Wesley Britton's Blog - Posts Tagged "sherlock-holmes"
Book Review: The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street by Rob Nunn
The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street
Rob Nunn
Print Length: 235 pages
Publisher: MX Publishing; 1 edition (September 18, 2017)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B075RDHN2Z
ISBN 978-1787051744
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075RDHN2Z/...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
What haven’t they done to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson? Over the years, print authors and scriptwriters have tinkered with the pair by having them living in current times, have them use contemporary technology and investigative techniques, or change the gender mostly of Watson but sometimes Sherlock as well. Occasionally such creators have Sherlock turned into a criminal including becoming Jack the Ripper or even Professor James Moriarty.
The latter device is what Rob Nunn explores in The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street where Holmes builds a criminal empire in London by being a “crime consoltant” where he advises criminals on how they can get away with their dirty deeds and avoid violence and capture, so long as they run their schemes through him first. As Holmes explains to Dr. Watson when they meet, Holmes wants crime to be “gentlemanly” and leave London streets safe from the unsavory aspects of bloody crime and street toughs as he becomes involved with counterfeiting, gambling, burglary, and occasionally extortion.
At least, that’s what Nunn tells us Holmes, with Watson’s willing assistance, is doing. For the first hundred pages or so, we rarely witness criminal activities as Nunn dramatizes very few of the stories, with notable short exceptions like a breezy description of Holmes pulling the strings of the lucrative Red-Headed League. Other than recaps of Conan Doyle’s own flashes of Holmes’s mental gymnastics, we see little of Holmes deductive reasoning but rather see his organizational flair and his pugilist skills in a boxing match with McMurdo, a character taken from Conan Doyle’s Valley of Fear. In fact, Nunn is very clever creating an alternate history of Holmes and Watson by revamping many of the original Holmes mysteries, developing some Doyle stories the creator gave scant mention in the original Holmes canon. In others its Nunn who gives the old yarns a hit-and-run treatment as he seems to want to touch every base in the Holmes biography including good use of the Baker Street Irregulars, Mycroft Holmes, and a unique take on Irene Adler.
The pace quickens considerably in the second hundred pages of the book where Holmes and Professor Moriarty engage in their on-again, off-again tug of war for supremacy in London’s criminal underworld. This occurs along with no shortage of digressive tales where Holmes is often far more detective than criminal overlord, as in Nunn’s short retelling of Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four. While Holmes is a comparatively moral criminal, he doesn’t have quite the moral compass of characters like Leslie Charteris’s Simon Templar (The Saint.) Holmes’s hands aren’t clean, but he often does contribute to both private and public good, so much so that Mycroft overlooks much of what his younger brother is up to.
While Nunn hopes readers unfamiliar with previous Holmes stories will enjoy his take on the Victorian-set mythos, I rather suspect his primary audience will be established Sherlockians who might enjoy diving into his novel to compare their own perceptions of the realm created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with the new interpretation spun out by Rob Nunn. After all, Nunn prides himself on how he researched and reworked the canon to shape his fresh takes on the adventures. The fast pace is often a good thing as the reader is swept along from incident to incident, but it can also be a problem as many quick story bites aren’t developed enough to make them memorable. A clever book to be sure, something for Holmes and Watson fans to add to their shelves of Sherlockiana, to coin a term.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Nov. 3, 2017 at:
http://dpli.ir/lJf09d
Rob Nunn
Print Length: 235 pages
Publisher: MX Publishing; 1 edition (September 18, 2017)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B075RDHN2Z
ISBN 978-1787051744
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075RDHN2Z/...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
What haven’t they done to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson? Over the years, print authors and scriptwriters have tinkered with the pair by having them living in current times, have them use contemporary technology and investigative techniques, or change the gender mostly of Watson but sometimes Sherlock as well. Occasionally such creators have Sherlock turned into a criminal including becoming Jack the Ripper or even Professor James Moriarty.
The latter device is what Rob Nunn explores in The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street where Holmes builds a criminal empire in London by being a “crime consoltant” where he advises criminals on how they can get away with their dirty deeds and avoid violence and capture, so long as they run their schemes through him first. As Holmes explains to Dr. Watson when they meet, Holmes wants crime to be “gentlemanly” and leave London streets safe from the unsavory aspects of bloody crime and street toughs as he becomes involved with counterfeiting, gambling, burglary, and occasionally extortion.
