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shane_tiernan's review against another edition
2.0
I love Sherlock Holmes as a character and have enjoyed many of Doyle's writings about the character as well as some other authors writing the character and of course I loved the movies.
By reading the title to this I had hoped Mr. Meyers had combined Sherlock with a plot more filled with horror elements. Unfortunately he didn't. The writing was enjoyable, the plot was intricate and I don't think anyone reading it could figure it out before hand (which is probably a negative for some mystery readers). What really turned me off was the long exposition at the end explaining the plot in detail. It almost seemed like he could have sent it in as the summary for his book. It seemed like way too much "telling" instead of "showing" which is like creative writing 101.
By reading the title to this I had hoped Mr. Meyers had combined Sherlock with a plot more filled with horror elements. Unfortunately he didn't. The writing was enjoyable, the plot was intricate and I don't think anyone reading it could figure it out before hand (which is probably a negative for some mystery readers). What really turned me off was the long exposition at the end explaining the plot in detail. It almost seemed like he could have sent it in as the summary for his book. It seemed like way too much "telling" instead of "showing" which is like creative writing 101.
rhiannonxgrace's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed this! Perhaps not quite as much as the Canary Trainer, but a lot of my enjoyment there was how Sherlock was worked into the existing narrative.
The West End Horror was a really interesting case and I certainly didn't guess the ending! I loved that it centred around the West End of the late Victorian era, as that is a personal interest of mine. The cameos from Bram Stoker, Sir Henry Irving and Ellen Terry (pre-damehood) really made me happy as they are people I take a particular interest in, especially Ellen Terry. There were some really funny moments in this and I really enjoyed the friendship between Holmes and Watson — in a few of the pastiches I've read their friendship takes a backseat to the point where there's no warmth between them, and their relationship is the heart of these stories.
The West End Horror was a really interesting case and I certainly didn't guess the ending! I loved that it centred around the West End of the late Victorian era, as that is a personal interest of mine. The cameos from Bram Stoker, Sir Henry Irving and Ellen Terry (pre-damehood) really made me happy as they are people I take a particular interest in, especially Ellen Terry. There were some really funny moments in this and I really enjoyed the friendship between Holmes and Watson — in a few of the pastiches I've read their friendship takes a backseat to the point where there's no warmth between them, and their relationship is the heart of these stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual assault
aziraphales's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.75
didn't hit anywhere near as hard as the seven per cent solution, BUT this is still a damn good holmes pastiche!!
collierkeithj's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
bahador's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
cthuwu's review against another edition
I can't remember a blessed thing about the plot of this one other than it involves the theater. Let that speak for the quality of it over a star rating.
we_are_all_mad_here26's review against another edition
3.0
This book suffers from too much of so many things. Too many real-world names dropped, for one thing. It was entertaining to a point, but I believe we could all feel certain that Bram Stoker wasn't going to turn out to be the killer, nor George Bernard Shaw, nor Gilbert and/or Sullivan.
Too many mentions of the game being afoot, when Holmes only ever actually said it once, in all of the ACD canon.
Far too many words spoken by a dying man in the denouement. Just after choking out a sob that "wracked all that remained of his miserable frame, and...almost carried him off then and there," the guy starts a ten-page monologue with "I was born not far from here, in Sussex, just over forty years ago..."
Far, far, far too many errors in the Kindle version of the book. Missing punctuation all over the place. "Holmes" as "Hohnes," "living" as "Irving," and worse: "Toe question took him by surprise" and "'Tour eyes!' I cried suddenly," just to name a few.
Despite it all, a decent Holmes pastiche. Dear God I hope the next one has been proofread.
Too many mentions of the game being afoot, when Holmes only ever actually said it once, in all of the ACD canon.
Far too many words spoken by a dying man in the denouement. Just after choking out a sob that "wracked all that remained of his miserable frame, and...almost carried him off then and there," the guy starts a ten-page monologue with "I was born not far from here, in Sussex, just over forty years ago..."
Far, far, far too many errors in the Kindle version of the book. Missing punctuation all over the place. "Holmes" as "Hohnes," "living" as "Irving," and worse: "Toe question took him by surprise" and "'Tour eyes!' I cried suddenly," just to name a few.
Despite it all, a decent Holmes pastiche. Dear God I hope the next one has been proofread.
jens6791's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
plaidbrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Doesn't pack the same punch as The Seven Percent Solution, but Meyer does a pretty good Doyle-as-Watson imitation and spins a good mystery yarn set amongst real-life people and settings (in this case, the theater and literary circles of late 19th century London). And unlike a lot of other Holmes pastiches, it doesn't descend into the usual fanfiction-y habit of throwing ALL of the toys in Doyle's toy box into one story. I appreciate the restraint.