Knight Errant : The Singular Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Rating:
Summary: No Windmills Here!
Review: I was delighted, pretty much, with the three long stories or short novels in this collection of Holmes pastiches.
Rubino really nails Watson's literary style, a very difficult trick that very few writers bring off even approximately.

In the first and most routine adventure, Holmes tackles the vanishing under strange circumstances of a priceless necklace. This was the least satisfying of the stories for me, not only because of echoes from "Naval Treaty," but also because it introduces characters like the odious Col. Moran prematurely as far as the Doylean Canon is concerned.

Far more interesting is the second tale, in which the staunchly Victorian Holmes must deal with a murder and disappearance involving London's most notorious abortionist and midwife, and his investigation uncovers a genuine monster, the "abominable Merridew." In the third tale, Holmes must locate a missing heiress, but the real question is why this unknown girl is to be the inheritor of a huge fortune, when the dying man has a wife and son who are being essentially disinherited by a very strange will. And just who is Holmes' client, anyway? Holmes reaches a solution just in time to forestall a cold-blooded murder.

The common theme of all three cases is that the villain is never brought to justice within the legal system, for one reason or another. And each case is based on a very brief mention within the Doylean Canon, often a single name with no context.

I hope this is not the last pastiche from Jane Rubino. As Holmes himself would say, "Well done."

Rating:
Summary: Conan Doyle Lives!
Review: What a hidden gem. This threesome of short novels by a contemporary mystery writer achieves a tone so close to the language of the original Sherlock Holmes stories that you will think they are written by Conan Doyle himself. This interesting compilation has stories that are very different in character - one involves stolen gems and has some romantic overtones, one is a dark tale about a Victorian abortionist, and one is a suspense tale about a missing heiress. Each has a nice twist at the end, and all do an fine job of reviving the authentic character and language of the original Conan Doyle body of work. Highly recommended.