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barkingspiders_books's review against another edition
3.0
Well read, excellent details to form a picture in your mind of the scene. Storyline weak and a bit disjointed. I won't read another.
annareadsmysteries's review against another edition
4.0
Bonnie did an excellent choice re-creating the SH world.
Found this book accidentally in a cruise-ships library and could not put it down.
Looking forward to reading her other books from the series.
Found this book accidentally in a cruise-ships library and could not put it down.
Looking forward to reading her other books from the series.
yokorie's review against another edition
4.0
5/5
It's been a few years since I read the first two, but Sherlock Holmes pastiches are incredibly forgiving in that you really can just jump right into them so long as you have the absolute basics: 1) Sherlock solves mysteries, and 2), he does so with his companion, Dr. John Watson.
Still, for a mystery subgenre that spans over 120 years of work at this point, MacBird's books are fresh and interesting. It's rare for me to finish a book so quickly, though my ability to do so in this case is helped along by MacBird's ability to craft a story that moves so smoothly and so quickly that it's hard to justify a reason to put it down. I plowed through the last 80 pages holding my breath, content to curl up for as long as it took to get to the back cover. Again, a true feat for my ADHD and I, which isn't opposed to setting a book down with less than 50 pages to go as my mind wanders to something else. The only criticism I truly have is one I have for any Holmes story: solving the mystery yourself before the end is difficult, if not impossible, because Sherlock always reveals something he discovered but didn't share with Watson/ the audience, until the last possible minute. I think most of the fun of mysteries allows you to flex those mental muscles yourself, but again, that's hardly MacBird's fault.
However, I do worry in my haste to read that I missed a few loose ends that may have been wrapped up and I was left wondering about the next day. Either that, or MacBird is leaving them for the next book, which I have already reserved from the library.
It's been a few years since I read the first two, but Sherlock Holmes pastiches are incredibly forgiving in that you really can just jump right into them so long as you have the absolute basics: 1) Sherlock solves mysteries, and 2), he does so with his companion, Dr. John Watson.
Still, for a mystery subgenre that spans over 120 years of work at this point, MacBird's books are fresh and interesting. It's rare for me to finish a book so quickly, though my ability to do so in this case is helped along by MacBird's ability to craft a story that moves so smoothly and so quickly that it's hard to justify a reason to put it down. I plowed through the last 80 pages holding my breath, content to curl up for as long as it took to get to the back cover. Again, a true feat for my ADHD and I, which isn't opposed to setting a book down with less than 50 pages to go as my mind wanders to something else. The only criticism I truly have is one I have for any Holmes story: solving the mystery yourself before the end is difficult, if not impossible, because Sherlock always reveals something he discovered but didn't share with Watson/ the audience, until the last possible minute. I think most of the fun of mysteries allows you to flex those mental muscles yourself, but again, that's hardly MacBird's fault.
However, I do worry in my haste to read that I missed a few loose ends that may have been wrapped up and I was left wondering about the next day. Either that, or MacBird is leaving them for the next book, which I have already reserved from the library.
katieroth25's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.5
pagesforages's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
faitelle's review against another edition
5.0
Bonnie MacBird's continuations of the Holmes adventures are a true joy.
I'm not always a fan of modern Holmes stories - but MacBird has managed to hit the right note every time so far.
The characterisation, the sense of adventure, & the mysteries themselves combine to make these 5* additions to the world at 221B Baker Street.
5*, 2019 favorite, highly recommend :)
I'm not always a fan of modern Holmes stories - but MacBird has managed to hit the right note every time so far.
The characterisation, the sense of adventure, & the mysteries themselves combine to make these 5* additions to the world at 221B Baker Street.
5*, 2019 favorite, highly recommend :)
graciado's review against another edition
3.0
Like many detective fiction authors and readers, I find Sherlock Holmes endlessly fascinating and a bit troublesome. He is not, actually, all that interesting. I always think that Conan Doyle drew him a bold figure in a few lines through the original fiction. This leaves us lots to fill in and room to manoeuvre as neo-Victorian, Sherlockian authors, of course, but also can create a trap whereby the character does not seem to need much work once those strong lines are echoed. I'm afraid I found this book a little for flat for precisely this reason, although I admit that I'm also new to MacBird's series of Holmes stories, and she's no doubt earned the right to treat her characters to some extent as "to be taken as read".
