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The Amazing Mycroft Mysteries: Three Novels
Mycroft, the elusive elder brother of Sherlock Holmes, demonstrates his own mental wizardry in three exceptional, horrific, classic mysteries
- GenresMystery
715 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 1, 2011
This being an Omnibus I think i should review each book on its own as I finish them.
A Taste for Honey: As the book opens we are introduced to Sydney Silchester who will be our "Watson" as it were. Mr. Silchester is a very reclusive man who has, you guessed it, a taste for honey. He first meets the man he calls Mr. Mycroft when his usual Honey provider is forced to terminate his hive after his wife is stung to death. It just so happens that Mr. Mycroft is a beekeeper himself.
The story was not much of a mystery in that you know How and who but really just lack the why. As far as Mr. Mycroft being Mycroft Holmes I tend to doubt it. I think Mr. Heard would have been better off just using Sherlock. because the description is Sherlock, Sherlock is the one who keeps bees in the later Holmes Adventures and Doyle tells us that Mycroft despised investigating and solved his cases from his Armchair.
Reply Paid: Once again the book opens with Sydney Silchester now a professional Decoder living in Los Angeles, CA. But it seems that Trouble and Mr. Mycroft have both followed him across the Atlantic. Unable to decode a Mr. Intel's Code phrase Sydney takes his client to his medium friend Miss Brown. There the spirits reveal the meaning of what was suposed to be a harmless riddle and open a can of Worms.
The plot line was a little Convoluted and I still don't accept Mycroft as the Elder Holmes brother.
One thing I did like though is when the "Perfect Murder" back fired on the murderer.
The Notched Hairpin: Sydney Silchester and Mr. Mycroft are back in England and this time they are flatmates. Once again Mr. Mycroft lures Sydney into a crimminal investiagtion this time under the guise of taking a holiday in the country. Imagine Sydney's chargin when an inspector meets them at the station with a case for Mr. Mycroft. Was it murder or suicide? Mr. Mycroft says it must be murder and so it must.
The story is very much in the format of the Doyle's Holmes Novels. Short banter between characters to introduce the case. Then a short but thourough investigation follwed by the larger part of the novel being taken up by the murderer recounting his life story. Lastly, another short exchanges in which the murderer's fate is decided.
As a whole the Mycroft mysteries are not boring though I think that these will apeall more to Christie fans than to readers of Holmes.
A Taste for Honey: As the book opens we are introduced to Sydney Silchester who will be our "Watson" as it were. Mr. Silchester is a very reclusive man who has, you guessed it, a taste for honey. He first meets the man he calls Mr. Mycroft when his usual Honey provider is forced to terminate his hive after his wife is stung to death. It just so happens that Mr. Mycroft is a beekeeper himself.
The story was not much of a mystery in that you know How and who but really just lack the why. As far as Mr. Mycroft being Mycroft Holmes I tend to doubt it. I think Mr. Heard would have been better off just using Sherlock. because the description is Sherlock, Sherlock is the one who keeps bees in the later Holmes Adventures and Doyle tells us that Mycroft despised investigating and solved his cases from his Armchair.
Reply Paid: Once again the book opens with Sydney Silchester now a professional Decoder living in Los Angeles, CA. But it seems that Trouble and Mr. Mycroft have both followed him across the Atlantic. Unable to decode a Mr. Intel's Code phrase Sydney takes his client to his medium friend Miss Brown. There the spirits reveal the meaning of what was suposed to be a harmless riddle and open a can of Worms.
The plot line was a little Convoluted and I still don't accept Mycroft as the Elder Holmes brother.
One thing I did like though is when the "Perfect Murder" back fired on the murderer.
The Notched Hairpin: Sydney Silchester and Mr. Mycroft are back in England and this time they are flatmates. Once again Mr. Mycroft lures Sydney into a crimminal investiagtion this time under the guise of taking a holiday in the country. Imagine Sydney's chargin when an inspector meets them at the station with a case for Mr. Mycroft. Was it murder or suicide? Mr. Mycroft says it must be murder and so it must.
The story is very much in the format of the Doyle's Holmes Novels. Short banter between characters to introduce the case. Then a short but thourough investigation follwed by the larger part of the novel being taken up by the murderer recounting his life story. Lastly, another short exchanges in which the murderer's fate is decided.
As a whole the Mycroft mysteries are not boring though I think that these will apeall more to Christie fans than to readers of Holmes.
September 25, 2017
This book really has no relation to the Sherlock Holmes universe. The Mycroft portrayed in this book is nothing like Doyle's Mycroft. That said, the mysteries worked well enough as stand-alones. They were fairly inventive and obscure, though they were too heavy on convoluted technical explanations for my taste and the pomposity of the narrator was sometimes unbearable. But the writing style was interesting.
April 30, 2009
Of the three novels, The Knotched Hairpin was the best, but all are good additions to the Sherlockian universe, adding dimension to the mysterious character of Mycroft Holmes. However, many fans of Sherlock Holmes will be disappointed by a lack of references to that world. Heard has made a clear departure from Doyle in both style and with the direction of his character.
April 14, 2012
I've only read two of the three novels so far (I’m waiting for the third one to arrive). "The Notched Hairpin" was okay; "A Taste for Honey" I really enjoyed. What a unique (and untraceable!) way of committing murder. These Sherlock Holmes “inspired” mysteries are worth picking up in a used book store for a quick, fun read.
March 23, 2014
The first two stories are perfect gems. If you want a light read look elsewhere. None of Heard's detective stories are guessing games as most mystery novels are; they are well-plotted accounts of the actions and motivations that drive murderers and detectives. They're books you must read with your mind fully awake to enjoy.
January 16, 2014
One of the worst attempts at getting into a character's head that I've ever read. He just goes around and around in circles to the point that I had to give up on the book by page 10. Never had to do that before, but what was I expecting from Sherlock fanfiction?
July 10, 2011
Read this so long ago I can't say I remember much. He's no Sherlock, that's for sure.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews