A review by kikiandarrowsfishshelf
Gaslight Gothic: Strange Tales of Sherlock Holmes by Charles Prepolec, J.R. Campbell

3.0

Disclaimer: I received an ebook ARC of this book via a giveaway at Librarything.

Gaslight Gothic is a collection of ten stories that combine Sherlock Holmes with gothic literature, in terms of style and characters. Poe makes an appearance in one story as does Hyde for example. Most of the stories are more gothic in style and plot than borrowing characters.

As in the majority, if not all, short story collections, the stories are a mixed bag. Many of the them follow the conceit of having Watson write the stories. In “The Strange Adventure of Mary Holder”, Nancy Holder nails Watson’s voice the best. In many ways, she also captures the character of Holmes the best. “The Cuckoo’s Hour” by Mark A. Latham is also a strong contender for best story in the collection. It does remind the reader of the Holmes stories that take place on a country estate. James Lovegrove’s use a well-known gothic tale works extremely well.

The use of Holmes and the gothic novel does seem to fill a hole in the Sherlock Holmes oeuvre that I didn’t know needed filling.