01 Dec 2010 21:43:25
Several years later, Conan Doyle receives a crude and anonymously sent letter bomb, which impels him to investigate a real mystery, with help from his friend Bram Stoker and his own literary creation to guide him. The details of his investigation are dutifully recorded in his journal, which later disappears.
In 2010, Harold White has just been inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars, an elite literary club devoted to Holmesian pursuits, when the world's leading Conan Doyle scholar claims to have found the missing journal.
But then the scholar is found dead, and there is no trace of the diary. Harold begins searching for clues to lead him to both the murderer and the journal. The game is newly afoot: What Would Sherlock Holmes Do?
The tales of Conan Doyle and White, told in alternating chapters, make up "The Sherlockian," Graham Moore's entertaining debut novel. Both mysteries are well crafted, with gratifying and amusing nods toward the conflation of Conan Doyle and his most famous literary creation. Just as Conan Doyle chafes at being unable to escape from under Holmes' shadow, Harold's Irregular colleagues scoff at his practical application of Holmes' powers of deduction (even as they devise Holmesian plots of their own).
The parallel story format will not suit everyone, as the abrupt shifts between time periods and stories can be extremely jarring, even as they complement each other quite well. The Conan Doyle-centric chapters start off a bit stilted, the 19th-century prose reads as though it's a little forced, though they even out considerably as that mystery deepens.
However, these slight annoyances are rendered nearly insignificant by Moore's exemplary weaving of historical fact and fiction.
Though the novel is packed with references to the vast Holmes canon, from the universally recognized "Elementary!" to more obscure academic tidbits, it is not at all necessary to have an encyclopedic knowledge of those stories.
This is a novel clearly written with great affection, not just for Conan Doyle and Holmes, but their 21st-century fans as well.
In 2010, Harold White has just been inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars, an elite literary club devoted to Holmesian pursuits, when the world's leading Conan Doyle scholar claims to have found the missing journal.
But then the scholar is found dead, and there is no trace of the diary. Harold begins searching for clues to lead him to both the murderer and the journal. The game is newly afoot: What Would Sherlock Holmes Do?
The tales of Conan Doyle and White, told in alternating chapters, make up "The Sherlockian," Graham Moore's entertaining debut novel. Both mysteries are well crafted, with gratifying and amusing nods toward the conflation of Conan Doyle and his most famous literary creation. Just as Conan Doyle chafes at being unable to escape from under Holmes' shadow, Harold's Irregular colleagues scoff at his practical application of Holmes' powers of deduction (even as they devise Holmesian plots of their own).
The parallel story format will not suit everyone, as the abrupt shifts between time periods and stories can be extremely jarring, even as they complement each other quite well. The Conan Doyle-centric chapters start off a bit stilted, the 19th-century prose reads as though it's a little forced, though they even out considerably as that mystery deepens.
However, these slight annoyances are rendered nearly insignificant by Moore's exemplary weaving of historical fact and fiction.
Though the novel is packed with references to the vast Holmes canon, from the universally recognized "Elementary!" to more obscure academic tidbits, it is not at all necessary to have an encyclopedic knowledge of those stories.
This is a novel clearly written with great affection, not just for Conan Doyle and Holmes, but their 21st-century fans as well.
