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The Bookbag reviews Shadowblood – A Novel of Sherlock Holmes

23 Oct

“Huge recommendation to all, but particularly Holmes fans, of course. Revels captures Holmes and Watson absolutely perfectly.“

You can count 5 out of 5 reviews from The Bookbag, one of the toughest book review sites in the world, on one hand if you are publisher and it is a rare book to get this accolade from them.

Shadowblood from Tracy Revels, the 2nd book in a series of Sherlock Holmes novels that started with the best-selling Shadowfall gets the magical 5 stars and glowing recommendations – and they urge even traditionalists, who would normally steer clear of a fantasy version of Holmes, to give it a go.

Shadowfall“I always find this kind of story, throwing fictional and historical characters together in a mix, to be rather hit or miss – sometimes it works brilliantly, sometimes it reads like a cut and paste of various other stories. I was keen to get my hands on this one as I think Revels pulled it off very well in the previous book – but as good as that was, this is definitely superior. For one thing, the action is even more fast and furious, since the world of the Shadows has been established and there’s no need to do any scene-setting there. For another, and the main reason I love the book so much – Revels captures Holmes and Watson absolutely perfectly. Everything Holmes does – from the detective skills he employs, to the moral decisions he makes – fits in completely with the canon of Arthur Conan Doyle novels. Revels is clearly hugely familiar with the originals and while I was originally planning on warning purists that the supernatural theme may put them off, I actually think the characters are captured so well that even the vast majority who wouldn’t normally touch a Holmes story by an author other than ACD will still love this one.”

Shadowblood is available from all good bookstores and all formats including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, and electronic formats soon.

Tracy Revels has a popular blog Strictly Sherlock and Tracy is on Team 1 (BBC Sherlock) in The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate on 10th November alongside:

 
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Posted by on October 23, 2011 in Book Reviews, Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle, The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate

 

Sherlock Holmes and The Irish Rebels – It is 1916 and the world is at war

23 Oct

“Exciting and full of authentic military detail”

That’s how the Sherlock Holmes Society of London described Kieran McMullen’s first novel ‘Watson’s Afghan Adventure‘ published in January and the book has received rave reviews from around the world.

McMullen now turns his focus squarely on Holmes in ‘Sherlock Holmes and The Irish Rebels’. It is early 1916 and the world is at war. Sherlock Holmes is well into his spy persona as Altamont following the capture of the German spy Von Bork at the opening of the Great War. Watson is called to London by Mycroft Holmes and is asked to join Sherlock, who has infiltrated the Irish Volunteers. War within the United Kingdom could deal a decisive blow to the war effort and Holmes must find out the rebels plans, and if possible, stop the rebellion which appears imminent. He has need of Watson once again.

The same level of detail is applied as with the first book. Taking from the review of Watson’s Afghan Adventure;

“Kieran McMullen, author of Watson’s Afghan Adventure is a former professional soldier and a specialist in American military history – an appropriate person to tell of Watson’s experiences as an army surgeon.”

Watson's Afghan AdventureAward winning Holmes historian Alistair Duncan recently commented on his Sherlokian Blog;

“The author is a former US Army officer and his military background and knowledge of the Afghan campaign shine through in the rich detail that he offers us in the story”.

Kieran’s own blog is becoming very popular – especially his recent series of articles on the different actors that have played Dr.Watson.

Sherlock Holmes and The Irish Rebels has already been picked up for pre-order at Book Depository (free worldwide delivery), Amazon UK, and Amazon USA and will follow through all bookstores and in all formats.

Watson’s Afghan Adventure is available from all good bookstores and on Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, iBooks (iPad and iPhone) and other formats.

 
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Posted by on October 23, 2011 in Book Launches, Book Reviews, Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle

 

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Better Holmes and Gardens Review of Shadowfall a novel of Sherlock Holmes

20 Oct
Shadowfall

Shadowfall

“Tracy Revels has a clever and delicious way with words, and the world of Shadowfall is fully formed and beautifully imagined—from the dazzling and terrifying Queen Titania who steals Watson’s soul, to Holmes’s tiny and ethereal honeybee familiar.  Revels’s story is carefully and artfully constructed”

A history professor at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Tracy Revels has been a Sherlock Holmes fan since 5th grade. She teaches a class on Sherlock Holmes called “The Game’s Afoot!” along with more conventional courses in Civil War and women’s history. Shadowfall is her first novel and its sequel, Shadowblood is out this month. You can read the full and detailed review in a fascinating article on the blog Better Holmes and Gardens.

Shadowfall is available in paperback from all good bookstores including Amazon, in Amazon Kindle, Kobo and iBook (ipad/phone) format. You can follow Tracy Revels Blog for her latest news.

