Sherlock Holmes and the Ciphered List

by Simon Trelawney

This quality Holmes pastiche brings the Master of Deduction face-to-face with international criminals operating at the highest levels.

Sherlock Holmes is yearning for a challenge when Lady Diana arrives, pleading for his help, holding herself responsible for the accidental death of a blackmailer.

Her predicament fascinates Holmes, who knows the blackmailer to be an aide to Count von Runstedt, whom he believes to be the head of a German spy ring. Probing this conspiracy Holmes and Watson are plunged into a series of escapades amidst burglary, treason and murder.

As they unravel the many threads of this politically sensitive case, Britain is coming to the end of the Victorian era and fears of foreign spies and international conflict abound. Can Holmes keep a cool head amidst the tumult, and solve the case with ruthless logic? And who are the two women, from opposite ends of the social scale, who have such an impact on events?

Part spy thriller, part murder-mystery, Sherlock Homes and the Ciphered List is a superior Holmes pastiche that is bound to please fans of the great detective and new readers alike.

Praise for Sherlock Homes and the Ciphered List:
’Many of our favourite and much-loved characters make their appearance in the narrative, and many familiar situations are similarly included, which serve to keep it suitably grounded in our beloved canon. … It is an infinitely more convincing evocation of the period than any other pastiche I have reviewed. All in all, I thoroughly approve of, and heartily recommend, this book.’ – John Sheppard, The Sherlock Holmes Journal

357 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 6, 2022

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent rendering of a Sherlock Holmes adventure supposedly credited to an aging Dr. Watson, who has waited until most of the principals of the story had died. Although a decent tale, it lacks the feel of the originals. I expected this, to some extent, as replicat8ng another author's style isn't always easy. Some of the things I noticed, first, is that the choice of language usage was somehow not in line with Sir Arthur Conant Doyle's writing style as I recall it, though I admit to its having been a while since I have reread the Sherlock Holmes stories again, and will readily admit that I could be misremembering. to some extent. I don't recall there being quite the number of obscure words in the originals that I found in this book; most people can, I would venture, guess their general meaning from context, but a lookup is aways a good idea. I love the dictionary function in Kindle, plus the option to look things up on the Web. This came in handy with the author's mention of Holmes consulting his Bradshaw; looking up the word only got me information on the great former Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw, so I added, in the field after "bradshaw," "as an item used in 19th century England" and got the result that it was a rather encyclopedic book of train schedules. While there was a footnote to translate "foreign office" from German to English, when authors use archaic terms, I wish they would footnote those as well. I lived in Scotland for 3.5 years and was an avid rider of trains, with which I have always had a bit of a love affair. Never did I see a Bradshaw, even all those years ago. Thus, it's unlikely any current reader would know what the item was. I believe the author should either explain it in context or footnote it.
The caper itself was a bit long, and some of the items, I think, could have been condensed, And another thing that is poorly explained online. even when referring to the 19th century, is what exactly is shag tobacco and what made it so foul smelling? Also, tobacco was widely acceptable in the entire world as late as the 1960s and 70s, when as a new nurse, I can recall all those professions involved in a patient's care sitting in the patient's room, smoking affably with the patient and their families, going over their continuing care needs at home once discharged. It would be a few years before hospitals would be declared smoke free. However, Holmes was never a prolific smoker in any tale I can recall reading about him. Holmes did smoke, but not heavily, and he most often resorted to playing the violin, and sometimes, alas, to the use of injectable cocaine, which is what fueled his long bouts of wakefulness. Watson was forever trying to get Holmes to stop use of cocaine, which Holmes believed, falsely, also increased his mental acuity. To turn the man into a heavy smoker, when neither the use of tobacco nor the use of cocaine (available at the time at any pharmacy) is tolerated today, is an artificial construct to avoid the way the character Holmes truly operated, all to appease censors who operate against the First Amendment and do not allow for the literary license to present a character as he was always painted. Holmes's use of cocaine was frowned upon by all who cared for him, and Mycroft, his brother, always knew when he had used and berated him...or could tell when he felt pushed by circumstances to use and would warn against it. Watson did all he could to at least moderate his friend's binge use in the early days, and persisted until he had gained more of an upper hand decreasing Holmes's use. I realize this unwonted and unwanted censorship is because drugs are more of a forbidden topic than tobacco these days, and while the overuse of tobacco might seem an acceptable substitute to the censors, ot is not historically accurate as compared with the original writings, which this seeks to emulate. Holmes was a binge user, and generally resorted to the violin and long walks before caving in to using it. The mention of binge cocaine use - to which he may have resorted in such a long case unless adequately deterred by Watson - may be objectionable in a book by modern standards, but this attempts to have Holmes painted the way the original author painted him. It might be that the book could acknowledge the binge use and say that Watson had managed to get Holmes to get clean, or that Watson now controlled the supply at the least. But the cocaine use, not uncommon back then, was part and parcel of the Holmes legend and served as his weakness, to stop his intelligence making him seem almost superhuman. It should not be falsely excluded when it was always condemned in all his previous tales. On a fiendishly difficult case such as this, Holmes would at the least have been sorely tempted to reach for his nemesis. I believe that this interplay, so typical of Holmes and Watson, should have been included if the book was meant to be a more authentic portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, and the censors should find a real job that does not involve the restriction of bits of the Holmes legend that are part and parcel of who the character is. Nothing in even the oldest of releases of the originals advocates for Holmes's use of the substance; on the contrary, his usage is condemned and his closest friend - a physician, no less - did all he could to stop it, eventually succeeding in exercising almost full control of the substance. There can be no truthfulness to any of the original books that claims otherwise, and for greater accuracy, this character flaw in Holmes should have been carried forward in some fashion for the sake of greater authenticity.

