A review by nmcannon
The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall

adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter has sat, ominous, on our shelves for awhile. When our sapphic book club got started, I thought it was finally Mysterious Letter’s time to shine. And it did, an eldritch brilliance quite unrelated to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson.

After an illustrious career as her aide and fellow sleuth, Dr. John Wyndham has decided to become one Mrs. Shaharazad Haas’s chronicler. And where to begin, but the beginning? Their first meeting, their first case, and the first time Haas abandoned him in a prison cell full of time magic and psychological torment.

If that summary sounds a little salty, it’s because I think the biggest flaw of Hall’s work is he made it a Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Yes, everyone brings what they like to a pastiche; and not everyone likes the same things. Not everyone delights in Holmes and Watson’s relationship the way I do. Hall and I must enjoy very different elements. The characters more go on an adventure than solve a mystery. I really liked how ThreeRings put it in her review (linked below). In canon and elsewhere, Holmes is a little feral upon first meeting Watson. Hall took Holmes’ antisocial tendency to a new extreme. Even to the last pages, Haas doesn’t seem to much care if Wyndham lives or dies. Over the course of the case, he’s jailed three times, psychologically unwound, and left to face a shark unprepared, on his own. In-universe Wyndham writes the Mysterious Letter much later in his life, and he assures us that Haas has the great heart to match the great mind. Those assurances strain under how much Haas really doesn’t give a shit.
At the end of the story, Wyndham and Lestrade begin dating, (a very cute rarepair!) and they later marry. It reminded me greatly of the end of The Sign of Four, filling my brain with sorrow. In the original novel, Watson marries sure, but partly because Holmes’ insistent drug use drives him away. Holmes implies he will attempt to replace Watson with the cocaine bottle, as Watson substitutes their relationship with a wife. Depressing stuff.

The setting is the real star of the story. Khelathra-Ven is Weird, with a capital “W.” Each section is a huge set piece to show off the most outré world-building imaginable. With the lack of true mystery or my preferred flavor of Holmes-Watson, I confess I became a little exasperated with Khelathra-Ven. Nobody can pop out for milk without Something Happening. I doubt it would be pleasant to live there and is much more fun to read about. Only here can a Dracula reference sit side-by-side with an Emperor’s New Groove allusion. Obviously, the Gothic castle section was my favorite, haha, but second place was the underwater realm. Carcosa was more dicey. I’m not Chinese, but opium smoking, yellow eyes, and “oh woe, Communism is the worst and a waste of our storied culture!” seems a little iffy. 

Other bright spots include Wyndham’s editorial comments and the sheer catastrophic level of queer drama. Throughout the book, Wyndham censors Haas’ potty mouth and the more visceral story beats. On the whole, I thought it fun; other book club members found it tiresome. What initially drew me to The Affair of the Mysterious Letter was the queerness. Wyndham is a trans man, which is a very fun interpretation and cool to see in a published work. Haas is a lesbian disaster in human form. She has ex’s everywhere, who now date each other instead of her. Some she introduced! While I was able to predict the blackmailer’s identity, I didn’t expect the sheer twisty turny queer chaos of a solution. If you like The Locked Tomb or This is How You Lose the Time War, you’ll love Haas’ approach to dating. 

If you love world-building, if you love fantasy settings, if you like queer high adventure: read The Affair of the Mysterious Letter. If you’re looking for Holmes pastiche, save it for another time.

ThreeRings Reviews: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/1c6630a6-c154-4682-bd56-b3fcfa6d03ed