Alistair Duncan's Blog, page 3
March 26, 2021
A wonderful Zoom
Last night I had the honour to be invited to a meeting of the CWA London Chapter to discuss Bonnie MacBird's new book The Three Locks.
For just over an hour Bonnie was interviewed by Victoria Dowd about her writing process and her take on the characters in general.
It was good fun and it was good to hear Bonnie's explanation of her writing process.
See my review at:
https://alistaird221b.blogspot.com/2021/02/review-three-locks-by-bonnie-macbird.html
Written by Alistair Duncan
Buy my books here
UKUS
For just over an hour Bonnie was interviewed by Victoria Dowd about her writing process and her take on the characters in general.
It was good fun and it was good to hear Bonnie's explanation of her writing process.
See my review at:
https://alistaird221b.blogspot.com/2021/02/review-three-locks-by-bonnie-macbird.html
Written by Alistair DuncanBuy my books hereUKUS
February 14, 2021
Review: The Three Locks by Bonnie MacBird
It's always a pleasure to review a Sherlock Holmes story by Bonnie MacBird as she is one of the few writers to genuinely make a good job of emulating the master.As I often state, I am hard on pastiche as so much of it is poor or written by people who have no intention of offering a Holmes and Watson in keeping with the original template. Once again, I am happy to say that I had an experience far from that with this title. Straight off the bat we have conflict. A mysterious box arrives for Watson which he cannot open and Holmes warns him not to touch. This triggers an argument that causes Watson to storm out of Baker Street. He returns to find Holmes in a straight-jacket. This made me feel right at home as it is totally in keeping with the Holmes who fires bullets into his own wall or conducts chemical experiments on the living room table.
In a very short space of time the duo have two further mysteries on their plates. A magician under possible threat from a rival and a young woman missing in Cambridge. Both ultimately prove to be a source of frustration for Holmes and Watson.
As with MacBird's previous novel, this is set early in the partnership and before her last novel The Devil's Due. Holmes and Watson are not yet at ease with each other and the police are still not comfortable with Holmes being on their patch. This makes for a degree of both tension and conflict.
The novel gives us new characters of whom some are sinister and others repellant. Amongst these (but not necessarily in either of those categories) are two very formidable women. There is a risk, given the weaker position that women tended to occupy in Victorian times, that a strong woman, in a Victorian-set book written today, can feel more of our own time and hence anachronistic. Bonnie MacBird skillfully avoids this. The ladies in question feel very much of their time even if they are not necessarily representative of their sex in the era. The challenge they present to Holmes, or perhaps his view of women, reminded me at times of the dynamic between Holmes and Irene Adler or between Holmes and other strong women in the Canon such as Violet de Merville and Isadora Klein. One in particular made me think if Miss de Merville.
The story moves at a comfortable pace. It is never sedate nor is it too fast. We move seamlessly from London to Cambridge and back again and MacBird, during some of the early Cambridge scenes, tentatively dips her toe into the never-ending argument of where Holmes went to University.
As the story unfolded, clues were discovered, motives were exposed and the body count rose. I felt more and more excited to see how it was going to turn out - in a way that a book has not managed for me in quite some time (MacBird's other titles excepted.) On the way to the conclusion we have magic, escapology, young love and loss, antagonistic police, and scientific displays worthy of Nikola Tesla.
No words or time are wasted. Every word either sets the scene or advances the plot - no padding to be found here (another thing I have encountered in pastiche). Chapters are of a comfortable length which would make this a perfect commuter book (although who is commuting these days).
The conclusion was satisfying, logical and fair. There were no last minute pieces of evidence or unnatural good luck leading to the solution - something that Conan Doyle's dislike of led to the creation of Holmes in the first place.
It is definitely the case that MacBird's series grows stronger with each book and she remains, in my opinion, the best and most faithful pastiche writer out there today - bar none.
Please note: I was sent a copy for review.
Written by Alistair DuncanBuy my books here UKUS
February 3, 2021
January 26, 2021
Review : The Curious Book of Sherlock Holmes Characters by Mike Foy
I received a complementary copy of this book for review purposes.
Mike Foy's book is a comprehensive directory of every character in the Sherlock Holmes Canon.
This has, of course, been done before and in physically smaller books but this book is nonetheless a treasure trove of information.
Foy's book very sensibly proceeds in a simple alphabetical format (by character rather than story) and, equally sensibly, has a comprehensive index. Characters I didn't even consider characters are represented such as Desborough - a horse from Silver Blaze. In short, if it had a name it's in the book.
For each character we are given their name, story (using the standard four-letter abbreviations), sex, and whether they are alive or dead in the Canon. If a character begins a story alive but ends up dead they are listed as dead. An example of this being John Openshaw from The Five Orange Pips.
Here you can see how characters are highlighted
In addition to the above information, and depending on the importance of the character, you are given details about them. This can range from their physical appearance to what their occupation was and, if relevant, what Holmes deduced about them. These details vary in length. Holmes himself has a predictably long entry in the book whereas someone like Captain Ferguson (from 3GAB) is concisely described as follows:
Illustrations from the stories by all manner of artists are displayed in the book and I especially liked the way the characters under discussion are highlighted within them.
