Sherlock Holmes and the Lyme Regis Trials

Sherlock Holmes and Lyme Regis #3

by David Ruffle

The final book in the Sherlock Holmes/Lyme Regis trilogy, involving a man with murder on his mind, a shaggy dog, a ghost, a submarine and occasional brandies.

Genres: Mystery

140 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

David Ruffle was born in Northamptonshire in the UK at an early age in 1956,yes..a long time ago. The school years passed by in a blur, or was he the blur ? He managed to extricate himself from the education system at 15 years of age and embarked on the adventure of life.

Eventually, said adventure took him to Dorset and the beautiful town of Lyme Regis in July of 2004.He felt immediately at home here and surprised himself by starting to write...first, poetry and later ghost stories. All the time he felt that Lyme Regis would be a perfect place for Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson to have an adventure, any kind of adventure ! And so...Sherlock Holmes and the Lyme Regis Horror was born. The story continues.

David is now with the MX publishing team and further titles have appeared; Sherlock Holmes and The Lyme Regis Legacy, Tales From The Stranger's Room (as contributor and editor),and Holmes and Watson: End Peace. A children's illustrated book, Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Snowman (with illustrations by Rikey Austin, another Lyme Regis resident and hugely talented to boot)saw the light of day in November 2012. Two weeks later the third and final part of the Sherlock Holmes/Lyme Regis trilogy appeared: Sherlock Holmes and the Lyme Regis Trials. Also in the offing is an outing to Scarborough for Holmes and Watson, a proposed tale of thievery, murder and cricket!(A collaboration).Meanwhile, he is still to be found in Lyme Regis, working away and drinking the odd cider, diet permitting. The Abyss: A Journey With Jack The Ripper is set to be published in December 2013.
On a whim he decided to try his hand at comedy resulting in A Twist of Lyme and Another Twist of Lyme. These were published in 2014 along with the final book in the trilogy, A Further Twist of Lyme. New for 2015 will be, Holmes and Watson: An American Adventure. 2016 will see the publication of Holmes and Watson: An Evening in Baker Street followed by The Gondolier and the Russian Countess, a Holmes and Watson adventure set in 1902 Venice. And with any luck, Sherlock Holmes and the Scarborough Affair should surface by the end of the year!

Reviews

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having not enjoyed the first book in this series, but committed as I purchased all three, this book was a joy, you can feel the authors love of Lyme Regis (as is mine) and an exciting Sherlock story too. I particularly loved the extra short story at the end…. Definite five star x Thank you David, I owe you a cider if I meet you one day in Lyme for the enjoyable read in the sun this afternoon x

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful trio of Sherlock Homes and Doctor Watson stories; from Homes being accused as a spy to ghosts and Doctor Watson being given a haunted writing desk. Loved Them!

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I would expect of a Sherlock Holmes crime story. Reads more like a Miss Maple in a very domestic setting.

[Mike Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last book in the Lyme Regis trilogy has the properly period atmosphere, intricate plotting and authentic dialogue of the previous two books.
Watson invites Holmes to join him and his wife for a holiday in Lyme Regis. Holmes agrees, but suggests that Watson pack his service revolver - and the game is afoot.
Plans for a super post-Bruce-Partington submarine may be in danger of being purloined by agents of a foreign Power, the ghost of a long-dead Lyme Regis celebrity haunts the town, strange tokens appear threatening revenge and a knife-wielding fiend strikes!
As in the previous books, the town of Lyme Regis exerts a powerful influence on the writing; Mr Ruffle clearly enjoys describing its ancient streets and monuments and he does an excellent job of evoking its atmosphere.
If Mr Ruffle can restrain himself from inserting more fiends in human form into Lyme, I would be happy to visit the locations he so lovingly describes.
Sherlock Holmes and the Lyme Regis Trials is a fitting end to an excellent series. I'm looking forward to reading more of his Sherlockian books.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final book in this trilogy…


My thanks to Steve and Timi at MX Publishing for my reading copy.


Surprise, surprise, Watson got married again. I think that along with the three wives that William S. Baring-Gould mentions in his study of the canon, this makes at least four more that I have encountered. This is far from a new idea.


Watson and Beatrice invite Holmes to spent a short time in Lyme Regis. There are some Naval Trials that will take place offshore, and it looks more like war is on the horizon every day. Then a knife wielding maniac is on the loose. There is also the case of the ghost of a resident of the town with which to deal.


The book neither bored me nor was over exciting. It seems a bit weak to be the final anchor of a series. The short story has its merits, but is also a little weak.


I give this book three stars…


Quoth the Raven…

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the final book of this trilogy. My only complaint is that I wiah the original story was longer, and had no need for more shorter Sherlock filler stories. I enjoy this author, and his portrayal of Mr. Holmes. In this book, Dr. Watson has married again, after the death of his first wife. Mr. Holmes has retired to Sussex, to tend bees. The story evolves around a submarine, and war plans, that return everyone once again to Lyme Regis.I love Sherlock Holmes, and David Ruffle writes good stories, but I feel they are novellas, and not a full length book. That is why there are more than one story per book.It was a good read though.....

[Angela Swinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. Unfortunately, I read this book first instead of the others in the trilogy. However, I still enjoyed it and will go back and read the others. I hate reviews with spoilers, so I will just say that other Sherlock fans should enjoy revisiting their old literary friend in this series.

[Outlander · Rating 1 out of 5]

This offering 3rd and last offering in the Lyme Regis titles from David Ruffle. Once again it was not as effective as either "Holmes and Watson End Peace" nor "Sherlock Holmes Tales from the Stranger's Room". A tale about nothing in particular that did not please, ditto the extra tale of Watson's "haunted" writing desk.