At least, that’s what Nunn tells us Holmes, with Watson’s willing assistance, is doing. For the first hundred pages or so, we rarely witness criminal activities as Nunn dramatizes very few of the stories, with notable short exceptions like a breezy description of Holmes pulling the strings of the lucrative Red-Headed League. Other than recaps of Conan Doyle’s own flashes of Holmes’s mental gymnastics, we see little of Holmes deductive reasoning but rather see his organizational flair and his pugilist skills in a boxing match with McMurdo, a character taken from Conan Doyle’s Valley of Fear. In fact, Nunn is very clever creating an alternate history of Holmes and Watson by revamping many of the original Holmes mysteries, developing some Doyle stories the creator gave scant mention in the original Holmes canon. In others its Nunn who gives the old yarns a hit-and-run treatment as he seems to want to touch every base in the Holmes biography including good use of the Baker Street Irregulars, Mycroft Holmes, and a unique take on Irene Adler.
The pace quickens considerably in the second hundred pages of the book where Holmes and Professor Moriarty engage in their on-again, off-again tug of war for supremacy in London’s criminal underworld. This occurs along with no shortage of digressive tales where Holmes is often far more detective than criminal overlord, as in Nunn’s short retelling of Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four. While Holmes is a comparatively moral criminal, he doesn’t have quite the moral compass of characters like Leslie Charteris’s Simon Templar (The Saint.) Holmes’s hands aren’t clean, but he often does contribute to both private and public good, so much so that Mycroft overlooks much of what his younger brother is up to.
While Nunn hopes readers unfamiliar with previous Holmes stories will enjoy his take on the Victorian-set mythos, I rather suspect his primary audience will be established Sherlockians who might enjoy diving into his novel to compare their own perceptions of the realm created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with the new interpretation spun out by Rob Nunn. After all, Nunn prides himself on how he researched and reworked the canon to shape his fresh takes on the adventures. The fast pace is often a good thing as the reader is swept along from incident to incident, but it can also be a problem as many quick story bites aren’t developed enough to make them memorable. A clever book to be sure, something for Holmes and Watson fans to add to their shelves of Sherlockiana, to coin a term.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Nov. 3, 2017 at:
http://dpli.ir/lJf09d
Book Review: Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes by Michael Sims
Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes
Michael Sims
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (January 24, 2017)
ISBN-10: 1632860392
ISBN-13: 978-1632860392
https://www.amazon.com/Arthur-Sherloc...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
While I’ve read, seen, and heard more than my fair share of fictional Sherlock Holmes stories, I haven’t spent much time reading any histories or biographies of the creator of Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. So I can’t say anything credible about whether or not Arthur and Sherlock presents anything new for Holmes devotees or breaks any new ground or sheds any new light for Doyle scholars. But I can report those of us who haven’t spent much time in the company of the actual good doctor/author should know that Michael Sims’ Arthur and Sherlock reads like a very fine introduction to pretty much everything that shaped the origins of the Sherlock Holmes mythos. In addition, I suspect even the most serious Holmes experts will find revelations they haven’t seen before, especially in the second half of the book.
Happily, the first chapters of Arthur and Sherlock don’t just cover the biography of Arthur Conan Doyle, describing his family background, his medical education—especially the mentoring he received from a long acknowledged model for Holmes, Dr. Joseph Bell, to Doyle’s early apprentice years and his time seeking to establish his own surgical practice. Sims also chronicles Doyle’s lifelong reading and his first stabs at getting published. Sims’s discussions of Doyle’s reading and his awareness of popular novels focuses on fictional precursors to Holmes featuring characters and storylines created by Poe, Voltaire, Alexandre Dumas, Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and even the Book of Daniel from the Old Testament.
Equally of interest is Sims’ overview of the times in which Doyle grew as a young man including the great shifts in scientific and medical knowledge as well as the surprisingly recent developments in police work. For example, the term “detective” was a relatively new term in the middle of the 19th century and the Metropolitan Police force and Scotland Yard had only been established in London in 1829.