I similarly found the plot a little paint-by-numbers, with echoes in various prior Sherlockian stories, from the second Robert Downey Jr movie to Ripper Street. The historical anarchists attacks of the fin de siècle are fascinating, and one of the things that I love most about neo-Victorian tales is getting to see the history reworked in new ways. It can really add depth to the background of any story, and in my own writing I've found it often offers some interesting jumping-off points. But much of what happens here in MacBird's novel is all surface, almost mechanically designed to get us from A to B. There are no particularly interesting detours. It feels cold. We get little insight into the villains of the piece, for example, the most interesting of which (a young female anarchist) gets almost zero air time except as a device to introduce Holmes to some other characters and make a play of creating multiple cases that in the end all weave into one, as is so typical for modern Holmes stories.
One might put this down to zealous editing, but I also found this element rather frustratingly slack! Occasionally one wonders what on earth the copy editor was thinking. Commas in particular seem designed to baffle, having no attachment to the usual principles of their usage, but closing speech marks also go astray (for which this is much less excuse). It is also regularly a little careless in its prose, which in turn made me feel like a pedant. For example, “enormity” is misused, verb tenses switch in error, and the titles “Lady Gainsborough" and "Lady Eleanor” are used interchangeably in a way that is generally puzzling if there had been even some cursory research. When I grumble about this sort of thing, as I do occasionally, I often feel bad because I know that everyone will have tried their best to get things right. I feel less charitable here, however, as this is bigger-budget publishing. If there writing were more slick and the plotting/characterisation less so, I think this would have been a much more satisfying read.
I similarly found the plot a little paint-by-numbers, with echoes in various prior Sherlockian stories, from the second Robert Downey Jr movie to Ripper Street. The historical anarchists attacks of the fin de siècle are fascinating, and one of the things that I love most about neo-Victorian tales is getting to see the history reworked in new ways. It can really add depth to the background of any story, and in my own writing I've found it often offers some interesting jumping-off points. But much of what happens here in MacBird's novel is all surface, almost mechanically designed to get us from A to B. There are no particularly interesting detours. It feels cold. We get little insight into the villains of the piece, for example, the most interesting of which (a young female anarchist) gets almost zero air time except as a device to introduce Holmes to some other characters and make a play of creating multiple cases that in the end all weave into one, as is so typical for modern Holmes stories.
One might put this down to zealous editing, but I also found this element rather frustratingly slack! Occasionally one wonders what on earth the copy editor was thinking. Commas in particular seem designed to baffle, having no attachment to the usual principles of their usage, but closing speech marks also go astray (for which this is much less excuse). It is also regularly a little careless in its prose, which in turn made me feel like a pedant. For example, “enormity” is misused, verb tenses switch in error, and the titles “Lady Gainsborough" and "Lady Eleanor” are used interchangeably in a way that is generally puzzling if there had been even some cursory research. When I grumble about this sort of thing, as I do occasionally, I often feel bad because I know that everyone will have tried their best to get things right. I feel less charitable here, however, as this is bigger-budget publishing. If there writing were more slick and the plotting/characterisation less so, I think this would have been a much more satisfying read.
jstilts's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Another of MacBird's excellent post-Doyle Sherlock Holmes books, and probably one of the best if you want to sample her work before comitting to the much longer "Unquiet Spirits" or slightly gruesome "Art in the Blood".
MacBird is easily one of the best Sherlock Holmes writers: smart, funny, complex - and not afraid to explore and develop the characters of Holmes and Watson more than Conan Doyle ever did.
MacBird is easily one of the best Sherlock Holmes writers: smart, funny, complex - and not afraid to explore and develop the characters of Holmes and Watson more than Conan Doyle ever did.
cpjeanz's review against another edition
4.0
Bonnie and I just get each other. Each of her books are not only high quality, but FUN. While there's tons of darker themes, there's always that undercurrent of "the game's afoot Watson!". This was another great entry in the series.
Quick hits:
+ Sherlock and Watson as usual. Sherlock definitely went through the ringer in this one.
+ The story was incredibly complex with tons of moving pieces.
+ Mycroft is always a delight.
- I didn't feel I could truly figure out the culprit as this one was deep mystery.
I really enjoyed this one. I can't wait to get into the next one!
Quick hits:
+ Sherlock and Watson as usual. Sherlock definitely went through the ringer in this one.
+ The story was incredibly complex with tons of moving pieces.
+ Mycroft is always a delight.
- I didn't feel I could truly figure out the culprit as this one was deep mystery.
I really enjoyed this one. I can't wait to get into the next one!