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jlo615's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a while to get into this book, but once I was in, I was committed. If you can set aside your own prejudices surrounding Holmes & Conan Doyle, it really is enjoyable and quite a ride.
thereclamationproject's review against another edition
2.0
I had high expectations for Graham Moore's The Sherlockian. Not necessarily because of the reviews of the book, so much as the subject. Harold White is the youngest member of the Baker Street Irregulars, a group of Sherlock Holmes scholars and aficionados. At their annual convention, one of their most famous members, Alexander Cale, is going to give a presentation on his finding of the infamous lost diary of Arthur Conan Doyle. The diary is reportedly from the period of Doyle's life that covers the time when he killed off Holmes and then resurrected him. It would be an incredible find for the Sherlock Holmes community. But before Cale can give his presentation, he's found murdered in his hotel room. White sets out to solve the murder and find the diary using Holmes's signature deductive reasoning. The search for the killer and diary takes him to London, retracing Cale's route of discovery.
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alireadsandknits's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the set up of the book, switching between the two story lines. I particularly liked the Doyle storyline.
The narrator was great and I think made the book for me. I'm not sure if I had read it I would have finished it (or I definitely would have skimmed the last quarter of the book). I didn't find the modern story line compelling enough to hold my attention towards the end.
I will say, I did end up doing research on several people/authors mentioned and this book peaked my interest enough to pick up a sherlock holmes book I hadn't read before.
The narrator was great and I think made the book for me. I'm not sure if I had read it I would have finished it (or I definitely would have skimmed the last quarter of the book). I didn't find the modern story line compelling enough to hold my attention towards the end.
I will say, I did end up doing research on several people/authors mentioned and this book peaked my interest enough to pick up a sherlock holmes book I hadn't read before.
capnmodesty's review against another edition
3.0
This book was very odd. I appreciated the back-and-forth between the present and Arthur Conan Doyle's present. I found the pacing to be quite slow until the very end at which point it sped up so much that I couldn't put the book down. But it took me a long time to read - I kept restarting once a month to see if it got better.
evenshadow's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, though the last 30 pages were very disappointing. Worth a read if you've read all the Sherlock Holmes stories. It's not brilliant, but it is charming.
hzb333's review against another edition
2.0
This book is two stories interwoven. One story takes place in 2010. A Sherlock Holmes expert is found dead. For a variety of reasons, the death is suspicious and a fellow Sherlockian and a reporter set out to investigate his murder and look do a lost Arthur Conan Doyle diary that the murder victim had claimed to have found. The other story is about Arthur Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker who are investigating a letter bomb that Doyle was sent. If you don't like books that jump between time periods, you won't enjoy this one.
I found the Doyle story to be more interesting than the modern story. The characters in the modern story seemed really flat.
I found the story to be really conventional and not all that interesting. Not a memorable read.
I found the Doyle story to be more interesting than the modern story. The characters in the modern story seemed really flat.
I found the story to be really conventional and not all that interesting. Not a memorable read.
maureenr's review against another edition
3.0
Ok story about Arthur Conan Doyle with a dual timeline in the present. Was pretty silly but mildly entertaining.
cpt_tusktooth's review against another edition
4.0
Two simultaneous stories here -- the modern search by a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast for Conan Doyle's missing diary and the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle during the time period covered by the missing book. This was an enjoyable read, I particularly liked the portrayal of the relationship between Doyle and his "frustrated" author friend Bram Stoker, who joins Doyle in his adventure. A very good read from a first-time author.
ablotial's review against another edition
3.0
This was a pretty entertaining book of historical fiction, based on real events that happened in the life of Sir Conan Doyle. It takes place during a period of time that is "missing" from the journals that Doyle kept, and is a fantastical guess at what may have happened during that time and why the journal vanished. It alternates between 1901, where we follow the adventures of Doyle himself, and the present day where we follow the perspective of Harold White, a Sherlock Holmes fanatic who gets sucked into investigating the murder of one of the most prevalent "Sherlockians" in the world. I very much enjoyed both time periods, but I liked the present-day story line better. I liked the author's note at the end to explain which parts were real and which parts were fiction -- some of the real pieces surprised me. It was a good mystery... but nothing compared to a good Holmes story.
molly_benevides's review against another edition
3.0
I haven't read much Sherlock Holmes, but after this I want to!