The second half of the book is where Holmes takes center stage, and this part of the book is essentially literary analysis. Sims breaks down nearly every element in A Study in Scarlet (1887) including the possible origins of the names of the primary characters, the structure of the novel that introduced us to the residents of 221b Baker Street, Sims’ evaluations of the characteristics of Holmes and his erstwhile companion, Dr. John Watson, as well as a detailed publication history of the novel. A bit of trivia I never knew was how Doyle’s artist father, Charles, was institutionalized for depression and alcoholism and did artwork for the first stand-alone publication of A Study in Scarlet.
Here, it’s likely even the most knowledgeable of Doyle/Holmes aficionados will benefit from Sims insights and perspectives. For example, Sherlock Holmes is known as a proponent of “deductive reasoning” (a form of logic employing a syllogism that moves from the general to the specific using a major premise, minor premise, and conclusion) when, in fact, Holmes was more often using inductive reasoning (building a case by moving from the specific to the general, adding up small details to reach a conclusion.)
Then, Sims discusses the publication history of the first years of the Holmes series with rather quick hit-and-run descriptions of The sign of the Four (1890) and the short stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892). Clearly, anyone interested in the creation of the world’s first fictional consulting detective should not only enjoy Arthur and Sherlock, but also put the book down feeling educated in 19th century literature as a whole, not to mention life in London in that century. Sims’ writing style is often quite personable as he takes us on walks with Doyle, peeks behind the doctor’s curtains, pokes around Doyle’s bookshelves, and finally explores the first adventures of Holmes and Watson in an analytical fashion Holmes would have approved of. What more can you ask for?
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Dec. 8, 2017:
https://is.gd/FZQwS4
Michael Sims
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (January 24, 2017)
ISBN-10: 1632860392
ISBN-13: 978-1632860392
https://www.amazon.com/Arthur-Sherloc...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
While I’ve read, seen, and heard more than my fair share of fictional Sherlock Holmes stories, I haven’t spent much time reading any histories or biographies of the creator of Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. So I can’t say anything credible about whether or not Arthur and Sherlock presents anything new for Holmes devotees or breaks any new ground or sheds any new light for Doyle scholars. But I can report those of us who haven’t spent much time in the company of the actual good doctor/author should know that Michael Sims’ Arthur and Sherlock reads like a very fine introduction to pretty much everything that shaped the origins of the Sherlock Holmes mythos. In addition, I suspect even the most serious Holmes experts will find revelations they haven’t seen before, especially in the second half of the book.
Happily, the first chapters of Arthur and Sherlock don’t just cover the biography of Arthur Conan Doyle, describing his family background, his medical education—especially the mentoring he received from a long acknowledged model for Holmes, Dr. Joseph Bell, to Doyle’s early apprentice years and his time seeking to establish his own surgical practice. Sims also chronicles Doyle’s lifelong reading and his first stabs at getting published. Sims’s discussions of Doyle’s reading and his awareness of popular novels focuses on fictional precursors to Holmes featuring characters and storylines created by Poe, Voltaire, Alexandre Dumas, Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and even the Book of Daniel from the Old Testament.
Equally of interest is Sims’ overview of the times in which Doyle grew as a young man including the great shifts in scientific and medical knowledge as well as the surprisingly recent developments in police work. For example, the term “detective” was a relatively new term in the middle of the 19th century and the Metropolitan Police force and Scotland Yard had only been established in London in 1829.
The second half of the book is where Holmes takes center stage, and this part of the book is essentially literary analysis. Sims breaks down nearly every element in A Study in Scarlet (1887) including the possible origins of the names of the primary characters, the structure of the novel that introduced us to the residents of 221b Baker Street, Sims’ evaluations of the characteristics of Holmes and his erstwhile companion, Dr. John Watson, as well as a detailed publication history of the novel. A bit of trivia I never knew was how Doyle’s artist father, Charles, was institutionalized for depression and alcoholism and did artwork for the first stand-alone publication of A Study in Scarlet.
Here, it’s likely even the most knowledgeable of Doyle/Holmes aficionados will benefit from Sims insights and perspectives. For example, Sherlock Holmes is known as a proponent of “deductive reasoning” (a form of logic employing a syllogism that moves from the general to the specific using a major premise, minor premise, and conclusion) when, in fact, Holmes was more often using inductive reasoning (building a case by moving from the specific to the general, adding up small details to reach a conclusion.)
