Sherlock in Love: A Novel

The present novel leans
in the latter, not the former, direction. Those looking for Holmesian
deduction and adventure must look elsewhere. This book was originally
published by a small press back in 1993, and has been issued as a
paperback in 2001 I guess to take advantage of a small but noticable
current "boom" in Sherlockian pastiches.

Here a young
Holmes (at the start of his career) becomes infatuated with a female
counterpart who is (very implausibly) not only a violin virtuoso but
also a world-class magician who is somehow able to stage the Water
Torture Escape 50 years before Houdini invented it! Holmes is willing
to chuck his calling and marry the mannish-looking wench, but she, of
course, is Aware that there are Reasons why Such A Love Must Not Be!
(...)

The author has done some research, and it shows; but she
hasn't managed to bring Sherlock to life, nor has she managed to tell
a story. Indeed, the whole fiction is absolutely static, with an
elderly Watson reading over diaries, notebook entries and
(preposterously bad) unpublished stories in an effort to solve the
(not very mysterious) mystery of Violet Sigerson. (...)

If you are looking for mild
soap opera featuring a character named Sherlock Holmes, this is the
book for you. If you are looking for a readable, interesting
Sherlockian pastiche in which the great game is afoot once more, give
this a miss.

Frankie Thomas, himself the author of some worthy
Holmes pastiches, once told me that he chose Holmes for his fictional
efforts because with Holmes you never had to delineate soppy females,
"relationships," and all the depressing like of
that.

Well, if you want the depressing like of that, here it is,
soppy females, "relationships" and all.



Not a bad novel. Too much for Sherlock lovers.   January 13, 2001
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The novel is not bad, excepting the part in which the author tries to insert a past case of the master. The line is correct and entertaining -up to the already mentioned part- and then the end, is a little too much for the Sherlock aficionado. It is not as bad as "The last Sherlock Holmes case" though.

I honestly think that the author was going to write a good book until she had to create the case of "Mad King Ludwig", from that point on, I felt she improvised and did not know how to get out of her own mess, leaving me with a sour after taste.

In her defense, I love Sherlock, and I think the original work is unbeatable. Against her, I also like to read about Holmes, almost everything that comes to me, and I am very understanding with all the pastiches, and do not compare them with the original.

Do I recommend it to the Holmes's followers? No, unless you just can't stop reading about Sherlock, are curious about it, and/or somebody lend it to you.

If you read it and liked it, you will like "Larry Millet's books".


Not a bad novel. Too much for Sherlock lovers.   January 13, 2001
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

The novel is not bad, excepting the part in which the author tries to insert a past case of the master. The line is correct and entertaining -up to the already mentioned part- and then the end, is a little too much for the Sherlock aficionado. It is not as bad as "The last Sherlock Holmes case" though.

I honestly think that the author was going to write a good book until she had to create the case of "Mad King Ludwig", from that point on, I felt she improvised and did not know how to get out of her own mess, leaving me with a sour after taste.

In her defense, I love Sherlock, and I think the original work is unbeatable. Against her, I also like to read about Holmes, almost everything that comes to me, and I am very understanding with all the pastiches, and do not compare them with the original.

Do I recommend it to the Holmes's followers? No, unless you just can't stop reading about Sherlock, are curious about it, and/or somebody lend it to you.

If you read it and liked it, you will like "Larry Millet's books".