 
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Posted by on October 20, 2011 in Book Reviews, Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle

 

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Sherlock Holmes Society of London reviews The Punishment of Sherlock Holmes

19 Oct

“deliberately and successfully funny”

The Punishment of Sherlock Holmes is an engaging collection from Philip K Jones and Bob Burr collected over decades. The Sherlock Holmes Society of London describes the book this week in their journal as:

“The Punishment of Sherlock Holmes: Selected Sherlockian Puns edited by Bob Burr and Philip K Jones is a deliberately and successfully funny assemblage of what must be several hundred short and short-short shaggy dog stories about Holmes and Watson. The book is dedicated to John Bennett Shaw, who would have loved it.”

The book compiles short stories from several decades and from countries all over the world. The book is available for pre-order from all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Book Depository (free worldwide delivery) and soon in all electronic formats.

 

 
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Posted by on October 19, 2011 in Book Launches, Book Reviews, Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle

 

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The Bookbag reviews The Case of The Grave Accusation a Sherlock Holmes Mystery

05 Oct

” It’s a neatly-turned tale which will amuse fans of Holmes and the non-Holmesian alike.”

The Bookbag is one of the UK’s largest independent book reviews sites. Their review for The Case of The Grave Accusation is out this week and overall very positive.

“Much in the way that legend says that King Arthur will return when his country needs him, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson have returned because an accusation has been made against their creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The charge is that the great man plagiarised The Hound of the Baskervilles from his great friend Bertram Fletcher Robinson – and then went on to commit adultery, blackmail and murder in order to conceal what he had done. Holmes’ rooms in Baker Street have not changed a great deal – if one can overlook the addition of a desktop computer and better plumbing – but it’s not long before the pair are off to Dartmoor to discover the truth.

There’s more to this tale than would immediately meet the eye. Back in 2000 the real-life Rodger Garrick-Steele wanted to exhume the body of Fletcher Robinson to prove that he had been murdered and it’s this story which is the basis of The Case of the Grave Accusation although Rodger Garrick-Steele becomes Roger la Perlure d’Ail in the story. It’s a neatly-turned tale which will amuse fans of Holmes and the non-Holmesian alike. It’s interesting to see Holmes and Watson in a modern setting and coping (rather well, it must be said) with the changes that a century or so have brought about.”

You can read the full review here – The Bookbag Review of The Case of The Grave Accusation.

The Case of The Grave Accusation is available from all good bookstores like Amazon, via Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, iBooks (iPad/iPhone) and several other formats.

 
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Posted by on October 5, 2011 in Book Reviews, Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle

 

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The Ill Dressed Vagabond Reviews The Outstanding Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes

28 Sep

Outstanding Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes“This is a pleasing book, whether the reader is a casual admirer of the Sherlockian Canon or a true aficionado”.

The Ill Dressed Vagabond (aka Philip K Jones) is one of the world’s leading Sherlock Holmes reviewers. He maintains a huge online database of stories and pastiches. Here he reviews the collection of short fiction from Gerard Kelly – The Outstanding Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes.

“This collection brought back a number of old friends and introduced me to a pair of new acquaintances.  Eleven of these tales were published in pamphlet format in 1999.  They have not been easy to find and several were later reprinted in a small, single volume collection.  In any case, the sequence in which they were presented differs in a few details from the sequence they appear here.  I am sure the author took the opportunity to correct any of the trifling errors that may have appeared in the original publications when this new collection was produced.  A cursory examination revealed no changes from pamphlet to Trade Paperback, however, I am sure there are some that I simply did not notice.

These stories take place at various times during Holmes’ career and at a number of different locales.  Most are well written and seem to echo the Canon, although they are, in general, more ‘emotional’ than the Canonical tales.  Also, in common with the Canon, some of these tales are better or, at least, more satisfying than the others.  There are a number of interesting characters introduced and several familiar faces grace these pages.  Mycroft, Mrs. Hudson and Inspector Lestrade are the most frequently met characters other than Holmes and Watson, but several new faces are quite fascinating.  I was particularly taken by the Spanish Ambassador who appears in one of the original tales.

The two new stories are “Catacusis Ebriosus” and “The Peddler of Death.”  ‘Catacusis’ was published earlier in “Curious Incidents II,” a collection edited by J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolac.  I do not record an earlier appearance of “The Peddler of Death.”  Both are certainly worth including in any collection of Sherlockian fiction.

