Title: The Death and Life of Sherlock Holmes
Genre: Adventure/Romance
Price: $14.95 ($8.95 ebook)
Publisher: Createspace
ASIN: 978-1468149869
Reviewed by: Emily Veinglory
(I
would note that “The Death and Life of Sherlock Holmes” is also a play by Susan L Zeder [1993]. This review is not about that play.)
In
this story a modern woman, Jackie Bowman, somehow ends up transported
through time to meet Sherlock Holmes shortly after he stages his death
at the Reichenbach Falls. For most of the book Sherlock and Jackie
meander through foreign countries, most notably Tibet, during the three
year period referred to Sherlockians as 'the great hiatus' (between the
when Sherlock ostensibly died at Reichenbach and the first story dated
after his return to London).
On
one hand the narrative seems to lack much in the way of happenings:
mysteries, fights, overt romance etc. One the other hand it is the
first book in quite a while that I intended to put down, and never did.
It had that ineffable “unputdownable” quality for me. To my taste I
would have dropped the first and last sections as I think the core story
from first meeting to full commitment would stand better on its own.
There
were some affectations I found annoying, running jokes, excessive
cultural references and the sudden importance of getting a pet cat at the
end of the story. But in general this is not the Mary Sue or wish
fulfillment kind of “fan” story you might expect. Nor is it in anyway
comparable to the Laurie R King stories in which Holmes is also
paired with a female protagonist. Nor is it a Sherlockian pastiche
designed to resolve ambiguities in Conan Doyle’s stories, although the
author seems at least passable familiar with canon (I am an enthusiast
rather than an expert myself).
The Death and Life of Sherlock Holmes is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, time-travel story, and slow burn romance. It has elements of all three of these genres but basically has its own identity as a story. I know that I read it, and I enjoyed it, and that is the most important thing as far as I am concerned.
2 comments:
Laurie R King writes (exceptional, IMHO) Holmes Pastiche, as well as modern detective novels.
Laurell K Hamilton does NOT. She doesn't write about Holmes at all; she writes paranormal thriller-romance.
Really, REALLY different people.
You are quite right, I had a crossed neuron and will correct this.
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