Tag Archives: book review

“And another pastiche appears! A collection of short stories by John Heywood. Is there anything that marks this one out from the crowd. Yes! Namely, it’s brilliant.

Some pastiche writers excel at dialogue, some with narrative, some with plotting. I find it quite rare to come across a writer who combines all those elements and gets each of those elements spot on.

John Heywood does precisely that. I can be picky with my own work and extremely picky with other’s work, alighting on mis-spellings, confusion of tenses, anachronisms etc. I could find no examples of any of these in The Investigations of Sherlock Holmes, this collection is as perfect as it gets. Open it up where you will and you will find no false notes at all. This is a loving re-creation of Holmes and Watson’s world by a writer who obviously knows his subjects well, nay, loves them. With this collection, John Heywood jumps into the front rank of Holmesian interpreters. I wish two things: 1. That there are more to come. 2. That I had written them!  It may well be the finest collection of short stories to appear for many years. No, damn it, it is the finest collection to appear in many, many years!”

Reviewed by David Ruffle

The Investigations of Sherlock Holmes is available from all good bookstores including   Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, and for free shipping worldwide Book Depository .

“In January of 2013, I reviewed Dean P. Turnbloom’s first Sherlock Holmes novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Whitechapel Vampire. I was pleasantly surprised by Turnbloom’s book as it was far more complex and deeper than I ever expected it to be. So, when I learned that Turnbloom was writing a follow-up, I anxiously awaited its release. That sequel, Sherlock Holmes and the Body Snatchers is the subject of today’s review.

Picking up right where Sherlock Holmes and the Whitechapel Vampire left off, this novel finds Holmes and Watson disappointed in being unable to stop Baron Antonio Barlucci, the titular vampire, as well as his latest victim, Abigail Drake. However, Miss Drake’s body is recovered in a lifeboat and taken to a mortuary in Canada. Inspector Walter Andrews of Scotland Yard is assigned to travel to Newfoundland and identify the body, but by the time he arrives, Miss Drake’s body has disappeared. It seems as though someone has absconded with her body leaving numerous corpses in their wake. Inspector Andrews follows the clues to New York City where a number of people are beginning to be murdered. Each one has been found their bodies completely drained of blood. This is enough to entice Holmes and Watson to cross the Atlantic. Once in the Big Apple, the great detective is faced with one unnerving question – has the Ripper taken up roots in New York or are the killings the work of a vampire?

Once more, Mr. Turnbloom has managed to surprise me with his plots. Sherlock Holmes and the Body Snatchers is a complex, well-plotted, well written novel. So many plot threads are woven throughout the book’s pages, and each one is nicely wrapped up in the finale. Turnbloom takes his subject matter incredibly seriously, even when he’s writing about vampires in New York City. Along with the fine plot are the excellent characters. Each character is developed in depth and you will emphatise with them as you read. Even the recurring characters from the first novel are reintroeuced once more – which is good since it had been over a year since I read Sherlock Holmes and the Whitechapel Vampire.

But what of Sherlock Holmes? Well, he’s rather sidelined again, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the other characters are so interesting. He comes across similarly as he did in the canon, as does Dr. Watson. Turnbloom utilises Watson’s point-of-view in the scenes which feature the intrepid detectives, which is different from previous novel which was told entirely in the third person. What’s more, Turnbloom nicely emulates the canon’s style of writing, but perhaps writes a bit more naturally than Doyle. What does that mean? It means that the characters pause, breathe heavily and clear their throats mid-sentence, which at first may be something of a stumbling block to the reader, but is easily overcome.

There are a few downsides to this novel though. Holmes does too little detective work for my taste and by the time he has summed up the problem for the principle characters, the reader is already in possession of the truth. There’s also the fact that if the reader has not read Sherlock Holmes and the Whitechapel Vampire he or she is liable to be very lost. Characters are introduced and the reader is expected to know of their importance already, and events which transpired in the first book are referenced and hinted at, and then never fully explained. Therefore, I highly recommend reading Turnbloom’s first novel before moving onto its sequel.

I was once more surprised by Dean P. Turnbloom’s Sherlockian efforts. Sherlock Holmes and the Body Snatchers was a complex, well-written and excellently plotted novel which pit the world’s greatest detective against the forces of evil once more. I therefore do not hesitate in awarding the novel 4 out of 5 stars.”

Reviewed by Nick Cardillo

Sherlock Holmes and The Body Snatchers is available from all good bookstores including  Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, and for free shipping worldwide Book Depository . In ebook format it is in Amazon Kindle,  Kobo, Nook and Apple iBooks(iPad/iPhone).

“This is a collection of six novellas which mostly follow up on the author’s first collection,The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.  There are several villains spread across the six stories and, frankly, the collection of ‘bad guys’ makes the late Professor Moriarty look like a progressive and imaginative businessman.

The first story, “A Study in Hysteria,” presents a peculiar suicide attempt by a patient under treatment by Dr. Sigmund Freud, an old acquaintance of Holmes.  It quickly becomes apparent that much more than a patient’s delusions are occurring and Holmes, Watson and Freud are soon chasing a terrifying murderer.  In “A Study in Yellow” well-to-do young women are disappearing and the return of “Saucy Jack” is feared.  After three of the women are found murdered and dismembered, “Ripper Mania” returns in full force.  In the third case, “A Study in Stone,” reminders of earlier cases and villains are highlighted through a series of murders in Wales.  In addition, events in this case point to some single source for all the evil in the first three cases.

The fourth tale, “A Study in Clockwork,” resolves the source of villainy that permeates this series of cases as well as referring back to events in the earlier collection.  Madness certainly plays a part, but this madness seems to arise from the series of choices made by the villain, not from genetic or societal pressures.  It is hard to imagine a self-made villain, but this one is about as close to such as I would ever like to encounter.  Frankly, madness is more forgivable and easier to understand.

The final two tales seem to share no connection with the others in this collection. “Sherlock Holmes and the Belgravia Mourner” presents a rationalist who is half-convinced that his wife is being haunted by a demon.  Holmes is his last resort for a rational explanation for events that reek of the supernatural.  The final tale, “Sherlock Holmes and the Horror of Frankenstein,” connects recent grave robberies in London to the voyage of the Polestar and an old folk tale from Central Europe.  Holmes and Watson face a horror from the past resurrected by a madman from the present.

The stories are entertaining and well-written, but they are dark.  There are few happy endings and most situations are grim.  No frolicking children appear and no joyful reunions are recounted.  This world is not a happy place, although, through the efforts of Holmes and Watson, a lot of evil manages to be disposed of.”

Sherlock Holmes Studies in Legacy  is available from all good bookstores including in the USA Amazon, in the UK Amazon, Waterstones,  and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle,  iPad and Kobo.