Most of these stories rate being classed as novellas, as they exceed twenty pages in length.  This is, of course, an arbitrary definition, but I have found it useful for describing different sorts of tales.  The point is that most of these stories are long enough to allow the author to develop characters and events in some detail. Usually, the short story format forces the author to concentrate on the action involved and has little time for complexities or character traits. In this collection, the author demonstrates that the true monsters in the World are all too human.  Nothing is so truly frightening as the ability of humans to terrify and torture one another.

This is a pleasing book, whether the reader is a casual admirer of the Sherlockian Canon or a true aficionado.  A few purists may take issue with the timing of several of the tales, but I suspect the author can justify his choices of time and place with little trouble.  I am not sure that the occasional use of extra-natural events is truly justified, however, such forays are not germane to the solution of the crimes and only offer some explanation for otherwise unexplained external events”

The Outstanding Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes is available through all leading bookstores worldwide including Amazon, via Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, and iBooks (iPad and iPhone) and various other formats. If you’d like to stage one of the stories as a play you can get in touch with Gerry through us here.

 
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Posted by on September 28, 2011 in Book Reviews, Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle

 

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BBC Sherlock’s writer adds foreword for new Arthur Conan Doyle Book

24 Sep

An Entirely New Country

Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Dr Who, The League of Gentlemen) has written the foreword to what Holmes fans are eagerly expecting to be the most important new Arthur Conan Doyle book of 2011.

Author Alistair Duncan has a very hard act to follow with his new book, An Entirely New Country. His last book, The Norwood Author won the 2011 Howlett Literary Award (Sherlock Holmes book of the year) and was widely recognised as one of the most important Conan Doyle books in recent times due to the new information Duncan uncovered during his meticulous research.

The challenge is that Conan Doyle is one the most written about authors in history, with literally hundreds of biographies about the great man. To find genuinely new information means delving into local archives which was the secret to the success of the book on the Norwood period. Duncan admits that he couldn’t create these ground-breaking books without the significant help from local library staff.

What adds to the importance of this book is the timing. The book covers the ‘Undershaw’ period, the time Conan Doyle spent in the home that he himself designed. The house faces destruction by developers and The Undershaw Trust is working hard to save it. Mark Gatiss is the patron of Save Undershaw and brings a lot of welcome awareness and support to the team.

Judging by the tens of thousands that visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum every year, and the millions of new fans that the BBC’s Sherlock and the new movies have generated, there is plenty of scope for restoring this important building and creating a larger exhibition for Sherlock Holmes.

The Sherlock Holmes Society of London’s Roger Johnson makes strong reference to this in his notes about the new book:

“It was evident from his first book Eliminate the Impossible that Alistair Duncan writes well, that he writes with knowledge and enthusiasm, and that he thinks about what he writes. His subsequent books, Close to Holmes and The Norwood Author, did more than just confirm that impression: they established him as an important commentator on Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous creation. After exploring the years when Conan Doyle lived in Norwood – surprisingly neglected by previous biographers, even though it was then that he became truly famous – Mr Duncan has turned his attention to the author’s next decade, perhaps the most turbulent of his life. Undershaw, the house that Conan Doyle had built at Hindhead, was his home from 1897 to 1907. He wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Nigel, The Return of Sherlock Holmes and much else at Undershaw. The house saw the end of his first marriage and the beginning of his second. He was resident here when he became Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Yet, despite its cultural and architectural importance, Undershaw currently stands empty, vandalised and neglected. Read An Entirely New Country and you’ll understand just why the Undershaw years were so important.”

The most important book on Conan Doyle in 2011? – undoubtedly.

We hope that at least one person that reads An Entirely New Country has a spare £million or two to invest in preserving an important part of Conan Doyle’s history before it is lost forever.

 
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Posted by on September 24, 2011 in Book Reviews, Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle

 

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Philip K Jones reviews Murder In The Library a Sherlock Holmes mystery

24 Sep

“The characters are interesting and the story is written to be continued.  Another book is planned and if it is good as the first, I’m sure it will lead to a popular series.”

Philip K Jones (aka The Ill Dressed Vagabond) reviews the debut novel from Felicia Carparelli – Murder In The Library. The book has recently been picked up for translation and will come out in Italian in early 2012. Here is Phil’s review:

“This book is a Sherlockian mystery only by courtesy.  The characters are knowledgeable about the Canon and there are Sherlockian echoes in the clues and events.  Otherwise, this is an interesting mystery with well-drawn and fascinating characters set in contemporary Chicago.  I was a bit disappointed as it started, due to the book cover, which indicated a ‘period’ mystery.  However, I soon became involved in the story and characters, which are rich and imaginative.  The mystery is complex and baffling with lots of distractions and false leads.

