Monday, March 28, 2011

The Sherlockian


by Graham Moore, 350 pages

I had been waiting for this book since December, so I was all fired up to read it last week. I enjoy Sherlockiana, and this is being billed as a literary thriller, so I kicked back ready to be drawn in to the story.

The dual story is split between a murder mystery set in the modern world of Sherlockian scholars and a historical investigation featurung Conan Doyle and his friend Bram Stoker as they attempt to solve a series of London murders.

I won't give any more plot details, except there is a rather extraordinary afterword by the author about his inspiration. It involves a real life mystery about the death of the prominent Sherlockian Richard Lancelyn Green in 2004. Was it suicide or was it murder?

The book was enjoyable, but I didn't find Harold White (the modern "detective") or Conan Doyle to be very likeable characters. It's rather ironic that Bram Stoker comes off as the better man and author. It's makes an interesting debate: who left the bigger literary legacy?

If you like novels about Sherlock Holmes, I would recommend Laurie R. King's series of Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books. They are literate, fun and always well-plotted. Start with The Beekeeper's Apprentice.

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