Often the illustrations of English and US artists are displayed alongside each other and it is very interesting to see how the different illustrators approached their commissions.
Following the descriptions and the index are a series of tables listing the stories (by four-letter abbreviation) in chronological order (when they supposedly took place rather than when they were published); in alphabetical order (by abbreviation) and, finally, in publication order.
For the first table Foy does not say whose chronology he has used or whether he has come up with his own.
Do I have any criticisms? Yes. The book is large and over 500 pages. As a result it is rather cumbersome but, to be fair, when it is this comprehensive it's hard to see how they could have made it smaller without affecting the quality of the illustrations.
I'm not a fan of what I believe is known as ragged-right for text layout. I prefer a book to be fully blocked. This detracted from the look of the book a little for me but it's a personal thing and other readers may not be concerned by this.
Some people might be deterred by the cover price (£34.99, €39.99, $44.95). To them I would say that if you don't already have a book like this it is very much worth it. If you are in possession of a similar book already, and are not a completist, you might decide it's not worth it for you. If I was in the position of having to buy it I would do so even though I already own similar books.
https://mxpublishing.com/products/the-curious-book-of-sherlock-holmes-characters
Written by Alistair DuncanBuy my books here
UKUS
Mike Foy's book is a comprehensive directory of every character in the Sherlock Holmes Canon.
This has, of course, been done before and in physically smaller books but this book is nonetheless a treasure trove of information.
Foy's book very sensibly proceeds in a simple alphabetical format (by character rather than story) and, equally sensibly, has a comprehensive index. Characters I didn't even consider characters are represented such as Desborough - a horse from Silver Blaze. In short, if it had a name it's in the book.
For each character we are given their name, story (using the standard four-letter abbreviations), sex, and whether they are alive or dead in the Canon. If a character begins a story alive but ends up dead they are listed as dead. An example of this being John Openshaw from The Five Orange Pips.
Here you can see how characters are highlighted
In addition to the above information, and depending on the importance of the character, you are given details about them. This can range from their physical appearance to what their occupation was and, if relevant, what Holmes deduced about them. These details vary in length. Holmes himself has a predictably long entry in the book whereas someone like Captain Ferguson (from 3GAB) is concisely described as follows:
"A retired sea captain who owned the house before Mrs Maberley. Holmes asked if there was anything about remarkable about him, and if he had buried something. Mrs Maberley answered in the negative".
Illustrations from the stories by all manner of artists are displayed in the book and I especially liked the way the characters under discussion are highlighted within them.
Often the illustrations of English and US artists are displayed alongside each other and it is very interesting to see how the different illustrators approached their commissions.Following the descriptions and the index are a series of tables listing the stories (by four-letter abbreviation) in chronological order (when they supposedly took place rather than when they were published); in alphabetical order (by abbreviation) and, finally, in publication order.
For the first table Foy does not say whose chronology he has used or whether he has come up with his own.
Do I have any criticisms? Yes. The book is large and over 500 pages. As a result it is rather cumbersome but, to be fair, when it is this comprehensive it's hard to see how they could have made it smaller without affecting the quality of the illustrations.
I'm not a fan of what I believe is known as ragged-right for text layout. I prefer a book to be fully blocked. This detracted from the look of the book a little for me but it's a personal thing and other readers may not be concerned by this.
Some people might be deterred by the cover price (£34.99, €39.99, $44.95). To them I would say that if you don't already have a book like this it is very much worth it. If you are in possession of a similar book already, and are not a completist, you might decide it's not worth it for you. If I was in the position of having to buy it I would do so even though I already own similar books.
https://mxpublishing.com/products/the-curious-book-of-sherlock-holmes-characters
Written by Alistair DuncanBuy my books hereUKUS
January 12, 2021
September 1, 2020
An artist and a rare one.
It's not often that I write a post purely to big someone up but, in this case, I feel it is necessary.
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August 19, 2020
Review: Jeremy Brett - Playing a Part - Maureen Whittaker
Firstly, I state up-front that I am reviewing a complimentary copy of this book.
For me Jeremy Brett is, and always will be, the definitive Sherlock Holmes. He is the Zeus of that Pantheon. No one can touch him. He usurped Basil Rathbone as the Holmes of my imagination and it will be nothing short of miraculous for someone to take his place. His adherence to the Holmes of the page never ceases to amaze me.Read more »
For me Jeremy Brett is, and always will be, the definitive Sherlock Holmes. He is the Zeus of that Pantheon. No one can touch him. He usurped Basil Rathbone as the Holmes of my imagination and it will be nothing short of miraculous for someone to take his place. His adherence to the Holmes of the page never ceases to amaze me.Read more »
July 6, 2020
July 1, 2020
Review: Sherlock Holmes Magazine Issue 1
I recently received the first issue of the new Sherlock Holmes Magazine...
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