This story is set in an un-named University Library, near Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago.  The heroine is a widowed daughter of a Greek restaurant owner and a retired Italian Opera singer who gives singing lessons.  Both parents cook, a lot!  Our Librarian manages the Reference Department with a staff of five junior Librarians and a number of Student pages.  The other Library staff are varied, interesting and quirky.  Murder definitely upsets the smooth routine of the Library and sets the Gossip Machine into high gear.

The disputes, jealousies, grudges and other interrelations are more than enough to provide motives for several murders.  It seems that College Libraries harbor as many ill feelings as most business enterprises.  Mix in a divorced, green-eyed Police detective who pushes all of the Librarian’s buttons and the situation becomes explosive.  As the body count rises, the toll on nerves and relations mounts and stirs the pot.  Meanwhile, the Greek Chef and the Italian Opera Singer feed friends, acquaintances and suspects and provide a safe harbor in the storm.

The editing is quite good.  I only saw two or three errors in language and no errors at all in matters Sherlockian.  The characters are interesting and the story is written to be continued.  Another book is planned and if it is good as the first, I’m sure it will lead to a popular series.”

Murder In The Library is available from all good bookstores (including Amazon), and in all electronic formats including Kindle, Kobo, iBooks and others.

 
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Posted by on September 24, 2011 in Book Reviews, Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle

 

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Philip K Jones Reviews The Case of The Russian Chessboard a Sherlock Holmes Mystery

24 Sep

Philip K Jones (aka The Ill Dressed Vagabond) is one of the USA’s most respected Holmes reviewers and maintains a huge database of Holmes pastiches and fiction.

Here is his review of The Case of The Russian Chessboard;

“This is a short novel set in the late 19th Century in London.  Holmes and Watson are drawn into an investigation of Russian revolutionaries plotting and recruiting among London’s Liberals.  It brings them into the world of plot and counterplot, agent and counteragent that set the standards for 20th Century Social Commentary.  The Emigrés and the Okhrana define the moves and relations followed by all the various Patriots vs. Secret Police From the October Revolution through the careers of Pol Pot and Idi Amin.  This dance began during the Reign of Peter the Great and, in 200 years, the participants learned their roles well.  Their examples through the Russian Revolution trained another hundred years of artists of abominations.

This is Sherlock Holmes working on a World stage, with despair and misery playing the tune and ambition calling the moves.  It is a dark and unpleasant tale, with few triumphs and little to cheer about.  Holmes makes no brilliant deductions and no knighthood is awaiting him in The Service of the Crown.   The lessons are all bloody and terrible and the victims are pitiful and miserable.  How sadly and typically Russian!  The truly sad thing about this story is that could well have been true.

Holmes accepts a plea from a gentlewoman to help her sister who has become enmeshed in a nihilist organization’s plot.  As part of the investigation, Holmes visits an old acquaintance living on a pacifist commune in rural Essex.  He and Watson are also offered work in St. Petersburg by the London head of the Okhrana and witness the murder of a revolutionary hero in Regent’s Park. Untangling the ins and outs of the matter is a commentary on the methods used by both sides and the struggles to be faced in the dawning Century.

The editing is quite good with only one or two errors apparent.  The writing is dark and the mystery is, unfortunately, fairly easy to penetrate.  The most depressing thing about the book is how true it is to life and the times”.

The Case of the Russian Chessboard is now out in paperback on Amazon USA, Amazon UK, and through all good bookstores. The book is also available on Amazon Kindle and all other ebook formats.

 
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Posted by on September 24, 2011 in Book Launches, Book Reviews, Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle

 

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Sherlock Holmes Society of London reviews A Case of Witchcraft

16 Sep

“well written and thoroughly researched”

Set in the Northern Isles A Case of Witchcraft has already caused some controversy written as it is by an expert on the occult. Here the Sherlock Holmes Society of London review this debut novel from Joe Revill.

“A Case of Witchcraft by Joe Revill (£12.99/$19.95/€14.99) teams Holmes rather improbably with Aleister Crowley to investigate the disappearance of an eminent folklorist in what’s described as a ‘remote and rather backward northern isle’. The situation is strongly reminiscent of The Wicker Man, but, of course, Holmes is not Sergeant Howie.

His attitude towards the so-called Old Religion, not to mention the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, is remarkably liberal, but perhaps that’s the influence of his companion. A Case of Witchcraft is a decided oddity,but well written (in the third person) and thoroughly researched.”

Joe launches the book at his local Waterstones bookstore in Chesterfield, UK on the 24th September. If you are in the area we advise getting a signed copy – the book is already flying off the shelves in the USA and getting great reviews so signed 1st editions are likely to become nicely collectable. Available from Amazon, and also in all good formats including Amazon Kindle and iBooks for the iPad.

 
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Posted by on September 16, 2011 in Book Reviews, Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle

 

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