Then, Sims discusses the publication history of the first years of the Holmes series with rather quick hit-and-run descriptions of The sign of the Four (1890) and the short stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892). Clearly, anyone interested in the creation of the world’s first fictional consulting detective should not only enjoy Arthur and Sherlock, but also put the book down feeling educated in 19th century literature as a whole, not to mention life in London in that century. Sims’ writing style is often quite personable as he takes us on walks with Doyle, peeks behind the doctor’s curtains, pokes around Doyle’s bookshelves, and finally explores the first adventures of Holmes and Watson in an analytical fashion Holmes would have approved of. What more can you ask for?
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Dec. 8, 2017:
https://is.gd/FZQwS4
Book Review: The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes: A Mystery by Leonard Goldberg
The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes: A Mystery
Leonard Goldberg
Series: The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries (Book 1)
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition (June 6, 2017)
ISBN-10: 1250101042
ISBN-13: 978-1250101044
https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Sherl...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton.
Perhaps you’re like me. Whenever you see the name “Sherlock Holmes” in the title of a new book from yet another new author, your curiosity is immediately piqued. Many times, perhaps too often, that’s all it takes to get us to try out the book to see if there’s anything of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle magic in the new pages. Sometimes, readers strike gold. Sometimes, we merely strike pyrite. Sometimes, we curse the deceptive marketing of a would-be contributor to the Holmes/ Watson canon.
So I was pleasantly pleased to read Leonard Goldberg’s new entry in the Sherlock Holmes afterlife, especially as he gives us a rather clever cast of characters we could call “The Holmes/Watson Mythos: The next Generation.” For one thing, we meet Joanna Blalock, the unmistakable daughter of Sherlock Holmes and mother of his grandson, even if she doesn’t know it. Our narrator is Dr. John Watson Jr., a skilled pathologist who is the book’s narrator. Holmes might be dead, but his John Watson isn’t. He’s still living at 221b Baker Street, and is an indispensable lynchpin in this yarn as the father and son doctors hook up with the daughter of Sherlock Holmes. But the “Next Generation” also includes a new Inspector Lestrade, yep, son of the old Holmes foil, and even a new Toby, the son of the bloodhound Holmes used in Conan Doyle’s Sign of the Four. Even if it takes most of the book before Watson Sr. realizes it, the villain of the tale, Dr. Christopher Moran, is clearly the offspring of Sherlock’s old foe, Col. Sebastian Moran.
It takes no deductive reasoning at all to see the coming romance blossoming between Watson Jr. and Blalock. For me, one of the best pleasures in this mystery is watching how Blalock, by sheer force of personality, intuition, voluminous reading, and quick logical reasoning takes center stage and drives a complex investigation into first one, then two, and potentially three murders. Blalock demonstrates deductive gifts that not only rival but often supersede her father’s use of observation and analysis of details others miss. At least, that’s Watson seniorr’s opinion. Goldberg doesn’t tell us this, he shows us. The author’s medical knowledge is also more than evident on almost every page. And so too is his ability to capture the atmosphere in the settings where we witness Blalock’s triumphs over cultural attitudes regarding women.
I’ve seen reviews that comment on a lack of character depth in the book. It’s true the emphasis is on the cerebral and the pace is so quick, there’s not much in the way of character back-stories or emotional responses to any of the events beyond the love story between Blalock and the younger Watson. Then again, this tale is designed to be a page-turner, not an in-depth look into the feelings and sensitivities of the Holmes’ family circle.
I doubt any reader can anticipate all the surprises that are revealed in the final chapters. I think it very good news that this adventure is the first in a projected series and I plan on going on this ride with Joanna, John Watson Jr. and who knows who else in the next entry in the saga. See you again when that sequel comes out—
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Dec. 15, 2017:
https://waa.ai/zdHO
Leonard Goldberg
Series: The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries (Book 1)
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition (June 6, 2017)
ISBN-10: 1250101042
ISBN-13: 978-1250101044
https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Sherl...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton.
Perhaps you’re like me. Whenever you see the name “Sherlock Holmes” in the title of a new book from yet another new author, your curiosity is immediately piqued. Many times, perhaps too often, that’s all it takes to get us to try out the book to see if there’s anything of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle magic in the new pages. Sometimes, readers strike gold. Sometimes, we merely strike pyrite. Sometimes, we curse the deceptive marketing of a would-be contributor to the Holmes/ Watson canon.
