of character because that suits their story better. And so on. (Feel free to fill in your own pet peeve).The editor of this book promised not to do any of that, and for the most part, kept his promise. "None of that nonsense, thank you very much, but I could not resist just one exception!" Although I personally felt there was more than one exception, I really can't complain very much, as I found this book to be full of totally engrossing tales. And for the price? How can you beat it?1. The Mystery of Ogham Manor -- An insurance company engages Holmes to look into the suspicious timing of the death of a businessman who had been insured for an obscene amount of money and then died a month later. I find Holmes and Watson to be more than a bit out of character here, and going along with this, Irene Adler gets a backstory of having betrayed Holmes's love but later sacrificing her life for his...and in a footnote the author of the story conveniently mentions the title of this other story in case you want to look into such non-canonical nonsense. Despite managing to stuff Irene Adler's name into the story for no good reason, it's a very good whodunnit!2) The Dentist -- Pursuing locum work to earn more money, Dr. Watson takes over the practice of a fellow physician away on vacation. While familiarizing himself with the absent doctor's cases, Watson realizes that several of his female patients had died presenting obvious symptoms of having been poisoned, but the doctor hadn't seemed to notice. Watson turns to Holmes when yet another female patient dies showing the same poisoning symptoms as the others. (This was my personal favorite.)3) The Fury -- Colonel Ross (from the story, "Silver Blaze") asks Holmes to help him locate a missing trainer who had been the only person in Ross's employ able to handle The Fury, a highly promising champion colt from Silver Blaze's bloodline.4) Death and No Consequences -- A nephew of Queen Victoria is allowed to commit murder with impugnity, and Holmes is hired not to solve the murder, but to make it look as if everything possible was being done to pursue the murderer. Once again, I felt the characters of Holmes and Watson were a bit off, and there was a lot of unnecessary exposition in it (how Holmes got hooked on drugs, how he became a detective, comments about his family life) that seemed completely out of place and totally non-canonical.5) Murder at the Diogenes Club -- Holmes and Watson are called in to investigate...yes...a murder at the Diogenes Club. A tale of homicide, espionage, double dealing and Mycroft Holmes.6) The Adventure of the Night Hunter -- this story pairs two of Arthur Conan Doyle's creations, Professor Edward Challenger and Sherlock Holmes, as they pursue an otherworldly killer. A highly non-canonical but engrossing adventure.7) The Adventure of the Devil's Father -- A story written to explain the Watsonian reference to Colonel Warburton's madness: "Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend Sherlock Holmes for solution, there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his notice: that of Mr Hatherley's thumb and that of Colonel Warburton's madness... " The Engineer's Thumb8) A Memo from Inspector Lestrade -- Written by Lestrade! Holmes, Watson and the now-retired Lestrade team up to run a con on a card cheat who has joined Lestrade's gentleman's club. Not particularly canonical; not sure I care. Very clever and entertaining story.9) The Button-Box -- Holmes is employed to retrieve a stolen button-box. The reaction of the male characters to the concept of button-boxes is most amusing. Then the story takes a twist into something entirely different!10) Sherlock Holmes - Stymied! -- Holmes develops an interest in the game of golf after having been hired to locate a stolen silver trophy and a missing caddy. The title of the story comes from a rule which vanished from the golfing codes in 1952 but of course, was still in effect at the time of this one round played between Holmes and Watson.11) Bad Habits -- Watson and Holmes look into the death of a nun who was murdered on her way to engage them on a case. A very exciting story.12) Irene and the Old Detective -- The retired detective befriends a young schoolgirl, and by teaching her how to listen and to think, helps her raise her school grades. (No, Irene Adler is not in the story, but once again, here is a male writer who could not stop himself from bringing her up.) I assume this is the (distaff) story that the editor said he could not resist, because it is a real charmer.