About book Sherlock Holmes And The Ghosts Of Bly: And Other New Adventures Of The Great Detective (2010)
I was surprised by the relatively low ratings given to Thomas's Sherlock Holmes stories. I'm a fan of Doyle's SH and have been reading (and re-reading) them since I was in high school and I actually found several of Donald Thomas's Sherlock tales MORE entertaining and well-written than many of those by Doyle. HERESY! YES! I KNOW! Of course, like all fanatics, self-professed Sherlockians take themselves and their demi-god ACD far too seriously. Thomas is a gifted writer who does a masterful job of re-creating the prose and atmosphere of the original stories. My favorite so far is The Ghosts of Bly, which is a fun twist on the (over-rated) classic Turn of the Screw. I find myself giving this book a "3" which is pretty close to the current, running average. That's not the ranking I would have hoped or expected to give a collection of stories about the world's greatest consulting detective! I am and have been since an early age, an unabashed fan of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. (Not that I confuse him with an actual living or deceased person.) I have read every lick written by Conan Doyle and many, many pastiches by both his contemporaries and more recent authors. No matter how trite or schlocky, I am a sucker for Holmes w/wout Watson. So, whenever I cannot give at least a "really liked" to any such work, I feel disappointed.The funny thing is that this is not a bad book. It just feels "hollow". (Now, that's going to be a good one to try and explain.) And, since I am such a big S.H. aficionado, I have added this author's other Holmes mysteries to my "to-read" list. So, I am more than willing to give him another shot at impressing me with his command and use of the character.So, what makes this book "hollow". Most of the book is about clever sleuthing, so it isn't that he has left the character without a profession, but the pace of the tales feels far too slow. (Another intangible.) The ACD stories were (including the serialized four novels) written for magazine publication. They, like many other successful S.H. works push the story along with a lot of energy, at times even a frenzied pace. Of course, this is tempered by moments of (seeming) languid repose or inactivity by the Great Detective - often to Watson's frustration. This book feels like it is in slow motion for virtually it's entire length and the longest tale (novella length) is the worst culprit. That makes it feel less like the story it should be.In addition to the pace of the plots, I found that the mannerisms of Holmes and Watson to be near, but not "on the mark". In one there is a great deal of mention (to allow a plot point and clue discovery) of Holmes wearing and adjusting his deerstalker. Now, we know that ACD did not make use of such a fashion accessory in his writing - it was the illustrator that created the cape & cap which is associated by many with Holmes. Ii found the use of that specific headgear to be a bit "lazy" in that it reaches for the LCD of Holmes' fans. Using any generic cap would have served the plot just as well.The dialogue between the two protagonists seems a bit off too. I can't put my finger on it, but it might be their patterns rather than the actual words in their mouths. It just struck me as atypical as I was reading. I also had some thoughts on how Watson "thinks", but after considering the idea I will let it ride.I am very hopeful that I will find the author's previous tales of Mr. Holmes to be more enjoyable. I noticed, when adding his other works to my list that previously he had published books on Holmes at intervals of two or more years. This one came out only 1 year after the most immediate predecessor. Perhaps it was a bit forced.If you are a huge fan, then go ahead and read this book, but do it for the newness of more tales involving our detective, not with any great expectations.
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Love Sherlock Holmes and Thomas does a very good job.
—Maddiann
fairly true to the conan-doyle tradition.
—ollielholley
