Rating: 
Summary: An infantile, sophmoric yawn
Review: I can't say how much I hated this book, so I won't even try. The author (and I use this word generously) has trouble hiding ancient jokes told in high school as literature. He also tries to hide out-right plagarism (the scene when Holmes visits a canibal in the mental hospital is identical to the scene in which Hannibal Lector is visited in Silence of the Lambs). The killer turns out to be Jack the Ripper. Gee, how many other Sherlock spin-offs have a Jack the ripper Killer (see, for instance, the movie Murder by Decree). When discussing bad books in the 21st century, there will be two groups: those who have read A Samba for Sherlock, and those who have not read A Samba for Sherlock
Rating:
Summary: Excuse me while I go puke....
Review: I cannot even begin to express how utterly disgusted I was with this book. Sherlock Holmes has been torn to shreds in this book where he portrays a blubbering lovesick idiot. And Watson's character was rather moronic too. Parts of this book read like a tedious textbook and others like a trashy romance novel. The humor was dull and old. If you're a dedicated Sherlockian, you'd best avoid this book. However, if you are looking for a perfect Sherlock read - get Laurie King's Mary Russell series. Best books I've read in my whole life!
Rating: 
Summary: Try, It' the best book that was ever made.
Review: I don't agree with those people that said it' the worst book that ever made. Try you will love it. Force somebody to read including you.
Rating:
Summary: A Samba for Sherlock---DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!!!
Review: I have read some terrible travesties using the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle before, but this trash from Brazil is without doubt the worst. This "author" could not even get the color of Holmes eyes right, let alone the "comedy" he tries so hard to force upon us, making Holmes and Watson out to be the stupidest creatures ever to crawl out of England. And, to top it off, he has Holmes as a lusting, drooling fool who cannot deduce anything related to the multiple murders in the story because he is so in love with a second rate actress that he goes to bed with, etc. PLEASE, do yourself a favor and skip this insult.
Rating: 
Summary: The book is funny
Review: I have read the Portuguese version of this book. It is funny. But in a Brazilian way. The book is a big joke with our society in beginning of the century, not a Sherlock Holmes adventure in the tropics. Please, relax and spend some time with a funny reading.
Rating:
Summary: A Cultural Misunderstanding
Review: I have read this book in Portuguese some time ago. After reading all the reviews posted here, I decided to write my own. I fully understand the opinions of the Sherlock aficionados that hated the book, but there are some observations I must make: 1) This book is not about a Sherlock Holmes that goes to a tropical country (Brazil), but it is about a "Brazil" that welcomes a Sherlock Holmes. In other words, the main character is not Holmes, but the 19th century Rio de Janeiro Brazilian society. 2) Soares is a comediant, so for anyone who knows him, it is not a surprise that he would make fun of Holmes and everything else. (Note how he depicts the Brazilian society, it is a lot worse than what he does with Holmes!!!). 3) Brazil has a society that tends to "Brazilianize" all the foreign elements (and immigrants) that arrive in the country. I think that's what Soares tried to do with Sherlock Holmes. By the way, from a Brazilian point of view, Holmes attitudes were very praisable, while Watson seemed to be too close to new cultural experiences. As a last comment, I would like to say that the American publisher should have tried to give a better idea of the book on its cover and back cover text. This way, the traditional Sherlock aficionados could avoid the book or understand it better.
Rating:
Summary: Sherlock Homes? Where???
Review: I have reed the Americans' reviews. Now it's time for a portuguese one: you're absolutely right. More than a speaker of Soares's language, I'm also a great enthusiast of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's greates creation, and it sickens me to see how perverted and degraded Holmes and Watson were in this book. They're seen as stupid, clumsy. Holmes never uses his skills, the clues always appear from nowhere. The killer is a Jack, the ripper wannabe. Poor Watson isn't Holmes confident, but rather a waitress for the detective. Most of the jokes have come from previous books, including the one about Holmes knowing nothing about astronomy. For someone who doesn't know that, he does know more about other "useless" subjects in the book. then he gets in love with a woman, something never seen before in a Doyle's book; He's cold and emotionless, not a dandy. and seeing that this is the XIXth century, when all the englishmen were ethnocentric and cared only about their England, Holmes fills Brazil with too many compliments, instead of treating it with the racism of a XIXth century gentleman. Bottom line: this is no Sherlock Holmes book. I only found him in the Title, and that because the original was changed, I suppose to catch some of the fans of the detective. This book is just another one to place with all the others that try to cash with the fame of Conan Doyle. If you care for the original, don't buy this. Why do i give one star? as horrible as the story was, the historical details are brilliant, though it overshadows the plotless "plot"
Rating:
Summary: Sherlock Homes? Where???
Review: I have reed the Americans' reviews. Now it's time for a portuguese one: you're absolutely right. More than a speaker of Soares's language, I'm also a great enthusiast of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's greates creation, and it sickens me to see how perverted and degraded Holmes and Watson were in this book. They're seen as stupid, clumsy. Holmes never uses his skills, the clues always appear from nowhere. The killer is a Jack, the ripper wannabe. Poor Watson isn't Holmes confident, but rather a waitress for the detective. Most of the jokes have come from previous books, including the one about Holmes knowing nothing about astronomy. For someone who doesn't know that, he does know more about other "useless" subjects in the book. then he gets in love with a woman, something never seen before in a Doyle's book; He's cold and emotionless, not a dandy. and seeing that this is the XIXth century, when all the englishmen were ethnocentric and cared only about their England, Holmes fills Brazil with too many compliments, instead of treating it with the racism of a XIXth century gentleman. Bottom line: this is no Sherlock Holmes book. I only found him in the Title, and that because the original was changed, I suppose to catch some of the fans of the detective. This book is just another one to place with all the others that try to cash with the fame of Conan Doyle. If you care for the original, don't buy this. Why do i give one star? as horrible as the story was, the historical details are brilliant, though it overshadows the plotless "plot"
Rating: 
Summary: This one annoyed and amused me
Review: I have to admit it... This book actually amused me, for it is well written and the plot isn't chunky. I actually finished it in 48 hours. The problem is the author's disrespect to Arthur Conan Doyle's creation. Watson is the fool we see in most Sherlock Holmes movies, and Sherlock isn't the shadow of the Holmes the accustomed reader might know. There was another reader that mentioned that Jo Soares should have created a different character instead of using Holmes. I guess I couldn't agree more. Another problem is the total absence of clues towards the criminal in investigation, and the reader has no chance of reasoning about who the assassin was in the end. Probably a well-versed historian would be able to know which were the real-life characters (as there were many, such as Machado de Assis and Chiquinha Gonzaga) and the fictional.But know it is I who is giving too many clues. Bottom line: Read it if you are not a true lover of the stories of Sherlock Holmes. If you are and still want to read it(my case), try not to tear the book.
Rating:
Summary: Jo is the best!
Review: I have to agree that for foreigners the book lose a bit of its humour as there are a lot of national jokes that are hard to understand. But for me it is a brilliant book. The way Jo twisted the well known Sherlock's character is the funny part of the book. Worth buying by anyone, Brazilian or not.
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