[Dan Rees · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like a well-written Sherlockian pastiche. The operative term is "well-written". I have removed this book entirely from my library. In one of the earlier chapters I noticed that Watson's descriptions of Holmes' activities were written in an excessively flowery fashion. This did not (thankfully) continue to the same extent, but it was unnecessary and off-putting. Furthermore, I found a number of instances throughout the book where language and situations did not well match the Holmesian setting. "Between he and you" is, sadly, an all-too-common error nowadays, but would not have been used by Dr. Watson. In his afterword, the author places the blame for "neologisms" on his cats. I prefer to place the blame where it belongs, on the author himself. Furthermore, I found it extremely off-putting that almost every "-ise/-ize" word that appeared in the book had the -ize ending, even on words where BOTH American and British usage require the -ise spelling. Who, for instance, EVER spells "arise" as "arize"? Additional spelling errors include the appearance (twice) of "loth" for "loath"! Finally, while I admit that it is a matter of taste and personal preference, I felt that having Watson stay the night with a woman to whom he was not married was gratuitous and not at all consistent with Watson's character.
Bottom line. I found just enough interest in the story-line of this book to read it all the way to the end, but once was enough, given the many failings in the writing.

[Ann Duchene · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Already and Not Yet

Gerhardus Vos speaks of the already and not yet, a philosophical position that references what is as compared to what is to come.

This book struck me as a great example of tension between the Holmes and Watson of the original era and those who accept the value set of the current ethical climate. As such, it posed an interesting thought experiment. What would Holmes and Watson do in a contemporary ethical frame? How far would they go and what “rules” would they break to get to the truth if freed from the shackles of Victorian absolutism?

All in all it was a fun read. Kudos to the author.

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book and thought the author did a pretty good job and being consistent with the personalities of the two main characters. I thought he went a bit far in the descriptions of some of the more violent things that happened. I also think that some of what he wrote of Watson’s experience with one of the characters was just a little off. However, on the whole, I enjoyed the book and the way, he wrote it, and I would be interested if he pursued writing more Sherlock Holmes books.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read ...

i have enjoyed Conan Doyle work for my whole life . Trelawney has made it possible for me to continue to enjoy the vagaries and complications so essential to a traditional story about Holmes and Watson without losing any of the beautiful language and ambience that combines with the outstanding logic applied to make reader suspicions ever present yet never quite a valid conclusion. An excellent read!

[J.S. Watts]

I'll come clean. I'm not a Sherlock Holmes fan. I didn't particularly enjoy the original stories and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between pastiche and homage. I don't feel I'm therefore the right person to rate this book, which was gifted to me, but I was entertained by it and it kept me turning the pages. I enjoyed it more than the original Conan Doyle tales and was pleased to have read it.

[Bernadette Curry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty average Holmes mystery. I did like the slight fleshing out of Watson who is so often ignored as a character and is only there as “the reader” (us) or every man. But he still became Holmes’s dupe once again in the end.

[Texas Termite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great entertainment! Money well spent.

This is a page turner and terrific read. Lots of surprise and action. Get the pastiche and enjoy it. I was not compensated with anything freevand bought the pastiche. The review is my opinion only. Such a great author and creative wordsmith.

[Mark Wheeler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great

[Kartikey Shandilya · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rated PG13

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Diana approached Holmes as she believed she had killed her blackmailer and wants him to investigate. But events prove that the case to be more complicated.
An entertaining and well-written Holmes mystery.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This involved a lot of characters and twists and turns in the sotry so much so that I became confused at times - just trying to follow the story.

[Yvonne Marrs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have watched Sherlock Holmes films but not read any books, I admit, so I am unfamiliar with the style of the original writer.

Simon Trelawney has done a brilliant job of making the characters of Holmes and Watson come to life in this book. An enthralling and engaging read, I couldn't put it down until I had devoured every page. Something I usually encounter with my favourite authors, not an as yet unknown writer to me. I heartily recommend this book.