So I was pleasantly pleased to read Leonard Goldberg’s new entry in the Sherlock Holmes afterlife, especially as he gives us a rather clever cast of characters we could call “The Holmes/Watson Mythos: The next Generation.” For one thing, we meet Joanna Blalock, the unmistakable daughter of Sherlock Holmes and mother of his grandson, even if she doesn’t know it. Our narrator is Dr. John Watson Jr., a skilled pathologist who is the book’s narrator. Holmes might be dead, but his John Watson isn’t. He’s still living at 221b Baker Street, and is an indispensable lynchpin in this yarn as the father and son doctors hook up with the daughter of Sherlock Holmes. But the “Next Generation” also includes a new Inspector Lestrade, yep, son of the old Holmes foil, and even a new Toby, the son of the bloodhound Holmes used in Conan Doyle’s Sign of the Four. Even if it takes most of the book before Watson Sr. realizes it, the villain of the tale, Dr. Christopher Moran, is clearly the offspring of Sherlock’s old foe, Col. Sebastian Moran.
It takes no deductive reasoning at all to see the coming romance blossoming between Watson Jr. and Blalock. For me, one of the best pleasures in this mystery is watching how Blalock, by sheer force of personality, intuition, voluminous reading, and quick logical reasoning takes center stage and drives a complex investigation into first one, then two, and potentially three murders. Blalock demonstrates deductive gifts that not only rival but often supersede her father’s use of observation and analysis of details others miss. At least, that’s Watson seniorr’s opinion. Goldberg doesn’t tell us this, he shows us. The author’s medical knowledge is also more than evident on almost every page. And so too is his ability to capture the atmosphere in the settings where we witness Blalock’s triumphs over cultural attitudes regarding women.
I’ve seen reviews that comment on a lack of character depth in the book. It’s true the emphasis is on the cerebral and the pace is so quick, there’s not much in the way of character back-stories or emotional responses to any of the events beyond the love story between Blalock and the younger Watson. Then again, this tale is designed to be a page-turner, not an in-depth look into the feelings and sensitivities of the Holmes’ family circle.
I doubt any reader can anticipate all the surprises that are revealed in the final chapters. I think it very good news that this adventure is the first in a projected series and I plan on going on this ride with Joanna, John Watson Jr. and who knows who else in the next entry in the saga. See you again when that sequel comes out—
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Dec. 15, 2017:
https://waa.ai/zdHO
Book Review: The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle by Timothy Miller
The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle
Timothy Miller
Publisher : Seventh Street Books (January 19, 2021)
Paperback : 256 pages
ISBN-10 : 1645060217
ISBN-13 : 978-1645060215
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
Sherlock Holmes pastiches, of course, are nothing new. In stories penned by literary descendants of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the fictional detective has encountered actual historical figures from Aleisteir Crowley to Winston Churchill to the Dalai Lama. He has been portrayed alongside literary characters created by other authors like Count Dracula, Fu Manchu, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
I admit, when I first saw that Timothy Miller was merging the realms of Holmes and Watson with the characters George Bernard Shaw introduced in his play, Pygmalion, later adapted by Lerner and Loewe into their classic musical, My Fair Lady, I suspected I was about to experience a real stretch. At best, a humorous mash-up. I couldn't have been further off the mark.
In fact, The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle is a inventive pastiche true enough, but it's no laughing matter. Mostly. I must say Miller did a very credible job at capturing the well-known and oft-imitated cadence of Dr. John Watson as demonstrated in all the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle yarns. Miller does mix into that well-established style comic touches, especially his use of similes and metaphors. one humorous scene featured actual American actor William Gillette. Known for his portrayal as Holmes in the London theatre (it was Gillette, not Conan Doyle, who gave Holmes the trademark of wearing a deerstalker hat), Gillette plays Holmes in a scene where Holmes bemusedly looks on and Watson is surprised to see the real and fictional detectives together in the same living room with Henry Higgins.
Throughout, Miller shows a very detailed knowledge of the historical milieu when the Victorian era was giving way to the Edwardian period when motor cars were replacing hansom cabs. There's a strong tone of danger as Holmes and Watson try to find out just how Eliza Doolittle had been so transformed. Was she in fact a continental princess taking on a secret identity to avoid assassination? Had the original Eliza Doolittle been replaced by a doppelganger? Or had something sinister happened to completely transform a flower girl into a proper English lady beyond phonetic tutoring?
