THE BOOK
IS HOT “OFF THE PRESSES” and here’s the first serious review: Sherlockian
Expert offers great review for Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years
Philip
Jones is familiar to most fans of Sherlock Holmes as he has over 100 reviews of
Sherlock Holmes books on Amazon and maintains probably the most complete
Sherlock Holmes database on www.sherlockian.net and other websites. His review
of Sherlock Holmes –
The Golden Years appears below in its entirety:
Review:
“The description on the
back of this book caused me to worry that I was in for a set of tales steeped
in the supernatural, but all such fears were put to rest by the first
story. Eventually, all five proved
to be based firmly in reality, with only a few nods at another orientation in
the final tale. This collection of five novellas is one of the
finest sets of Sherlockian fiction I have seen. The author has a good grasp of Nineteenth Century British
politics and thought and each of the tales looks at seldom seen sides of that
world. The author also plans to continue this set of tales in
future.
“The Bonnie Bag of Bones”
introduces Adaline Dart who is involved in the disappearance of one Godfrey
Norton. The narrative progresses,
bringing in more of her family, as time goes on. An explanation for the existence of the “Grey Man,” who is
suspected of the murder is also presented.
In “The Curse of the Black
Feather” we meet the primary villain in this series of tales, the man who wears
the black feather. This mystery
begins with a request by G. K. Chesterton to investigate events that occurred
following the birth of an illegitimate daughter to a former servant of
his. It also pits Sherlock against
his brother, Mycroft and the rest of the “Intelligence” establishment.
The third novelette, “The
Maestro of Mysteries” continues the investigation began in “Black
Feather.” This leads into a dark
underground realm in London, to the “Society of the Golden dawn” and to
international complications. Part of this tale illustrates the author’s
understanding of the Government of the Empire’s attitude toward the rest of the
world and some of the consequences of that attitude.
“The Cure that Kills” details
the hunt for the perpetrator of the previous two tales and the clash between
Holmes and the Pinkerton agents hired to help his search. Among other things, it takes place
mostly in Battle Creek, Michigan, for quite reasonable causes.
The final tale, “The Kongo
Nkisi Spirit Train,” takes Holmes and Watson to Africa. Native magic is holding up completion
of the Cape to Cairo railway and Holmes is needed to put it back on track
before the coming War demands its use.
Some events occur in this tale for which explanations are not provided.
These five tales are rich
in details. Many historical characters are portrayed, some with no more
explanation than a name. As an
example, look up Irene’s son-in-law.
He was born in 1893 and he died in 1988 and I’ve read at least one of
his books. Many of the characters
will reward further studies. While
these tales do not use Dr. Watson in the same fashion as do most of the
Canonical tales, they approach Doyle’s methods in many ways. Doyle used Dr. Watson for specific
reasons and in particular ways in all but six of the tales. This author comes close, but is more
generous to “the Good Doctor.”
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