Along the way, we don't just see Holmes and Watson being inserted into Henry Higgins cantankerous environment where we might expect Rex Harrison breaking into song. Not for the first time in the Holmes canon, we see the transformative formula of Dr. Henry Jekyll and his alter ego Edward Hyde, sort of, becoming a major thread of the complex plot. Because of that plot line, we have many dark and bloody scenes.
In short, The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle is full of surprises and no shortage of twists and turns in the multi-layered plot. The book has a rich vitality with it's inclusion of many tones and in-depth characterizations and vivid descriptions. In addition, there are many passages, notably the fast-paced chase scenes, that show a strong influence of more recent high-octane screen versions of Holmes adventures.
You don't have to be a Sherlock Holmes aficionado to enjoy The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle although Doyle fans will get to see many references to events and characters from the Holmes canon updated into a sort of sequel to the original stories. So, on many levels, the novel is a lot of fun. I enjoyed this book more than many a title I've read of late. A perfect diversion from the weird world of 2020.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Dec. 11, 2020:
https://waa.ai/tHuR
Timothy Miller
Publisher : Seventh Street Books (January 19, 2021)
Paperback : 256 pages
ISBN-10 : 1645060217
ISBN-13 : 978-1645060215
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
Sherlock Holmes pastiches, of course, are nothing new. In stories penned by literary descendants of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the fictional detective has encountered actual historical figures from Aleisteir Crowley to Winston Churchill to the Dalai Lama. He has been portrayed alongside literary characters created by other authors like Count Dracula, Fu Manchu, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
I admit, when I first saw that Timothy Miller was merging the realms of Holmes and Watson with the characters George Bernard Shaw introduced in his play, Pygmalion, later adapted by Lerner and Loewe into their classic musical, My Fair Lady, I suspected I was about to experience a real stretch. At best, a humorous mash-up. I couldn't have been further off the mark.
In fact, The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle is a inventive pastiche true enough, but it's no laughing matter. Mostly. I must say Miller did a very credible job at capturing the well-known and oft-imitated cadence of Dr. John Watson as demonstrated in all the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle yarns. Miller does mix into that well-established style comic touches, especially his use of similes and metaphors. one humorous scene featured actual American actor William Gillette. Known for his portrayal as Holmes in the London theatre (it was Gillette, not Conan Doyle, who gave Holmes the trademark of wearing a deerstalker hat), Gillette plays Holmes in a scene where Holmes bemusedly looks on and Watson is surprised to see the real and fictional detectives together in the same living room with Henry Higgins.
Throughout, Miller shows a very detailed knowledge of the historical milieu when the Victorian era was giving way to the Edwardian period when motor cars were replacing hansom cabs. There's a strong tone of danger as Holmes and Watson try to find out just how Eliza Doolittle had been so transformed. Was she in fact a continental princess taking on a secret identity to avoid assassination? Had the original Eliza Doolittle been replaced by a doppelganger? Or had something sinister happened to completely transform a flower girl into a proper English lady beyond phonetic tutoring?
Along the way, we don't just see Holmes and Watson being inserted into Henry Higgins cantankerous environment where we might expect Rex Harrison breaking into song. Not for the first time in the Holmes canon, we see the transformative formula of Dr. Henry Jekyll and his alter ego Edward Hyde, sort of, becoming a major thread of the complex plot. Because of that plot line, we have many dark and bloody scenes.
In short, The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle is full of surprises and no shortage of twists and turns in the multi-layered plot. The book has a rich vitality with it's inclusion of many tones and in-depth characterizations and vivid descriptions. In addition, there are many passages, notably the fast-paced chase scenes, that show a strong influence of more recent high-octane screen versions of Holmes adventures.
You don't have to be a Sherlock Holmes aficionado to enjoy The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle although Doyle fans will get to see many references to events and characters from the Holmes canon updated into a sort of sequel to the original stories. So, on many levels, the novel is a lot of fun. I enjoyed this book more than many a title I've read of late. A perfect diversion from the weird world of 2020.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Dec. 11, 2020:
https://waa.ai/tHuR
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